Hinchliffe and Levine.

Elsie and Ray had been working together since he first agreed to be co pilot during a lunch at the Ritz in London during the autumn of 1927. He had been initially reluctant, like many men of the period he didn't think women's place was in the air, but Elsie was wealthy and persuasive. During the First World War she had eloped with a South African born actor Dennis Wyndham and during their five year marriage she had enjoyed a career as an actress in silent cinema.

Dennis Wyndham

Ray had been recommended to Elsie by a mutual friend because just a few months before their meeting he had been employed by another character from the aviaton world - Charles Levine. Eccentric American businessman Levine was officially the first passenger to cross the Atlantic and when he approached Captain Ray Hinchliffe it was to be part of the first ever return flight across the ocean from east to west. But he had a reputation for seriously upsetting his pilots. He had reneged on an agreement with Charles Lindbergh - resulting in the Captain finding another plane and famously beating Levine across the Atlantic - and caused two further pilots to refuse to work with him.

For Captain Hinchliffe the offer from Levine to pilot his Bellanca monoplane back to the USA was an opportunity that was too good to miss, despite the prospect of his employer being challenging to work for. During his time as a war ace, Ray Hinchliffe had suffered appalling injuries in a terrible crash and lost the use of his right eye. Although he had gone on to become one of the leading pilots in the ever expanding aviation industry, testing new planes and establishing new passenger routes, he was acutely aware that his eyesight would sooner or later bring an end to his career. Being the pilot of the first successful flight from Europe to the USA would not only bring the promised $25,000 prize but also lead to fame and all that would follow. He had dreams of establishing passenger air travel in America and believed that being the first to conquer the Atlantic by the far more difficult east to west route would lead to a golden future and a way to support his growing family.

Ray agreed to pilot Levine but he was not convinced the Bellanca was mechanically sound to fly the return journey and instead suggested some test flights through Europe (the pair met Mussolini during their tour). Due to his RAF connections the Captain had gained permission to use Cranwell but in end Levine's team had been asked to leave due to conduct that had not been fitting for a British military base. Despite the extensive preparations it was perhaps inevitable that Levine and Hinch fell out. The American was having an affair with Mabel Boll, the self styled Diamond Queen famous in the gossip  columns for her antics, who also shared Elsie's ambition - to be the first woman to cross the Atlantic. She had no flying skills but wanted to be a passenger on the flight but for Hinch this was the final straw and he became the next in Levine's long list of disgruntled pilots.