List of Irish Sea crossings by air

This is a list of notable first crossings of the Irish Sea by air.

First crossings

Date	Crossing	Participant(s)	Aircraft	Departure point Arrival point	Notes
22 July 1817	First balloon	Windham William Sadler [1]	balloon	Portobello Barracks, Dublin Holyhead, Wales	Sadler's father, James Sadler had made an unsuccessful attempt in 1812.
22 April 1912	First aeroplane	Denys Corbett Wilson	Blériot XI	Fishguard, Pembrokeshire Crane, County Wexford	An attempt by Robert Loraine, in September 1910, failed when his Farman III biplane came down in the sea 200 ft (61 m) from the shore. [2]
1915	First airship	Sub Lt T.W. Elmhirst + crew	SS-17 blimp	Luce Bay, Scotland Ireland	Airship became disabled, drifted across the Irish Sea, and carried out a successful 'balloon' landing in Ireland. [3]
5 July 1927	First female aviator	Mary, Lady Bailey [4]	De Havilland DH.60X biplane
9 April 1951	First helicopter	Lt Richard Beechener [5]	Westland Dragonfly HR.1 VX600	Anthorn, Cumbria Aldergrove, County Antrim
3 February 1963	First glider (E-W)	Charles Ross [6]	Slingsby Skylark 3	Portmoak, Kinross-shire Toome, County Antrim
27 December 1963	First glider (W-E)	Fg Offr Dmitri Zotov [7]	EoN Olympia 2B	Ballykelly, County Londonderry Crianlarich, Perthshire
1 February 1970	First hot air balloon	Raymond Munro [8]	Canada 2	Brittas Bay, County Wicklow Ennerdale, Cumbria	Raymond Munro (1921-1994) was inducted to the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973. Awarded the Order of Canada in 1974. [9]
1987	First microlight	Keith Reynolds	Pegasus XL weight-shift microlight		Achieved while undertaking a circumnavigation of Great Britain. [10]
13 May 2007	First autogyro	Norman Surplus	AutoGyro MT-03	Kirkbride, Cumbria Larne, County Antrim	Norman Surplus went on to make the first circumnavigation of the world in an autogyro. [11]
24 May 2025	First electric aircraft	Chad Nichols and Chris Caputo	Beta Alia CX300	Weston Airport, Dublin Liverpool John Lennon Airport, Liverpool	Flight covered 153 nautical miles (283 kilometres) and lasted 1 hour, 18 minutes. [12] [13]

References

1. Davies, Mark (2015). King of all balloons : the adventurous life of James Sadler, the first English aeronaut. Amberley, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing. pp. 194–197. ISBN   978-1445682860 . Retrieved 17 January 2025.
2. "Flying the Irish Channel". Flight. London: 379. 27 April 1912. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
3. Mowthorpe, Ces (1995). Battlebags : British airships of the First World War : an illustrated history. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Alan Sutton Publishing. p. 29. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
4. Evers, Liz (March 2023). "Bailey, Mary ('Lady Bailey') (née Westenra)". Dictionary of Irish Biography. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
5. Warner, Guy (2007). Flying from Derry: Eglinton & naval aviation in Northern Ireland. Newtownards, Northern Ireland: April Sky Design. p. 142. ISBN   978-0955509100 . Retrieved 17 January 2025.
6. Ross, Charles C. (April 1963). "Wave across the Irish Sea" (PDF). Sailplane and Gliding. Vol. XIV, no. 2. London, UK: The British Gliding Association. pp. 76–77.
7. "Ireland to Scotland" (PDF). Sailplane and Gliding. Vol. XV, no. 1. London, UK: The British Gliding Association. February 1964. p. 44.
8. "Ray Munro, one of the most decorated Canadians in history". savecfbrockcliffe's blog. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
9. "Raymond Alan Munro". Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
10. "The BMAA 1987". British Microlighting. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
11. "G-YROX Goes Global Timeline". G-YROX. Retrieved 17 January 2025.
12. "Beta all-electric Alia arrives in UK on tour of Europe". Flyer.co.uk. 27 May 2025. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
13. "Beta Grand Tour". beta.team. 24 May 2025. Retrieved 29 May 2025.

See also

• List of Bass Strait crossings by air
• List of Cook Strait crossings by air
• List of English Channel crossings by air