The Lone Eagle
At 7:50 am, on May 20, 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh, alone in his small single-engine airplane heavily loaded with gasoline, lifted off the muddy runway of Roosevelt Field on Long Island, New York in a drizzling rain and slowly climbed on a northeasterly course. By nightfall he had left the shores of Newfoundland and had turned east over the Atlantic Ocean.
Through rain, fog, ice and sleet, and struggling to stay awake, on and on droned the little engine all night, all the next day and into the next night. If it quit, he would die in the cold waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. At 10:21 PM, after flying 3,610 miles in 33 1/2 hours, he landed in Paris at LeBourget Field where a crowd of more than 100,000 waited.
At age 25, Charles A. Lindbergh was instantly a world hero. He had performed the greatest feat of any pilot in history, and it still remains the most famous airplane flight of all time. He was decorated by the King of France, the King of Belgium, the King of England and the President of Canada. He was presented the Distinguished Flying Cross and made a Colonel in the Army Air Corps by President Coolidge. He was awarded the first peacetime Congressional Medal of Honor. Medals and gifts poured in from all parts of the world.
Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1902. He attended college for two years at the University of Wisconsin, and then took flying lessons in Lincoln, Nebraska. He made his first solo flight in 1923. He became a flying cadet in the United States air Service Reserve in 1924 and was commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Missouri National Guard. He then entered the United States Air Mail Service, flying between Chicago and St. Louis. Over a two-year period he flew more than 50,000 miles over this route, twice saving his life by jumping out in a parachute. This, by 1927 he was a highly experienced pilot.
In 1919, a $25,000 prize had been offered by a St. Louis businessman for the first nonstop flight between New York and Paris. Four men had already died in an effort to be the first. Lindbergh focused his sights on winning this prize. With $2,000 of his own savings and an additional $13,000 he raised from backers in St. Louis, he contracted with the Ryan Airlines Company in San Diego to build an airplane specifically designed for the mission. Working closely with Ryan's chief engineer, the airplane was designed with emphasis on minimum weight and simplicity. The airplane, which he named "The Spirit of St. Louis", was completed in 60 days. In flying it from San Diego to New York, he set a new cross-country record.
Charles A. Lindbergh was a confident but modest and humble man. He arrived alone and unknown in New York. His solo flight from New York to Paris was a bold act of incredible valor and courage, plus mental and physical endurance, and it was a great step forward in the development of air transportation. People gained confidence in the ability of airplanes to transport them quickly to distant places. He shunned offers to capitalize on his fame and tried to remain a very private person. He served in World War II, flying about fifty missions in P-38 fighter planes in the South Pacific. He is buried in a modest grave in Hawaii. He is remembered as "The Lone Eagle".