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The echoes of gunfire persisted beyond 1918, notably in Russia where counterrevolutionary
factions engaged in a protracted civil conflict until 1921, striving unsuccessfully to reclaim
authority from the Bolsheviks. The Allies deployed a force of 200,000 soldiers in opposition to
the Soviets, eventually prevailing through adversity. Subsequently, they entered negotiations
with the Polish, who had seized a portion of Ukraine amid the turmoil, ultimately securing the
majority of Ukraine as an integral component of the Soviet Union.
Lenin and his comrades identified themselves as the vanguard of the future and aimed to project
this image to the world. Their engagement in aviation yielded valuable support.
Over the following twenty years, substantial investments were made in aviation endeavors. In
fact, Lenin personally participated in a lecture on space travel in 1920. The world’s first
exhibition on the prospect of itinerary space travel took place in Moscow in 1924. The roots
of Sputnik can be traced back to the early and profound influence it had on the revolutionary
landscape of the Soviet Union.
90% of the factory space devoted to aviation during the war was redeployed by the end of 1919.
In the US, all war industries suffered but aviation had a no-civilian market to which they could
return. A handful of companies continued with limited basis as they remained afloat solely as
aircraft producers. William Boing and his company were less fortunate, as their contracts
cancelled and with no prospects for aeronautical work in sight, the Seattle manufacturer put
its crews to work building wooden furniture until 1921, when a fresh army contract put it
back in the airplane business.
Other nations maintained a portion of their wartime aerial strength. France deployed 20% of its
air units to German occupation duty and another 20% to its colonies. Rather than abruptly
canceling contracts, the French government continued to accept engines and aircraft until 1919,
gradually phasing out wartime production. Despite this, active aeronautical manufacturers
decreased from 50 to 10. Hispano-Suiza and Renault shifted back to automobile manufacturing.
The British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) also remained active on various fronts. Over 275 aircraft
and 400 volunteers from Britain were sent to serve with the White Russian Forces, while other
units were dispatched to colonial territories of the Empire. Similar to France, England extended
selected wartime aircraft and engine contracts until 1919, transitioning to more profitable
ventures as circumstances improved.
By the early 1920s, the British government began supporting six competing companies, yielding
significant results within two decades. The Allies aimed to disarm Germany's war-making
capabilities. The Treaty of Versailles (June 1919) prohibited aircraft production or
importation in Germany for the next six months. Fokker fled, leaving only five surviving
German companies: Junkers, Dornier, Heinkel, Albatross, and Zeppelin.
Junkers continued supplying metal aircraft to the
military post-conflict. They also pioneered an all-metal,
low-wing, cantilever monoplane that epitomized
cutting-edge commercial aviation technology in the
post-war years.

The notion of flying of flying across the Atlantic Ocean had begun with the 19th century
American aeronauts (John Wise, James Allen and Washington Donaldson), which dreamed of
crossing the ocean with balloons.
In 1913, just or years after he had rewarded Louis Blériot for flying the English Channel, Lord
Northcliffe announced a prize for 10000 pounds for the first flight across the Atlantic
doing this route: Newfoundland-Azores (refuel)-Lisbon. Glenn Curtiss was going to try for
the price in 1913, but the war intervened.
By 1918, the success of antisubmarine patrols in combating
German U-boats led the U.S Navy to contract Curtiss to build
four largest aircrafts. Said machines had a wingspan of 126 ft
and were powered by 3 400 HP Liberty engines. In the fall of
1918, John Towers suggested flying the four big NC flying
boats to Europe.
John was aboard the NC-3 when the took off was done on Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland in
May, 1919. When the bad weather set in the following morning, they were forced to separate
within 350 miles of their first stop. NC-1 and NC-3 landed at sea and only NC-3 made it to
Lisbon after riding out a storm for 60 hours. Although, the NC-4 was the first across, the U.S
Navy announced that it would not accept the prize.
The inaugural aviator eligible for a remarkable 13,000 pounds prize found themselves at the
starting point of the competition in Canada. Numerous pilots made valiant attempts, but it was
only Capt. John Alcock and Lt. Arthur Brown who successfully completed the challenging
journey.

Known as an extraordinary airman, Alcock had taught himself to fly in 1912. He had bombed
Constantinople as a Royal Naval Air, where he was
captured by the Turks and landed a job at Vickers
after his release. By the end of May 1919, Vickers
had begun assembling the twin engine Vimy bomber,
the chariot to the challenge. Alcock and Brown lifted
off from a Meadow on June 14 and for over 16
hours they would struggle with a wide variety of
difficulties ranging from winds and clouds to
mechanical problems, which led them to land in an
Irish bog, completing the challenge.

Three weeks following this notable triumph, a group of 32 officers from the Royal Airship
Service embarked on a journey across the Atlantic and safely returned aboard His Majesty's
airship R-34, experiencing a level of comfort previously unseen in such endeavors. Built by
Beardmore Motors, the R-34 was based off the L33, a German Zeppelin forced down over
England in 1916, and the L49, captured in France. This gigantic machine was powered buy five
250HP engines and reached a top speed of 60 mph.
The year that had opened with a race across the Atlantic finished with another race who
consisted of flying from England to the Southern continent for a price of 10000 pounds. Five
aircrafts entered the competition although only one emerged victorious. The Smiths brothers,
Ross and Keith, won the price with a 28 aerial journey from Hounslow to Darwin in a Vickers
Vimy.

In addition to being a year of epic flights, 1919 marked the beginning of the world civil
aviation. Representatives of 27 nations signed the International Convention on Air Navigation
at Paris on October, in which they recognized the right of all nations to control their own
airspace.

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