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N0KFQ > TODAY 21.05.11 00:37l 36 Lines 1499 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 7997_KB0WSA
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - May 20
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<ON0AR<HS1LMV<CX2SA<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 110520/2233Z 7997@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
May 20, 1927:
Spirit of St. Louis departs
At 7:52 a.m., American aviator Charles A. Lindbergh takes off
from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York, on the world's
first solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean and the
first ever nonstop flight between New York to Paris.
Lindbergh, a daring young airmail pilot, was a dark horse when he
entered a competition with a $25,000 payoff to fly nonstop from
New York to Paris. He ordered a small monoplane, configured it to
his own design, and christened it the Spirit of St. Louis in
tribute to his sponsor--the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce.
On May 20, 1927, a rainy morning, he took off from Roosevelt
Field, but his monoplane was so loaded down with fuel that it
barely cleared the telephone wires at the end of the runway. He
flew northeast up the East Coast and as night fell left
Newfoundland and headed across the North Atlantic. His greatest
challenge was staying awake; he had to hold his eyelids open with
his fingers and hallucinated ghosts passing through the cockpit.
The next afternoon, after flying 3,610 miles in 33 1/2 hours,
Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget field in Paris, becoming the first
pilot to accomplish the solo, nonstop transatlantic crossing.
Lindbergh's achievement made him an international celebrity and
won widespread public acceptance of the airplane and commercial
aviation.
73, K.O. n0kfq
Another old retired guy
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@centurytel.net
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