Denys Corbett Wilson

Who was Denys Corbett Wilson?

Denys Corbett Wilson was a pioneering Irish aviator.

He is most notable for his 100-minute flight on 22 April 1912, from Goodwick in Pembrokeshire to Crane near Enniscorthy in county Wexford - from the island of Great Britain to the island of Ireland. The journey time was 1 hour 40 minutes.

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 but landed 300 to 400 yards short of the Irish coast at Dublin, Ireland.

He 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. Corbett-Wilson meanwhile was forced to land near Hereford and booked into the Mitre Hotel. Rather than wait for his mechanic to arrive, he decided to purchase petrol and oil locally. The oil however turned out to be the wrong grade and on resuming his flight the following morning he was once again forced down because of engine trouble. This time he landed in Colva, Radnorshire where he wisely waited for his mechanic to arrive. It was on 21 April he took off and decided to head west instead of north for Chester and Holyhead as the original plan. He arrived at a field near Harbour Village, Goodwick around mid morning. The historic flight to Ireland began at 5.47am on the 22nd. The achievement was commemorated in Centenary Celebrations held in Fishguard and Goodwick on the weekend of 21/22 April 2012 and in a specially commissioned stage play by Derek Webb, called '100 Minutes' which was performed at Theatr Gwaun in Fishguard and Wexford the same week.