• If You Are Having Trouble Logging In with Your Old Username and Password, Please use this Forgot Your Password link to get re-established.
  • Hey! Be sure to login or register!

Spirit of St. Louis

WindOnHisNose

BENEFACTOR
Lino Lakes MN (MY18)
We just finished watching "Spirit of St. Louis", the movie with Jimmy Stewart portraying Charles Lindbergh (who grew up in Minnesota) and his epic flight from New York, departing on May 20, 1927, to Paris. We began watching it last evening, on May 20, became too tired to finish it, went to bed, woke up early and took on yard work all day, ate two meals, sat down and finished the movie 24 hours later. Lindbergh still had several hours to go. Solo. Single engine airplane.
It took him 33 hours 30 minutes to make that flight, traveling 3610 miles. That comes out to 107.8 mph...just a bit faster than my Super Cub. Imagine the feat this was, not only in terms of aircraft design, but also in terms of human performance and persistence!
Charles Lindbergh may have later become politically controversial, but his first flight over the Atlantic Ocean was very remarkable, setting the stage for amazing things to follow.
Here's saluting a remarkable event, and a remarkable individual.
Oh, yeah, he did it without GPS...dead reckoning!

Lindbergh.JPG


Randy

 

Attachments

  • Lindbergh.JPG
    Lindbergh.JPG
    97.6 KB · Views: 1,160
And he did it on 1 engine when everyone else wanted multiengine. He realized that simple (kiss) was better.
Flying the Atlantic was easy compared to his former job, flying the mail everyday, in any and all weather

Glenn
 
Last edited:
As I recall the fact that the Wright engine was the first to complete a certain test stand test of so many hours convinced him that the odds were finally very good.
 
As I recall the fact that the Wright engine was the first to complete a certain test stand test of so many hours convinced him that the odds were finally very good.

Mags moved to rear of engine was a huge improvement bathed in the heat

Glenn
 
I believe the Wright J5 was one of the first to complete the 50 hour endurance test? In a later flight by Kingston Smith the J5 ran over 150 hours . They had big oil tanks. Still took som guts.
 
The take off scenes in the movie were filmed at Zahns Airport here on LI. Roosevelt Field and Curtis field adjoined each other in 1927. Now it’s a giant shopping center. In 1977 to Commemorate the 50th anniversary our Antique Airplane Club gathered at Republic Airport where we were joined by a replica of the Spirit. I’m not sure, but it could have been used in the movie, or it was from EAA. This was before the ORA replica was built. His daughter was there and I’m pretty sure Anne Morrow Lindbergh was too.
We flew over Roosevelt Field and then flew the beginning of his track East along the North Shore of LI.
Somewhere I have pictures.

Rich
 
Another Long Island Lindbergh story

Early 70’s a man named George Dade took it upon himself to preserve the early aviation history of Long Island. The result of his work is now a world class museum, The Cradle of Aviation Museum. Located at what used to be Mitchell Field on LI. https://www.cradleofaviation.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIydfW5dTK6QIV9giICR19pQdEEAAYASAAEgI00fD_BwE

Early on George worked from his basement. He had acquired a Curtiss Jenny which some believed had once belonged to Charles. He wrote a letter to Charles who was living in Connecticut at the time asking if there was a way he might verify it. Charles Lindbergh drove to George’s house, went in the basement and showed George an interplane strut in which he had carved his initials. Of course, who knows how much of the rest of the plane was his original, but it could be.

The restored Jenny is in the museum along with pictures of the meeting. And, George Dade was originally from Minnesota! His obituary:http://www.earlyaviators.com/biogdade.htm Below, 16 year old George Dade with Lindbergh at Roosevelt Field after the Paris flight.

Rich
 

Attachments

  • 5493E0AB-9277-42C0-8652-E5CFFAD929AD.jpeg
    5493E0AB-9277-42C0-8652-E5CFFAD929AD.jpeg
    56.2 KB · Views: 137
Last edited:
I think I have seen this movie, but I'll have to watch it again to be sure :oops:

sj
 
There's a gentleman at I believe Gnoss Field north of San Francisco that is building a replica of the Spirit of St Louis (do a google search for his website) I believe it's very close to being completed. He's planning on doing a recreation of the Lindbergh's New York to Paris flight.
 
C.A.L. was quite the writer as well as his wife, Anne. His first book "We" and "The Spirit of St Louis" were, and still are good reads.
Imagine flying all day and then leaving Newfoundland and daylight for a long and lonely night over the Atlantic.

My photo here shows the spinner from the Spirit in the NASM on the Mall in DC.
This spinner did not go across the Atlantic with the Spirit, it developed a crack in NY and another one was made for the actual flight. The replacement spinner did not have the engine turning on it like the rest of the metal work on the cowling. This is the original and is signed by workers at the Ryan factory, one is Doug Corrigan, from "Wrong Way" fame.
What looks like a Swastika is really a good luck symbol that was used for years in many cultures.
In the case are part of his survivor kit, a portion of his ration at the top, some string and fishing cord, a flare and hack saw, matches in a case and needle. The barograph to record the flight is the small wooden box.

IMG_1203 (1024x667).jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1203 (1024x667).jpg
    IMG_1203 (1024x667).jpg
    118.5 KB · Views: 143
I have read those plus his “Autobiography of Values”. A good insight into his beliefs. Whether or not you agree with his views, they were his and finally when FDR agreed CAS could be of some use, he put him in a position to oversee aircraft production. Later he went to the Pacific theater to train P38 pilots on how to get greater fuel endurance. But my favorite scene in the book was something Henry Ford did while he was guiding CAS on a tour of Willow Run.

The factory was humming, everyone working like crazy when they came across a guy sitting on a small box smoking a cigarette. Ford kicked the box from under the guy and said “You’re fired!”

The man got up and said “You can’t fire me. I work for the phone company!”
 
I’ve done a bunch of crossings in a jet, and have relayed position reports for singles and light twins making ferry flights. Even with today’s more reliable power plants I can honestly say I wouldn’t be up for a crossing in a light aircraft. I have a lot of admiration for those that paved the way for us.
 
My father played in the Ryan aircraft at the Smithsonian, the story goes that my grandparents would dump him on my great, great uncle who lived in the castle. He would let my father run a muck. Dad also talked about taking a 22 rifle on the street car from Chevy chase to D.C. to go hunting. The good old days.
 
The Wartime Journals of Charles Lindbergh are good also. The only time he kept a diary.
I also read that. I may have been wrong about the Henry Ford story. It could have been in the Wartime Journals. It was a long time ago when I read them :)
 
Back
Top