360Charles Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic
On 20 and 21 May 1927, the American pilot Charles Lindbergh flew alone and non-stop from New York to Paris in the Spirit of St. Louis, a single-engine plane. The 5,800 km flight took 33 and a half hours. He won a $25,000 prize, and huge crowds greeted him. The flight inspired public enthusiasm for air travel.
In 1919, the hotel owner Raymond Orteig offered $25,000 for the first non-stop flight between New York and Paris. Several famous pilots tried and failed, and some died.
Charles Lindbergh, a 25-year-old airmail pilot, persuaded businessmen in St Louis to back him. The Ryan company in San Diego built a plane with extra fuel tanks, so large that he could not see directly ahead and used a periscope.
He took off from Roosevelt Field, New York, early on 20 May 1927. He flew through fog and darkness, fighting sleep, navigating by compass and dead reckoning.
He landed at Le Bourget airfield near Paris on the night of 21 May, where about 150,000 people were waiting. He became an international celebrity, and interest in flying and air travel soared.
- 1919
- The Orteig Prize is offered
- 20 May 1927
- Lindbergh takes off from New York
- 21 May 1927
- He lands in Paris
Sources: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum · Britannica.