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Charles A. Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 4, 1902. He entered the University of Wisconsin in 1920 as a mechanical engineering student. However, he left school and went to Nebraska to learn to fly. Lindbergh made his first solo flight in 1923 and in that year he also enlisted in the Army Air Service. He won his wings in 1925 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Reserves. Lindbergh also became an airmail pilot and made his first airmail flight, between Chicago and St. Louis, in 1926. |
In
1926 Lindbergh began to consider the $25,000 prize that Raymond Orteig
was offering to the first person to fly non-stop between New York and
Paris. Ryan Airlines built Lindbergh a special monoplane in only 60
days. He named it the “Spirit of St. Louis”. He planned
to cross the Atlantic alone, without even a parachute or radio in order
to make room for more fuel, thus Lindbergh became known as the “Lone
Eagle”.
On May 20, 1927, at 7:52 in the morning, Lindbergh took off from Curtiss Field, New York. When he reached Paris on May 21, he circled the Eiffel Tower before landing at Le Bourget Field to the cheers of the waiting crowds. It had taken him 33 1/2 hours to fly the 3,610 miles. Lindbergh became an international hero. He received the French Legion of Honor, and upon his return to the United States, he met with President Coolidge in Washington and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Lindbergh then went on a nationwide tour promoting aviation. In 1929, President Coolidge awarded Lindbergh with the nation’s highest honor, the Congressional Medal of Honor. Lindbergh served on a variety of national and international
boards and committees, including the central committee of the National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. During World War II, Lindbergh assisted
the United States in the war effort by consulting aviation companies
and the government. After the war ended, he lived in Connecticut and
Hawaii. Lindbergh died on August 26, 1974. |
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