 This was the first complete flight between Britain and Ireland; an earlier flight had been made by actor-aviator Robert Loraine on 11 September 1910.Loraine flew from Wales (part of Great Britain) but landed 300 to 400 yards short of the Irish coast at Dublin, Ireland.Wilson had initially set off from Hendon Aerodrome on 17 April 1912 in his Bleriot XI monoplane in a race against his friend and fellow pilot Damer Leslie Allen, also flying a Bleriot, who disappeared the following day over the Irish Sea while attempting a flight from Holyhead, Wales to Ireland.