“…The aeroplane was so grossly overloaded that the tyres burst while it stood awaiting its crew at Cranwell. After 34 1/2 hours in the air they were forced down at Jask on the Persian Gulf 3,420 miles away. Two hours later their unofficial record was beaten by Charles Lindbergh’s flight from New York to Paris.”

Sometimes it’s just not your lucky day! There should be a ‘Harriet Quimby’ Award for eclipsed aviation achievements.

(Harriet was the first woman to fly across the English Channel, but the newspapers all concentrated on some story about a ship and an iceberg – can’t quite recall the ship’s name…)