R34 Airship A G Evenden signed RAF FF4 Airship Crossing of Atlantic cover FF4, Flown by Concorde. A.G. Evenden was a crewman aboard the British airship R-34, which completed the first east-to-west transatlantic flight in July 1919. A.G. "Bert" Evenden and the R-34. Significance: Evenden served as part of the crew on the R-34, which was a British rigid airship rather than a German Zeppelin, though it was similar in design. Transatlantic Flight: The R-34 made history by crossing the Atlantic from East Fortune, Scotland, to Mineola, New York, in July 1919. Wing Commander Bert Evenden (deceased) Wing Commander Evenden was a member of the crew of His Majesty's Airship R34 which docked at Mineola Field, Long Island, USA on 6th July 1919, after the first east-west crossing of the Atlantic by air. This trip took 4 and a half days going into a headwind at an average speed of 45mph. Bert was a Petty Officer engineer in the starboard aft car. Bert joined the Royal Naval Air Service in November 1914 as an air mechanic first class and his first posting was to the Farnborough Airship sheds. When this establishment was handed over to the Royal Flying Corps in April 1915, he moved on to Walney Island. He was promoted to leading mechanic and on 15th January 1917 was posted to Inchinnan near Glasgow. As a Petty Officer he completed his Aero Engines course at Rolls-Royce, and later asked to make up the crew for test flights on the R34. He transferred to the Royal Air Force on 1st April 1918 as a Sergeant. On 3rd June 1939 Warrant Officer 1st Class Evenden was commissioned and promoted to Flying Officer. He served overseas in India, Egypt and South Africa before retiring as a Wing Commander in 1949 being mentioned twice in despatches. To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the historic crossing of the Atlantic by R34, 86 year old Bert travelled in a British Airways Concorde from London to New York in 1979. His Majesty's Airship R34 Built by William Beardmore and Company, Inchinnan, Glasgow in 1918 the R34 was initially placed under the control of the British Admiralty. Its potential for long range travel prompted the Admiralty to loan the R34 to the Air Ministry in 1918 specifically for a trans-Atlantic flight. On 2nd July 1919 with a crew of 30, 4900 gallons of petrol, 230 gallons of oil and with a quantity of food sufficient for the journey, the R34 was ready to make the attempt. One other man was to make the journey, William Ballantyne, who was a regular member of the R34 team; however, due to the requirement to reduce airship weight, was not included in the crew. He had made the decision to travel at any cost and if he was not to be an authorised crew member then it would be as a stowaway. At 0130hrs the bugler sounded the let go signal and the adventure began. Its route was to take it from East Fortune past the northern tip of Ireland at Inishtrahull Island, St. Johns Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Mineola. The trip was filled with both humour and drama. Being early days in long distance air travel, little thought had been given to the effect of 'slip stream' when using the ships toilet facilities. On their crystal set the crew listened to the Dempsey v Willard world championship fight. The arrival of the R34 in America was somewhat premature for it was not expected to leave England until 4th July arriving on the 8th of the month. With no ground crew available, and fuel running short, Major Pritchard volunteered to parachute to the landing ground and directed docking operations. The flight time was 108 hours 12 minutes. The return journey commenced at 1145hrs on 9th July. Due to adverse weather conditions the planned overflying of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington was abandoned and she followed the original route back to East Fortune. On 11th July the foremost of the two engines broke down and it was considered fuel contamination was the cause. With this problem together with adverse weather forecast en-route it was decided that they land at Pulham, Norfolk. This decision came as a big disappointment to the crew for weather reports from East Fortune were good and even more important for morale a traditional welcome had been prepared there. Good condition Est.
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