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N0KFQ > TODAY 21.05.12 19:39l 125 Lines 6213 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: Today in History - May 21
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Sent: 120521/1805Z 22683@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.50
May 21, 1927:
Lindbergh lands in Paris
American pilot Charles A. Lindbergh lands at Le Bourget Field in
Paris, successfully completing the first solo, nonstop
transatlantic flight and the first ever nonstop flight between
New York to Paris. His single-engine monoplane, The Spirit of St.
Louis, had lifted off from Roosevelt Field in New York 33 1/2
hours before.
Charles Augustus Lindbergh, born in Detroit in 1902, took up
flying at the age of 20. In 1923, he bought a surplus World War I
Curtiss "Jenny" biplane and toured the country as a barnstorming
stunt flyer. In 1924, he enrolled in the Army Air Service flying
school in Texas and graduated at the top of his class as a first
lieutenant. He became an airmail pilot in 1926 and pioneered the
route between St. Louis and Chicago. Among U.S. aviators, he was
highly regarded.
In May 1919, the first transatlantic flight was made by a U.S.
hydroplane that flew from New York to Plymouth, England, via
Newfoundland, the Azores Islands, and Lisbon. Later that month,
Frenchman Raymond Orteig, an owner of hotels in New York, put up
a purse of $25,000 to the first aviator or aviators to fly
nonstop from Paris to New York or New York to Paris. In June
1919, the British fliers John W. Alcock and Arthur W. Brown made
the first nonstop transatlantic flight, flying 1,960 miles from
Newfoundland to Ireland. The flight from New York to Paris would
be nearly twice that distance.
Orteig said his challenge would be good for five years. In 1926,
with no one having attempted the flight, Orteig made the offer
again. By this time, aircraft technology had advanced to a point
where a few thought such a flight might be possible. Several of
the world's top aviators--including American polar explorer
Richard Byrd, French flying ace Rene Fonck--decided to accept the
challenge, and so did Charles Lindbergh.
Lindbergh convinced the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce to sponsor
the flight, and a budget of $15,000 was set. The Ryan Airlines
Corporation of San Diego volunteered to build a single-engine
aircraft to his specifications. Extra fuel tanks were added, and
the wing span was increased to 46 feet to accommodate the
additional weight. The main fuel tank was placed in front of the
cockpit because it would be safest there in the event of a crash.
This meant Lindbergh would have no forward vision, so a periscope
was added. To reduce weight, everything that was not utterly
essential was left out. There would be no radio, gas gauge,
night-flying lights, navigation equipment, or parachute.
Lindbergh would sit in a light seat made of wicker. Unlike other
aviators attempting the flight, Lindbergh would be alone, with no
navigator or co-pilot.
The aircraft was christened The Spirit of St. Louis, and on May
12, 1927, Lindbergh flew it from San Diego to New York, setting a
new record for the fastest transcontinental flight. Bad weather
delayed Lindbergh's transatlantic attempt for a week. On the
night of May 19, nerves and a newspaperman's noisy poker game
kept him up all night. Early the next morning, though he hadn't
slept, the skies were clear and he rushed to Roosevelt Field on
Long Island. Six men had died attempting the long and dangerous
flight he was about to take.
At 7:52 a.m. EST on May 20, The Spirit of St. Louis lifted off
from Roosevelt Field, so loaded with fuel that it barely cleared
the telephone wires at the end of the runway. Lindbergh traveled
northeast up the coast. After only four hours, he felt tired and
flew within 10 feet of the water to keep his mind clear. As night
fell, the aircraft left the coast of Newfoundland and set off
across the Atlantic. At about 2 a.m. on May 21, Lindbergh passed
the halfway mark, and an hour later dawn came. Soon after, The
Spirit of St. Louis entered a fog, and Lindbergh struggled to
stay awake, holding his eyelids open with his fingers and
hallucinating that ghosts were passing through the cockpit.
After 24 hours in the air, he felt a little more awake and
spotted fishing boats in the water. At about 11 a.m. (3 p.m.
local time), he saw the coast of Ireland. Despite using only
rudimentary navigation, he was two hours ahead of schedule and
only three miles off course. He flew past England and by 3 p.m.
EST was flying over France. It was 8 p.m. in France, and night
was falling.
At the Le Bourget Aerodrome in Paris, tens of thousands of
Saturday night revelers had gathered to await Lindbergh's
arrival. At 10:24 a.m. local time, his gray and white monoplane
slipped out of the darkness and made a perfect landing in the air
field. The crowd surged on The Spirit of St. Louis, and
Lindbergh, weary from his 33 1/2-hour, 3,600-mile journey, was
cheered and lifted above their heads. He hadn't slept for 55
hours. Two French aviators saved Lindbergh from the boisterous
crowd, whisking him away in an automobile. He was an immediate
international celebrity.
President Calvin Coolidge dispatched a warship to take the hero
home, and "Lucky Lindy" was given a ticker-tape parade in New
York and presented with the Congressional Medal of Honor. His
place in history, however, was not complete.
In 1932, he was the subject of international headlines again when
his infant son, Charles Jr., was kidnapped, unsuccessfully
ransomed, and then found murdered in the woods near the Lindbergh
home. German-born Bruno Richard Hauptmann was convicted of the
crime in a controversial trial and then executed. Then, in the
late 1930s and early 1940s, Lindbergh became a spokesperson for
the U.S. isolationism movement and was sharply criticized for his
apparent Nazi sympathies and anti-Semitic views. After the
outbreak of World War II, the fallen hero traveled to the Pacific
as a military observer and eventually flew more than two dozen
combat missions, including one in which he downed a Japanese
aircraft. Lindbergh's war-time service largely restored public
faith in him, and for many years later he worked with the U.S.
government on aviation issues. In 1954, President Dwight D.
Eisenhower appointed him brigadier general in the Air Force
Reserve. He died in Hawaii in 1974.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
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