Lindbergh's Atlantic Flight

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LINDBERGH'S ATLANTIC FLIGHT

LINDBERGH'S ATLANTIC FLIGHT. The first nonstop flight from New York to Paris and the first solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, 20–21 May 1927. When Charles Lindbergh, a handsome and charming airmail pilot, landed in Paris after a thirty-three-and-a-half-hour journey, he instantly became an international superstar and America's most-loved living hero. At Le Bourget Air Field, he was cheered by 150,000 Parisians, some of whom stole pieces of his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis

(named by his financial backers from that city). Three weeks later, on "Lindbergh Day" in New York, the city closed the stock exchange and public schools, and more than four million people lined the parade route.

Transatlantic flight captured the Western imagination for several reasons. In the golden age of mass entertainment, Lindbergh's attempt had the feel of a great sporting event. Fans held their breath during the suspenseful fifteen-hour Atlantic crossing, and they followed Lindbergh's progress in exhilarating stages as the Spirit of St. Louis was sighted over Ireland, then England, and finally France. Lloyd's of London put odds on the flight. Transatlantic air travel also marked another step in the march of scientific advancement. The Wright brothers had pulled off the first minute-long flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, just twenty-four years earlier, and already an aviator had made the New York to Paris run.

Most importantly, however, Lindbergh seemed to embody true heroism—one brave man risking his life for the sake of human progress. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote that Lindbergh resurrected the "old best dreams" of a culture infatuated with "country clubs and speak-easies." Lindbergh's accomplishment took on even greater heroic proportions because it coincided with improvements in media technology. News outlets were able to follow the odyssey almost in real time, and the newsreels of the takeoff were some of the first to synchronize picture and sound.

Few observers expected Lindbergh to succeed. In 1919, a wealthy flying enthusiast offered a $25,000 prize to the first aviator to fly from New York to Paris or vice versa without stopping, and dozens of famous pilots had tried and failed. Just two weeks before Lindbergh took off, a pair of Frenchmen bound for New York disappeared somewhere over the Atlantic. Moreover, while most attempts involved teams of pilots and massive aircrafts, Lindbergh flew alone and with only one engine. He wanted control over every aspect of the flight, fewer moving parts that could malfunction, less total weight, and more fuel capacity.