The author of a book on the first Trans-Atlantic flight that originated right here in Newfoundland a century ago has outlined just how amazing the feat really was.

Tony Curtis, the author of “This Flight Tonight,” spoke at a free public lecture yesterday at The Rooms.

2019 marks the 100th anniversary of Alcock and Brown’s flight which took off for Ireland from Lester’s Field in St. John’s.

The event was the second in Aviation History Newfoundland and Labrador’s speaker series, part of ongoing centennial celebrations.

Curtis says neither the take-off, nor the landing locations, were meant for flight.

He says Clifden, Ireland is the strangest place in the world to land a plane because the ground is a bog by a lake, and made for gathering rain, not for landing planes – no more than Lester’s Field is a place for taking off.