The first crossing of the Atlantic was completed by the U.S. Navy NC-4 flying boat May 29, 1919, with a mid ocean refueling stop. Alcock and Brown did get the London Daily Mail and Lord Northcliffe prize of 10,000 pounds for the first nonstop crossing, June 15, 1919, and of course Lindberg won the $25,000 Orteig prize for the first non stop America (New York) to France (Paris) flight. A great controversy arose when the Ripley Believe it or Not column pointed out that there was commercial non stop air service by Zeppelin from New York to Paris and that Lindberg could have made the same flight by buying a ticket.
Prizes have had a spotty record at best. While raising public awareness of the potential of transportation technologies, they have not had the lasting results of government contracts. The airmail contracts of the nineteen twenty's and thirty's attracted businessmen not adventurers, and they built transportation systems not one off flight vehicles intended to win a prize. By 1937 it was possible to buy tickets on commercial airlines to fly around the world because the airmail routes extended around the world.