Recently, unpublished photos of the first test flight of The Spirit were uncovered:
It's hard to overstate the importance of the flight. It sparked an interest in aviation that lasted in this country for most of the rest of the century. For decades, a common refrain of the early builders of experimental (amateur) airplanes was that they became interested in flying after Lindbergh's flight. Some of them told of seeing The Spirit of St Louis on its tour in the year after the flight to Paris.
Lindbergh's arrival airport, Le Bourget Field, is still in use. His departure airport, Roosevelt Field, was taken over by a developer who turned it into a shopping mall. The tragedies and controversies of Lindbergh's later life are beyond the scope of this post.
"The Greatest Man in the World"
ReplyDeletehttp://storyoftheweek.loa.org/2015/10/the-greatest-man-in-world.html
... turned it into a shopping mall ...
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily off topic: eighty, hundred years ago the shopping mall down the street was the world's single largest white pine production facility. And at the time a young female pilot was both married to the publisher of the local rag and honing her skills out at the local Army field for her attempt at an around the world flight. Popular gal, some (very) few still remember her. Not doubt an influence on future pilots.
TTB- any details? like a name, maybe?
ReplyDelete