SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS
LESS THAN A HUNDRED
YEARS AGO, TRAVELERS CROSSING THE
ATLANTIC OCEAN HAD ONLY ONE CHOICE:
LARGE SHIPS CALLED OCEAN LINERS.
The vast distance of open water was a barrier, both psychologically and physically. Airplanes were still a new technology. Their engines were not powerful enough and their frames not sturdy enough to carry the heavy fuel load needed to travel long distances. The first successful flight across the Atlantic occurred in 1919. A U.S. Navy "flying boat" with a crew of six left from New York and hopped across the Atlantic following a northern route that ended in Portugal. Two weeks later two British aviators flew a nonstop route from Newfoundland to Ireland. Within eight years more than one hundred people had flown across the Atlantic—but no one had flown alone.
A New York hotel owner named Raymond Orteig wanted to encourage the progress of flight. He offered $25,000 to the first aviators to fly directly across the Atlantic Ocean between New York and Paris. He was sure it could be done.
Many pilots made the attempt, and some died trying. Finally, on May 20–21, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh, a young airmail pilot and barnstormer, succeeded. He flew his Ryan NYP, named the Spirit of St. Louis, on the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic. He traveled from New York to Paris, a distance of about 3,610 miles (5,800 kilometers). He fought exhaustion for thirty-three and a half hours—after having been awake for the entire day before his takeoff from Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York. Fortunately, the Spirit, unstable because of its small fin and rudder, woke him several times as it started to spin out of control. Lindbergh's fatigue disappeared when he made landfall over Ireland and realized that he would reach his goal in a few more hours.
When he arrived over Paris, it was nighttime and he wasn't exactly sure where the airport was located. Then he noticed long lines of headlights leading to a brightly lit field. He had no idea that there was a crowd of 150,000 people waiting to greet him.
The instant he landed at Le Bourget Airport, Charles Lindbergh became an international celebrity. People around the world were amazed by his daring feat and called him "Lucky Lindy." By flying directly over the Atlantic Ocean from one large city to another, he demonstrated that vast distances were no longer barriers. After this, long-distance air travel would quickly become a reality.
Immense crowds welcomed him wherever he went: Europe, the United States, and Latin America. Fame engulfed him. Many other famous people wanted to meet him—including King George V of Britain. He had followed Lindbergh's flight with great interest and had one burning question for the aviator: He wanted to know how Lindbergh had urinated during his flight.
The fact that Lindbergh had survived the flight was astounding, but that he had chosen to fly in a single-engine plane was even more incredible. What if the engine had failed? In addition, to save weight and allow for more fuel, he hadn't carried a radio or a parachute.
Who was this unknown young man with such confidence? Lindbergh once said, "What kind of man would live where there is no danger? I don't believe in taking foolish chances. But nothing can be accomplished by not taking a chance at all."
Born a year before the first airplane flew, Lindbergh grew up on a farm in Minnesota. He dropped out of college after two years because he wanted to fly. After a few years in the Army training to be an Army Air Service reserve pilot, he took a job flying the mail between Chicago and St. Louis. He was only twenty-five years old when he made his transatlantic flight and suddenly became one of the most famous people on the planet. And Lindbergh's triumphant flight drew the attention and adulation of his fellow Americans most of all.
Before Lindbergh's transatlantic flight, few people flew. His achievement revealed the huge potential of air travel. Public investment in aviation stocks soared as interest in the newly formed airlines increased, giving the industry a solid financial foundation. Lindbergh actively promoted the rapid growth of the U.S. airline industry. He continued to fly and, along with his wife, Anne, took several long-distance flights to survey possible commercial air routes. Lindbergh supported commercial aviation throughout his life. He was also friends with the rocket pioneer Robert Goddard, and he lived to see men walk on the Moon.