Just after a freezing dawn on March 13, 1928, a black-and-gold Stinson Detroiter named Endeavour, unwieldy with extra fuel, growled and swayed over more than a mile of the snow-covered RAF airfield at Cranwell before lurching into the air and climbing away on a westerly heading.Flying the monoplane was one of the world's most experienced aviators, one-eyed Capt W.G. Raymond Hinchliffe DFC, latterly of Imperial Airways. Beside him was the Stinson's owner and copilot, Inchcape heiress The Honourable Elsie Mackay, better known by her stage name, PoppyWyndham. They were aiming for North America, seeking to be the first to make an east-west transatlantic crossing by aeroplane, against the prevailing winds. If they succeeded, Elsie Mackay would become the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air.
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