by Dan Hampton
Sharon Smith, Dennis Northcott, and Jaime Bourassa gave me several days at the Missouri Historical Society and full access to an amazing collection of Lindbergh’s maps, logs, artifacts, decorations, and private letters. My grateful thanks also to Jeff Duford, Teresa Montgomery, and Brett Stole of the National Museum of the Air Force. As always, my friends Greg Anderson and Marilyn Chang of the Wings Over the Rockies Museum were quick to volunteer their time to help. My special gratitude to Julia Blum of the Cradle of Aviation Museum, who helped me reconstruct Roosevelt Field as it existed in May, 1927. Additional thanks to Guy Aceto for his inexhaustible list of contacts, and to Loren Hardenburgh, archivist of Sidwell Friends School.
Ron Twellman of the Experimental Aircraft Association was kind enough to host me for a day with his superb, flyable replica of the Spirit of St. Louis, answering the technical questions that made writing this from the cockpit possible. Nova Hall, grandson of the Spirit’s designer, Donald Hall, was kind enough to provide details regarding the plane’s construction. Both Reeve Lindbergh and Erik Lindbergh, after a lifetime of nagging from a procession of authors, were gracious and extremely tolerant of my questions—thank you. My appreciation goes out to John Petersen of the Lindbergh Foundation for putting me in touch with both of them.
I wish to add a tremendous gesture of thanks to my French researcher, Christophe Blondel: pour sa patience et l’assistance gracieuse qu’il m’a apportée pour relever, dans la presse française de l’époque, des détails concernant l’arrivée de Lindbergh au Bourget et son bref séjour à Paris.
As always, I owe a debt of gratitude to everyone at HarperCollins who turns these ideas into a book on a shelf. I am especially thankful for the patience and professionalism of my friend Peter Hubbard, executive editor at HarperCollins; his able assistant, Nick Amphlett; and their long-suffering boss, Liate Stehlik, who keeps approving my projects. Kaitlyn Kennedy is truly the most energetic, motivated, and professional publicist with whom it has been my pleasure to work. Last but never least, none of this would ever be possible without the tolerance, forbearance, and assistance of my family.
GLOSSARY
AILERON: A control surface mounted on a wing, near the tips, that alters the camber of an airfoil when deflected. Used to bank, roll, and climb.
AIRFOIL: A cross-sectional view of a wing or propeller blade.
AIRSPEED INDICATOR: An instrument that displays the relative, or indicated, speed of an aircraft.
ANGLE OF ATTACK: The angle between the relative incoming wind and the longitudinal axis of the aircraft.
BANK: To turn an aircraft by tilting its wings laterally.
CAMBER: The measured difference between the top and bottom of an airfoil.
CARBURETOR: A mechanical device that combines fuel and air for combustion.
CEILING: The surface of the lowest layer of cloud measured up from the earth’s surface.
CHORD LINE: A line drawn from the leading edge to the trailing edge of a wing.
CIRRUS: Wispy, thin strands of high-level clouds.
COMPASS HEADING: A reading from a compass used to maintain a desired direction of flight.
COMPASS ROSE: A 360-degree graduated circle used for navigation.
COURSE: An aircraft’s path across the ground. Either plotted or actual, and not corrected for wind.
COWLING: A removable metal cover for an aircraft engine.
CRAB: To angle into a crosswind to maintain a course.
CUMULUS: Heavier, billowing clouds that often develop into thunderstorms.
DEVIATION: Caused by magnetism from the earth and aircraft. For navigation this is an angular difference between the compass heading and magnetic north.
EARTH INDUCTOR COMPASS: Uses variations in electrical current relative to the earth’s magnetic field to display navigation information.
ELEVATOR: A hinged airfoil on the horizontal stabilizer’s trailing edge used for climbing and descending.
EMPENNAGE: The parts that make up the tail assembly of an aircraft.
FUSELAGE: The main body of an aircraft.
GREAT CIRCLE: A circle cut through the surface of a sphere.
INCLINOMETER: An instrument that displays changes in an aircraft’s nose position: up, down, or level.
LANDFALL: Sighting of land following an extended over-water period.
MAGNETIC COURSE: Direction of flight relative to magnetic north.
MAGNETO: A dynamo that produces continuous electrical current for ignition.
MIXTURE: The combination of fuel and air used in the engine’s combustion sequence; regulated by the pilot.
OPERATIONS: A building on an airfield from which flying is managed.
PITCH: The aircraft’s nose position relative to the horizon.
PITOT TUBE: An open-ended cylinder pointed into the airstream that measures impact air pressure. This is then displayed in the cockpit as miles per hour.
QUARTERING WIND: Either a headwind or tailwind striking the aircraft at 45 degrees or less.
ROCKER ARM: A mechanism that reverses valve pushrods on an internal combustion engine.
ROLL: A complete rotation around the longitudinal axis.
RUDDER: A hinged airfoil on the vertical tail used to turn an aircraft longitudinally in flight, and for directional control on the ground.
RUDDER BAR: Moved by the pilot’s feet to operate the rudder.
SKID: An uncoordinated maneuver away from the direction of turn. Sometimes used in an aircraft with poor forward visibility in order for the pilot to see during a turn.
SPAN: The straight distance between an aircraft’s wingtips.
SPIN: A degree of roll and yaw together that stalls the aircraft.
STABILIZER: A vertical or horizontal airfoil, smaller than a wing or a tail, for increased stability.
STALL: Insufficient airflow over the wings for flight; caused by maneuvers or a lack of airspeed or a combination of both.
TACHOMETER: An instrument that displays an engine’s revolutions per minute.
TURBULENCE: Unstable, rough air caused by convection currents or wind.
VARIATION: Angular difference between magnetic north and true north.
WIND SOCK: A cone-shaped bag used on an airfield to display the relative windspeed and direction. The large end pivots into the wind.
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
COLLECTIONS
Archives of the First Maritime Region of Cherbourg.
Bibliothèque Nationale de France [National Library of France].Gallica. http://gallica.bnf.fr. Accessed April 25–30, 2016.
Cradle of Aviation Museum.
Missouri Historical Society: Lindbergh Collection.
Musée de l’Air, Paris.
National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution: Lindbergh Collection.
National Museum of the Air Force.
Regional Archives from Paris and the Île-de-France Region.
Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum.
Yale University Library, Manuscripts and Archives: Lindbergh Papers.
AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
Elizabeth Borja, Christophe Blondel, Julia Blum, Jeff Duford, Ric Gillespie, Nova Hall, Loren Hardenburgh, Erik Lindbergh, Reeve Lindbergh, Dr. Bob Van Der Linden, Judith Schiff, Kermit Weeks.
BOOKS, PERIODICALS, AND GOVERNMENT REPORTS
Abbott, Patrick. Airship: The Story of R.34 and the First East–West Crossing of the Atlantic by Air. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1973.
Allen, Frederick Lewis. Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920s. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1931.
Allen, Peter C. The 91 Before Lindbergh. Shrewsbury, England: Airlife, 1985.
Anderson, John D. A History of Aerodynamics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Bailey, F. W., and Christopher Cony. The French Air Service War Chronology, 1914–1918. London: Grub Street, 2001.
Bak, Richard. The Big Jump: Lindbergh and the Great Atlantic Air Race. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011.
Berg, A. Scott. Lindbergh. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1998.
Bouché, Henri, ed. “L’Aéronautique Marchand; L’aéroport de Paris: Le Bourget.” L’Aéronautique 128–39: 493–94.
British Pathé. http://www.britishpathe.com. Accessed March 18–20, 2016.
Brown, Sir John Alcock, and Sir Arthur Whitten. Our Transatlantic Flight. London: William Kimber, 1969.
Byrd, Richard E. Skyward. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1928.
Casey, Steven. Cautious Crusade. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Cassagneres, Ev. The Spirit of Ryan. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: Tab Books, 1982.
Chamberlin, Clarence D. Record Flights. New York: Dorrance, 1928.
Coombs, L. F. E. Control in the Sky: The Evolution & History of the Aircraft Cockpit. Barnsley, England: Pen & Sword Books, 2005.
Coppens, Willy. “La veridique histoire de l’arrive de Charles Lindbergh au Bourget.” Icare 81 (Summer 1977): 65–75.
Crouch, Tom, ed. Charles A. Lindbergh: An American Life. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1977.
d’Ahertze, Jean Claude. “One of Lindbergh’s Doubles Tells How It All Happened.” New York Times, July 13, 1930.
Davies, R. E. G. Charles Lindbergh: An Airman, His Aircraft, and His Great Flights. McLean, VA: Paladwr Press, 1997.
Davis, Kenneth S. The Hero: Charles A. Lindbergh and the American Dream. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1959.
DeBruyne, Nese F., and Anne Leyland. American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 2015.
de Camp, L. Sprague. The Great Monkey Trial. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1968.
de la Croix, Robert. They Flew the Atlantic. Translated by Edward Fitzgerald. Derby, CT: Monarch Books, 1958.
Duffy, James P. Lindbergh vs. Roosevelt. New York: MJF Books, 2010.
Duford, Jeff. The 1926–1927 Pan American Goodwill Fliers, Lindbergh, and the First Distinguished Flying Cross. Dayton, OH: National Museum of the Air Force, 2009.
du Gard, Dr. Rene Coulet. Nungesser et Coli Disparaissent à Bord de l’Oiseau Blanc, Mai 1927. Paris: Government of France, 1984.
Dutton, Commander Benjamin. Navigation and Nautical Astronomy. Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute Press, 1951.
Dwiggins, Don. The Barnstormers. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1968.
“The English Channel.” In The Columbia Encylopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. https://www.fbi.gov/philadelphia/about-us/history/famous-cases. Accessed May 25, 2016.
Fife, George Buchanan. Lindbergh: The Lone Eagle. Cleveland: World Syndicate, 1927.
Fredette, Raymond H. “The Making of a Hero: What Really Happened Seventy-Five Years Ago After Lindbergh Landed at Le Bourget.” In Colonel Walter J. Boyne, Today’s Best Military Writing, 147–74. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 2004.
Garreau, Charles. Nungesser et Coli; premier vainquers de l’Atlantique. Paris: Acropole, 1990.
Gill, Brendan. Lindbergh Alone. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977.
Gillespie, Ric. Project Midnight Ghost. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), 1992.
Grierson, John. I Remember Lindbergh. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1977.
Groom, Winston. The Aviators. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2013.
Guggenheim, Harry F. The Seven Skies. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1928.
Gunston, Bill. Piston Aero Engines. Sparkford, England: Patrick Stephens, 1993.
. The World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines. Sparkford, England: Patrick Stephens, 1995.
Haines, Lynn, and Dora B. Haines. “The Lindberghs: The Family’s Own Story.” McCall’s, 1931, pp. 62–63.
Hall, Donald A. Technical Preparation of the Airplane “Spirit of St. Louis.” Technical Notes. Washington, DC: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, 1927.
Hall, Nova. Spirit and Creator. Sheffield, MA: ATN, 2002.
Hampton, Dan. Lords of the Sky. New York: HarperCollins, 2014.
Heinmuller, John P. V. Man’s Fight to Fly. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1944.
Hixon, Walter L. Charles A. Lindbergh: Lone Eagle. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.
Hoare, Robert J. Wings Over the Atlantic. Boston: Charles T. Branford, 1957.
Huttig, Jack. 1927: Summer of Eagles. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1980.
Jones, E. T. “The Development of the Wright Whirlwind Type J-5 Aircraft Engine.” SAE Journal 19, no. 3 (September 1926): 303–8.
Keyhoe, Donald E. Flying with Lindbergh. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1928.
Kyvig, David E. Daily Life in the United States, 1920–1940. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 2004.
Lawrance, Charles L. “Air-Cooled Engine Development.” SAE Journal 10, no. 2 (February 1922): 135–41, 144.
. “Modern American Aircraft Engine Development.” Aviation 22 (March 1926): 411–15.
“Lighted Airways over Atlantic Predicted.” Popular Mechanics, December 1923, pp. 26–31.
Lindbergh, Charles A. “And Then I Jumped.” Saturday Evening Post, July 23, 1927, pp. 6–7.
. “Appeal for Isolation.” Congressional Digest. Radio address, October 1, 1939.
. Autobiography of Values. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1976.
. Boyhood on the Upper Mississippi. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1972.
. “Feel the Earth.” Reader’s Digest, July 1972, pp. 62–65.
. “Lindbergh’s Own Story of His New York–Paris Flight.” New York Times, May 23–24, 1927.
. “Making of an Air Mail Pilot.” World’s Work, September 1927, pp. 472–81.
. Of Flight and Life. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948.
. “Our Best Chance to Survive.” Saturday Evening Post, July 17, 1954.
. The Spirit of St. Louis. New York: Scribner, 1953.
. “Thoughts of a Combat Pilot.” Saturday Evening Post, October 2, 1954, pp. 20–21.
. The Wartime Journals. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1979.
. “We.” New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1927.
Lindbergh, Reeve. Under a Wing: A Memoir. New York: Delta, 1999.
Little Falls High School. Lindbergh the Flier of Little Falls. Little Falls, MN: Little Falls High School, 1928.
McCutcheon, Kimble D. “Aero Engines.” http://www.pilotfriend.com. Accessed January 2013.
Mencken, H. L. Heathen Days, 1890–1936. New York: Knopf, 1943.
Milton, Joyce. Loss of Eden: A Biography of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. New York: HarperCollins, 1993.
Mindell, David A. Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing Before Cybernetics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
Mosley, Leonard. Lindbergh: A Biography. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976.
Mott, Bentley T. Myron T. Herrick: Friend of France. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1929.
National Center for Education Statistics. 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait. Edited by Tom Snyder. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, 1993.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://www.noaa.gov/maps. Accessed March 12–13, 2016.
New York Times Archives. http://query.nytimes.com. Accessed January–May 2016.
Okrent, Daniel. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. New York: Scribner, 2010.
Pisano, Dominick A., and F. Robert van der Linden. Charles Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2002.
Rare and Early Newspapers. http://www.rarenewspapers.com. Accessed December 2015–March 2016.
Ross, Walter S. The Last Hero: Charles A. Lindbergh. New York: Harper & Row, 1976.
Seeger, Eric H., ed. A Century of Manned Powered Flight. Tampa, FL: Faircount, 2003.
Smithsonian National Air and Space
Museum. http://airandspace.si.edu. Accessed November 15–20, 2016.
Sullivan, Mark. Our Times: The Twenties. New York: Scribner’s, 1935.
United States Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov. Accessed November 2015–May 2016.
United States Department of Commerce. Statistical Abstract of the United States 1919. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1920.
. Statistical Abstract of the United States 1925. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1926.
. Statistical Abstract of the United States 1928. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1928.
United States Department of State. The Flight of Captain Charles A. Lindbergh from New York to Paris, May 20–21, 1927. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1927.
United States Postal Service. http://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history. Accessed December 5–7, 2015.
Van Every, Dale, and Morris de Haven Tracy. Lindbergh: His Life. New York: Appleton, 1927.
Waller, Douglas. A Question of Loyalty. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.
Wildenberg, Thomas. Billy Mitchell’s War with the Navy. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2013.
Works Progress Administration. Inventory of County Archives of Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Records Project, 1940.
Wright Aeronautical Corporation. Wright Aviation Engines: Technical Features of the 1927 Production Model of the Wright Whirlwind 200-225 H.P. Nine Cylinder Air-Cooled Radial Engine. Paterson, NJ: Wright Aeronautical Corporation, 1927.
NEWSPAPERS
Baltimore Sun, Boston Post, Chicago Evening Post, Chicago Tribune, Dearborn Independent, Humanité, La Presse, Times (London), Milwaukee Journal, New York American, New York Daily News, New York Herald, New York Sun, New York Times, Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, San Antonio Evening News, Washington Herald, Washington Post, Washington Times.
NOTES AND SOURCES
The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific entry, please use your e-book reader’s search tools.
ONE: THE FIRST HOURS
13 Fueling was finished at Roosevelt Davis, The Hero, p. 85.
14 I must hold the plane straight Lindbergh, The Spirit of St. Louis (SOSL), p. 186, para. 2.
