First became interested in aviation whilst working at the Empress Motor Works, Manchester a year later he went to Brooklands to be a mechanic for the French pilot, Maurice Ducrocq. In 1914 joined the Royal Naval Air Service as an instructor, having held a flying certificate for two years. In 1916 he was posted to the Middle East, where he was a member of the Number 2 wing in the Eastern Mediterranean. Operating out of the base in Mudros, Alcock made many daring bombing raids. He nearly lost his life in 1917 when his plane experienced engine failure and he and his crew were forced to ditch their plane at sea. When they swam ashore, they were taken prisoners by the Turks. After the armistice, he was released, and he left the Royal Air Force in March of 1919. On June 14, 1919, Alcock, along with his navigator, Lieutenant Arthur Whitten Brown, left St. John's, Newfoundland and flew across the Atlantic, a distance of 1,960 miles to Clifden, Ireland in 15 hours and 57 minutes. For this record-breaking flight he was created Knight Commander Order of the British Empire, by George V at Buckingham Palace on June 21, 1919. On December 18, 1919, Sir John Alcock, KBE, DSC, flew to Paris to exhibit a Vickers Viking amphibian aircraft. On his landing at Cote d'Evrard he sustained a skull fracture. He was taken to a hospital in Rouen, but he never regained consciousness and he died that very same day.

As well as manufacturing motor cars the company also explored the early craze for flying, it received a request to build an aeroplane for a wealthy customer. Charles Fletcher, Manager of the company accepted the order and set about building the aircraft to his own design. It was tested in 1910 at the Manchester Race Course however, the aircraft only managed short hops across the course and as a consequence no further aircraft were built. The company was also responsible for introducing John Alcock to flying, he joined the company in 1908 as an apprentice and continued to work for the company until 1911.