The Flight
Page 29
route, 13, 25–27, 126–27, 172–74, 189–90
sleep, desire for, 60–61, 149, 153, 154, 160, 164, 177, 235
spotting of fishing boats, 185–87, 190
spotting of porpoises and gulls, 175, 183
squalls and storms, 69–79, 143–46
sunrise and daylight, 155–56
takeoff at Roosevelt Field, 11–12, 13–19
Transcontinental Air Transport, 259, 260n
Transcontinental & Western Air, 260n
Treaty of Versailles, 102, 263
Trepassey, 53, 92–93
Trevose Head, 201n
“Trimmed,” 83
Trocadero Palace, 215n, 244
True north, 63
True-Story (magazine), 104
Turn indicator, 138, 138n, 160
Unemployment, 114
United Aircraft Corporation, 265
United Gas Corporation, 120
United Mine Workers, 114
University of Chicago, 120
University of Michigan, 37, 38, 44
University of Wisconsin, 56–57, 58, 258
Valbuena Airport, 259
Valdinoci, Carlo, 113n
Valentia (Valencia) Island, 189–90, 189n, 190n, 193–94
Valentino, Rudolph, 110
Vanderbilt, William K., II, 58n
Vanzetti, Bartolomeo, 116–17, 117n
Variation, defined, 278
Venturi tube, 86
Ver-sur-Mer, 209n
Vickers Vimy, 54
Victoria, Queen, 40
Vikings, 34, 90n, 206
Villacoublay, 4
Virgin Islands, 40–41
Volstead Act, 107
Vought F4U Corsair, 265, 266
Wahgoosh (dog), 45, 161
Wales, Hank, 235
“Walking the rudder,” 14, 65, 189
Waller, Douglas, 124
Wanamaker, Rodman, 131
Waregem, 246
Warner Bros., 110
Warren truss, 73
Wartime Journals (Lindbergh), xi
Wartime Prohibition Act of 1918, 106, 107
Wartime rations, 103
Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System, 122
Washington Navy Yard, 251–52
Washington Star, 236
Washington University, 258
Wayne, John, 265n
“We” (Lindbergh), 235
Weather Bureau, U.S., 31, 137, 146, 156, 162, 227
Weather forecasting, 75
Webb, Matthew, 206–7
Weiss, Pierre, 229, 230–32, 230n
Weissmuller, Johnny, 104
Western Air, 260n
Western Union, 68
Weyerhaeuser Syndicate, 39
Wheeler, Harry, 230, 230n, 231
White Bear Bay, 79
White House, 45
Whitten-Brown, Arthur, 54–55, 95
Wilbur Glenn Voliva, 106
Wilhelm II, German Emperor, 48, 103, 112
Willard, Frances, 111–12
William the Conqueror, 206
Wilson, Woodrow, 45, 118–19
Wind, 172–73
Wind sock, defined, 278
Wind velocity, 159, 173
Wingspan, 71–72, 83–84
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), 106, 108, 111–12
Women’s suffrage, 46
Woodrow Wilson Foundation, 256
Woolworth Building, 104
Wooster, Stanton, 15, 18, 133
World War I, 48–49, 50, 102–3, 114, 227–28
World War II, 261–68
World Wildlife Fund, 269
Wright, Wilbur, 41
Wright Aeronautical Corporation, 28, 74, 130, 132, 136–37
Wright-Bellanca WB-2, 132. See also Miss Columbia
Wright Whirlwind J-5C engine, 12, 15, 74–75, 84, 85–86, 127–28, 130–31, 136–37, 213, 240
Wyche, John, 179
Yale University Library, xi
Yankee Stadium, 96–97
Young, Clarence, 22
PHOTOS SECTION
Charles Augustus Lindbergh, the “Lone Eagle.”
(New York Public Library)
Congressman and lawyer Charles August “C. A.” Lindbergh, with young Charles, circa 1910.
(United States Air Force)
“Old Swede” Lindbergh, as Charles was known during his Army Air Service days: 1924–1925.
(United States Air Force)
Billed as the “Daredevil Lindbergh” on the barnstorming circuit, Charles would perform wild stunts, fall off a wing, and parachute to earth in order to attract paying customers.
(San Diego Air and Space Museum Archives)
Charles Lindbergh adjusting his parachute before a flight test of an experimental plane. Lambert Field, St. Louis, Missouri, 1925.
(Library of Congress)
Cover page from the Orteig Prize official rules pamphlet.
(Author photograph at the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center)
French aviation legends and Great War combat veterans, Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli attempted the Atlantic crossing from Paris to New York on May 8, 1927. They disappeared in the White Bird and were never seen again.
Lindbergh in his Spirit of St. Louis. Note the magnetic compass mounted above his head. It was read backward in a mirror mounted on the instrument panel.
(Agence Rol/Gallica)
The original receipt for the Spirit of St. Louis.
(Author photograph at the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center)
Installation of the nine-cylinder Wright Whirlwind J-5C. Assembled by hand, the engine performed at least 14,472,000 perfectly timed explosions during the New York-to-Paris flight.
(Library of Congress)
Cockpit of the Spirit of St. Louis. Forward visibility was only possible through a periscope viewed through the rectangular cutout left of center. Note the scratched hash marks on the upper left where Lindbergh kept a running tally of fuel consumed.
The man and his aircraft. Note the fuselage-mounted vane aft of the wing. This connected to the generator that powered the earth inductor compass.
(Library of Congress)
Even with side windows installed, the Spalding flying suit was usually neces-sary as the temperature normally fell below freezing around 8,000 feet. The wood plank beneath the fuselage is to keep the tailskid from sinking into the mud.
(Library of Congress)
Spirit of St. Louis waiting to make history. Lined up facing east on Roosevelt Field, May 20, 1927.
Check and recheck! Knowing his life hung in the balance, Lindbergh was meticulous and precise in caring for the Spirit. Aided by tech reps Karl Boedecker, Ed Mulligan, and Brice Goldsborough, nothing was left to chance.
The Mercator projection chart showing the first phase of Lindbergh’s planned route.
(Author photograph at the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center)
National Weather Bureau forecast given to Lindbergh by James “Doc” Kimball.
(Author photograph at the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center)
In-flight photo of the Spirit. The poor visibility from the cockpit is obvious. Lindbergh’s face is barely discernible through the port window.
The final phase of Lindbergh’s planned route. Note the lack of detail on the European mainland.
(Author photograph at the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center)
Lindbergh’s position log. Striving to keep this updated was one of many self-imposed tasks he used to remain awake.
(Author photograph at the Missouri History Museum Library and Research Center)
Rare in-flight shot with the skylight clearly visible over the cockpit. As of 1926, registration numbers were required by the Department of Commerce. The Spirit of St. Louis was North American, Experimental, number 211, and remains so today.
(Agence Rol/Gallica)
10:22 p
.m, May 21, 1927. After more than thirty-three hours in the air, Lindbergh and the Spirit come in over the hangers at Le Bourget to land. The spotlight, and several others like it, were the only source of lighting for the tired pilot.
(Alamy)
Rescued from the mob, the Spirit is surrounded by a protective cordon as it is wheeled into Hanger Five at Le Bourget.
(Gallica)
An amazing aerial view of the Spirit after landing in France. The sheer mass of people gives a good idea of the hysterical enthusiasm generated by Lindbergh’s feat.
(National Geographic collection)
The world gone wild! In the United States alone, an extra 25,000 tons of newspapers were delivered heralding Lindbergh’s arrival in Paris.
(From The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh)
Man of the hour: Lindbergh’s quiet nature and modest, unassuming demeanor were a tonic to a nation in the midst of tremendous, often disconcerting changes.
(New York Public Library)
The Parisians loved Charles Lindbergh. His impromptu visit to Charles Nungesser’s mother and his donation of a 150,000-franc prize to fallen French aviators forever endeared him to the French people.
(Gallica)
Welcome home for the newest national hero. 500,000 congratulatory airmail letters were received in Washington, D.C., alone.
(From The Spirit of St. Louis)
Celebrated with banquets, speeches, and award ceremonies, America could never get enough of Charles Lindbergh in 1927, fueling a wave of souvenirs and memorabilia.
Time magazine’s first “Man of the Year.”
New York City welcomes the nation’s hero, June 13, 1927. Estimating crowds at four million, the New York Times called the ticker-tape parade along lower Broadway “the greatest reception the city has ever accorded a private citizen.”
Lindbergh and Raymond Orteig, 1927. Though technically Slim didn’t qualify for the prize due to the timing of his application, no one considered denying him the honor. At left, an invitation to the presentation of the Orteig Prize.
(New York Public Library; Alan R. Hawley)
Lindbergh meeting with President Coolidge in Washington.
(Library of Congress)
Lindbergh Air Mail stamp, issued less than a month after Spirit landed in Paris. As hoped, the flight proved the viability of commercial aviation.
After returning to the United States, Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis visited eighty-two cities in all forty-eight states. Spirit’s last flight was to Bolling Field near Washington, D.C., and it was placed in the Smithsonian Institution, where it remains today.
The circle closes: Charles Lindbergh (above, left) at the White House with Apollo 7 and 8 astronauts, December 1968. Paying homage to Lindbergh’s 1927 flight, NASA’s Wernher von Braun said of the Apollo program: “The moon is our Paris.”
After 489 hours, 28 minutes in flight, the Spirit of St. Louis forever remains airborne in the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.
(Library of Congress)
New worlds: A 2015 image from NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Opportunity of the “Spirit of St. Louis Crater” and the “Lindbergh Mound,” the dramatic rock spire within the 3–4-billion-year-old Martian crater. “The MER team stands on the shoulders of many giants of exploration and discovery and we were delighted to shift into a naming convention based on one of the great adventurers who proceeded us, Charles Lindbergh, and the flight of the Spirit of Saint Louis aircraft—what a great tribute to an amazing feat,” said Ray Arvidson, MER deputy principal investigator.
(NASA/JPL/Cornell/Ken Kremer/Marco Di Lorenzo)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAN HAMPTON is the New York Times bestselling author of Viper Pilot, Lords of the Sky, and The Hunter Killers, as well as a novel, The Mercenary. During his twenty years (1986–2006) of service in the United States Air Force, Colonel Hampton received four Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor, a Purple Heart, eight Air Medals with Valor, five Meritorious Service medals, and numerous other citations. He is a graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School, USN Top Gun School (TOGS), and USAF Special Operations School. A frequent guest analyst on CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC discussing foreign affairs, military, aviation, and intelligence issues, he has published in Aviation History, Airpower, the Journal of Electronic Defense, Air Force Magazine, Vietnam magazine, and Dartmouth College’s Clamantis literary journal, and written several classified tactical works for the USAF Weapons Review.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
ALSO BY DAN HAMPTON
NONFICTION
The Hunter Killers
Lords of the Sky
Viper Pilot
FICTION
The Mercenary
COPYRIGHT
THE FLIGHT. Copyright © 2017 by Ascalon, LLC. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Cover design by Owen Corrigan
Cover photographs: (c) Bettmann/Getty Images (Lindbergh); (c) Keystone-France/Getty Images (airplane); (c) American Geographical Society Library (map)
Print ISBN 978-0-06-246439-2
EPub Edition May 2017 ISBN 9780062464415
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* H50, of the Royal Navy.
* Named for President Theodore Roosevelt’s youngest son, twenty-year-old Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt. A fighter pilot with the 95th Aero Squadron, Quentin was killed in a dogfight over Chamery, France, on July 14, 1918. Sagamore Hill, the Roosevelt estate in Oyster Bay, lies about ten miles north of Lindbergh’s take-off point.
* Charles Clavier, a radio operator, and Jacob Islamoff, a Sikorsky mechanic, were killed. Fonck and U.S. Navy lieutenant Lawrence W. Curtin escaped. The $80,000 craft ($267,259.88 in 2016 dollars) was not insured.
† B. F. Goodrich Silvertown tires.
* Tony Fokker, aircraft designer and part of Commander Byrd’s America team at Roosevelt Field, loaned Mahoney the vehicle.
* Lindbergh bought four of these maps from a San Diego drugstore.
† The oldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt, he was Quentin Roosevelt’s brother and had served with distinction during World War I.
* N for North America, X for Experimental, and 211 is the hull number. “Gus the Sign Painter” of San Diego did the work on April 26, 1927.
* A barograph measures atmospheric pressure, and its altitude readings would prove that the flight was uninterrupted.
* Fonck’s plane was also overweight by two tons: a staggering 24,400 pounds gro
ss weight.
† Two ham sandwiches, two beef, and one of hardboiled egg, according to Kenneth Davis in The Hero (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1959), p. 181.
* Morrison County is 1,153 square miles while little Rhode Island covers a mere 1,214 square miles. Lindbergh’s childhood home of Little Falls was the county seat.
* Duxbury Pier Light, built in 1871. Also called the Bug, it is, in fact, the first spark plug lighthouse in the United States.
* The 252-foot Pilgrim Monument. On November 11, 1620, Captain Christopher Jones anchored the Mayflower here after failing to find Virginia. Another sixteen days passed before the Pilgrims took a small boat across the bay to land on the site of present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts.
* Mansson did ask his wife, Ingar, to leave with him, but understandably she refused. Before departing, Ola deeded his property to his legal Swedish family so they would be with means of support.
* Present-day Minneapolis.
* Dr. Charles Henry Land is credited with inventing the all-ceramic, porcelain jacket crown.
* About $5.5 million in 2016 dollars.
† He is often listed as a “junior” but this is erroneous as his middle name was Augustus, not August like his father’s.