Quick Facts<\/h4>
| Nationality<\/td> | American \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8<\/td><\/tr> |
| Achievement<\/td> | First solo non-stop transatlantic flight<\/td><\/tr> |
| Historic Flight<\/td> | 20\u201321 May 1927, New York to Paris, 33h 30m, 5,809 km<\/td><\/tr> |
| Aircraft<\/td> | Ryan NYP “Spirit of St. Louis”<\/td><\/tr> |
| Prize Won<\/td> | $25,000 Orteig Prize (unclaimed for 8 years)<\/td><\/tr> |
| Born \/ Died<\/td> | 4 Feb 1902 \u2013 26 Aug 1974 (age 72)<\/td><\/tr><\/table><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n![\"Charles](\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/b\/b3\/Charles_Lindbergh_%28Harris_%26_Ewing_photo%2C_cropped%29.jpg\/960px-Charles_Lindbergh_%28Harris_%26_Ewing_photo%2C_cropped%29.jpg\") The Spirit of St. Louis had no forward-facing window. To reduce weight, Lindbergh had replaced the windshield with a large fuel tank. To see ahead, he had to lean out of a side window, or use a periscope he could extend from the instrument panel. He was flying the most famous aeroplane in the world with less visibility than a tank driver.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He flew through sleet. He flew through fog so thick he couldn’t see his wingtips. Somewhere over the North Atlantic, ice began forming on the wings. He descended to within 10 feet of the wave tops to find warmer air. He was so sleep-deprived that he began hallucinating \u2014 seeing ghostly figures in the cockpit beside him, hearing voices. He flew 27 hours before the Irish coast appeared beneath him, exactly where his dead reckoning said it would be.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The Welcome at Le Bourget<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nWhat greeted him at Le Bourget airfield outside Paris on the night of 21 May is one of the most extraordinary scenes in aviation history. An estimated 150,000 people had gathered at the field, their cars forming a vast sea of headlights on the roads for miles around. As the Spirit of St. Louis touched down at 10:24 PM, the crowd surged onto the runway. Police were overwhelmed. Men tore at the fabric of his aircraft for souvenirs. Lindbergh was lifted from the cockpit and carried through the mob on shoulders, his helmet torn from his head. He later said it was the most frightening experience of the flight.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He had done what six pilots before him had died attempting. The Orteig Prize \u2014 $25,000 for the first non-stop transatlantic flight \u2014 had gone unclaimed for eight years. Lindbergh had entered the race on a shoestring budget, backing from a group of St. Louis businessmen, and a plane built in 60 days by a small California company. He had chosen to fly solo to save weight and avoid having to share responsibility.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\n \n \n\u201cWhat kind of man would live where there is no daring? I don’t believe in taking foolish chances, but nothing can be accomplished by not taking a chance at all.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\u2014 Charles Lindbergh \u2014 The Spirit of St. Louis, 1953<\/cite>\n<\/div>\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The flight made Lindbergh the most famous man in the world overnight. He toured 82 cities in 48 states in the Spirit of St. Louis and was received by presidents and kings. The aeroplane is now displayed at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, hanging next to the Wright Flyer \u2014 the two great symbols of American aviation ambition, 24 years apart. Lindbergh’s story is complicated by his pre-war isolationism and sympathy toward Nazi Germany, but the flight itself remains a monument to human courage and preparation. Thirty-three hours. No sleep. No forward-facing window. And a landing so perfect the French crowd wept.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n |