That's what pleased Brown the most. They were using the bomber in a brand-new way: taking the war out of the plane, stripping the whole thing of its penchant for carnage.”
-- Narrator (1919: Cloudshadow paragraph 18)

Importance: Both Alcock and Brown had been captured during World War I and they hated war. The effects of war is one of the novel's themes.

Can you put it in the mail bag? No imposition at all, he says, turning on the stairs once more, slipping the envelope inside his tunic pocket.”
-- Narrator (1919: Cloudshadow paragraph 81)

Importance: This is a conversation between Lottie and Teddy Brown the day before he hopes to set out on the transatlantic flight. Brown worries that she's going to give him some ridiculous keepsake and is relieved when it turns out to be a letter. Lottie had actually tried to buy a transatlantic stamp so the letter could be officially included in the mail, but there were none available...