US businessman and aviation record breaker Steve Fossett and his co-pilot Mark Rebholz successfully re-enacted Alcock and Brown's first non-stop flight across the Atlantic yesterday.
They landed on Connemara golf course at Ballyconneely in Co Galway after flying 1,900 miles in an open plane.
Fossett (61) and Rebholz (52) flew from St John's, Newfoundland, in a replica Vickers Vimy biplane. They left Newfoundland at 10.51pm Irish time on Saturday and arrived at 5pm yesterday, a flight of just over 18 hours.
The flight was initially due to take place on June 15th to mark the anniversary of John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown's original flight from Newfoundland to Clifden in 1919 but it was delayed due to weather and technical difficulties.
Fossett recently completed the world's first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world by plane.
Yesterday's successful crossing of the Atlantic completes a triple crown which also saw the re-enactment of the 1919 Ross and Smith flight from London to Australia and the 1920 flight from London to Cape Town by Van Ryneveld and Brand.
The two pilots wore survival suits and were totally exposed to the elements in the open cockpit of the plane which was originally designed as a first World War bomber.
Speaking after a perfect landing in Ballyconneely, Fossett said they went into fog immediately on leaving Newfoundland.
He said that the weather did not clear until they were about four-fifths of the way through the journey.
His co-pilot Mark Rebholz, who has been part of the team since the beginning and works as a captain with United Airlines expressed his disappointment that he had not been able to navigate solely by the traditional means of using a sextant because of weather conditions.
Fossett paid tribute to the courage of the original aviators Alcock and Brown who had far less knowledge about the weather or the things that could go wrong with the plane.
Fossett holds five official world aviation records and has set more than 20 official world records as a sailor and 10 more as a glider pilot.
The day before he started the Atlantic flight he attempted a world record on a glider in Nevada. He said that he intends to return there in order to make another attempt.
The trans-atlantic plane, which is made of wood and cotton, is an exact replica of the original 1919 plane apart from the fact that modern glue was used.
The aircraft will remain in Connemara for a week before going on display in the UK.
The original plane which landed in Derryginla Bog hangs in a London aviation museum.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern sent a letter of congratulations to the two pilots last night.
He paid tribute to the enormous courage it had taken to fly the Vickers Vimy across the Atlantic exposed to all kinds of weather.
The Taoiseach said the re-enactment brought the historical significance of the original flight into focus.
He added that it would also ensure that the legacy of Alcock and Brown would burn strongly for a long time to come.
Among the hundreds of people who greeted the aviators yesterday evening was Michael Coyne, a Cashel man in his late 80s.
As a young child, he saw the original Alcock and Brown biplane fly over the bog at Clifden.
