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Charles Augustus Lindbergh (1902-1974) was an American aviator. He accomplished the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean on May 20-21, 1927. His achievement eclipsed Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs and Tunney’s “fight of the Century” defeat of Dempsey that year. Lindbergh's exploit brought him international fame. Newspapers named him "Lucky Lindy", “The Flyin’ Fool” and the "Lone Eagle."
Charles Lindbergh was born on Feb. 4, 1902, in Detroit, Michigan and grew up near Little Falls, Minnesota. His father was Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Sr., a lawyer, and his mother Evangeline Land Lodge. Lindbergh's father was a U.S. congressman from Minnesota between 1907 and 1917. At the age of 18 young Charles entered the University of Wisconsin to study engineering. After two years he left school to become a barnstormer.
In 1924, Lindbergh joined the US Army in order to receive training as an Army Air Service Reserve pilot. In 1925, he graduated from the flight-training school as the best pilot in his class. After completion of Army training, the Robertson Aircraft Corporation hired him to fly mail runs between St. Louis and Chicago. In 1919, a New York hotel owner, Raymond Orteig was offering $25,000 to the first aviator to fly nonstop from New York to Paris.
In 1927, the prize was still up for grabs and several pilots had lost their lives attempting the flight. Lindbergh was sure that he could win with the right airplane. He convinced some St. Louis businessmen to finance the cost of refitting a plane to make the flight. The Ryan Aeronautical Company of San Diego was Lindbergh’s choice to manufacture the special plane. He named her the Spirit of St. Louis. Among the renovations built into the single engine plane:
Elimination of the navigator’s seat and the second cockpit.
Elimination of all excess weight, including the radio!
Installation of a 451-gallon gas tank between the engine and the pilot’s seat.
Fully loaded, the Spirit of St. Louis weighed a mere 5,250 pounds. Lindbergh, ever weight conscious, even substituted light canvas boots for the standard pilot’s ones. The pilot’s cockpit space was so cramped that he had no forward vision lines and relied on a periscope to see ahead. On May 10-11, 1927, Lindbergh tested the plane by flying it between San Diego and New York City, with one stop in St. Louis. The flight time of 20 hours 21 minutes was a transcontinental record.
On May 20, Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis took off from Roosevelt Field, near New York City, at 7:52am. He landed at Le Bourget Field, near Paris, on May 21 at 10:21 P.M. Paris time (5:21 P.M. Eastern). He had flown more than 3,600 miles in 33-1/2 hours. During the flight, Lindbergh flew by his instincts. He avoided storms and fog by varying his altitude; sometimes soaring to 10,000 feet, at others skimming the waves at 10. After 27 hours, he sighted Ireland.
Lindbergh's flight thrilled people all over the world. Awards, celebrations, and parades were given in his honor. President Calvin Coolidge bestowed upon Lindbergh the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Judging by the world reaction and the huge crowds that waited for the Spirit of St. Louis in Paris, this feat was similar in proportion to the first manned landing on the moon. It was almost unbelievable in 1927 that a rickety little plane could cross the Atlantic Ocean!
In 1927, Lindbergh published a book about his transatlantic flight. The title, “We”, was a reference to Lindbergh and his airplane. Lindbergh flew throughout the United States on behalf of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics. He learned about the rocket research of Robert H. Goddard and convinced the Guggenheim family to support Goddard's experiments. These led to the eventual development of missiles, satellites, and space travel. Lindbergh also worked as a technical adviser for some of the commercial airlines.
Charles Lindbergh died of cancer on Aug. 26, 1974, at his home on the island of Maui, Hawaii. “The Autobiography of Values”, a collection of his writing, was published in 1978.
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