Meskipun Perang Dunia I membawa kemajuan dalam perkembangan industri pesawat, lautan yang memisahkan benua-benua yang ada tetap merupakan jarak luar biasa yang belum pernah diterbangi manusia. Sebelumnya, Samudra Atlantik sudah pernah dilintasi lewat udara pada bulan Mei 1919 oleh Letnan Angkatan Laut A.C. Read dari Amerika Serikat yang terbang menggunakan kapal-pesawat Curtiss NC-4.<ref name="kapal"/> Akan tetapi dalam perjalanannya, Read berhenti di beberapa tempat.<ref name="kapal"/>Vickers Vimy F.B.27 menjadi yang pertama melakukan penerbangan tanpa henti melintasi Samudra Atlantik. Dengan ekspedisi pesawat tersebut, dunia pun menjadi semakin kecil.<ref name="kapal"/>
==Pilot==
John Alcock lahir was born in 1892 at Seymour, Old Trafford. He first became interested in flying at the age of seventeen, when the science of aviation was still a new subject. During World War One Alcock became an experienced pilot, though he was eventually shot down during a bombing raid, and taken prisoner in Turkey. <ref name="kapal3">{{en}} [http://www.fi.edu/flight/long/index.html Situs Web The Franklin Institute: Long Flight/Vickers Vimy]</ref> After the war, Alcock wanted to continue his flying career and took up the challenge of attempting to be the first to fly directly across the Atlantic.<ref name="kapal3"/>
Arthur Whitten Brown was born in Glasgow in 1886.<ref name="kapal3"/> He began his career in engineering before the outbreak of the First World War. Like Alcock, Brown also became a prisoner of war, after being shot down over Germany. Once released and back in Britain, Brown continued to develop his aerial navigation skills. While visiting the engineering firm of Vickers he was asked if he would be the navigator for the proposed transatlantic flight, partnering John Alcock, who had already been chosen as pilot.<ref name="kapal3"/>
