Charles Lindbergh

Charles Lindbergh Born February 4, 1902, in Detroit, Michigan, Charles Lindbergh grew up on a farm near Little Falls, Minnesota the son of a lawyer/U.S. Congressman. Charles showed exceptional mechanical ability, even as a child, and was encouraged to attend college and make the most of his talent. After graduating high school, Charles stayed on to work at the family farm for two years before enrolling in the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he would study Engineering. Full of a passion for airplanes and the newly expanding field of aviation, Charles Lindbergh left college after two years to attend the Lincoln Flight School in Nebraska.

Lindbergh was a whiz with mechanics. By age twelve, he was in charge of driving and fixing the car. In high school, he assembled a tractor from a mail order kit. When he was eighteen he entered the University of Wisconsin to study engineering. He found he was more interested in flying, so after two years of college, he dropped out and became a barnstormer, which was a pilot who performed daredevil stunts at fairs, and airshows.

As early as 1919 Lindbergh was aware of a prize being offered by the Franco-American philanthropist Raymond B. Orteig of New York City. Orteig offered 25, 000 dollars to the individual who completed the first non-stop transatlantic flight from New York to Paris. Ryan Air manufactured his single engine monoplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, so named because many of his investors were from that city. In preparation for the flight, Lindbergh flew the Spirit of St.

During his time at the university he paid more attention to the growing field of avaion than he did to his studies. In 1924 Charles Lindbergh enlisted in the United States Army so he could begin studying on how to be a fighter pilot. One year later he graduated from the Army flight training school that was held on both Brook’s field and Kelly’s field. He graduated as the number one pilot in his class. After that he bought his own airplane and for the next six years of his life he spent flying an airplane for Robertson Aircraft Corporation.

Lindbergh’s passion for mechanics didn’t come as a surprise to many. As a young boy, Charles seemed to be very interested in the family’s motorized vehicles, such as the Saxon Six automobile and Excelsior motorbike. But after starting college in the fall of 1920 as a mechanical engineer, his love for aviation started to bloom. Deciding that the field of aviation was more exciting, he dropped out within 2 years. He then decided to take lessons at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation’s flying school and was up in the air for the first time on April 9, 1922 when he was in a two seat biplane as a passenger.

While working on his helicopter in 1910, he also built 3 planes and flew 2 of them. Even though both planes crashed, designing the planes gave him the belief that he could create flying machines. Russian composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff, gifted $5,000 to Sikorsky to keep his tiny company going during the early years. Two years after World War II started in Europe, on September 14, 1939, Sikorsky first flew the VS-300 helicopter while it was attached by lines to the ground. Even though Igor hoped the helicopter would be more popular, the skill needed to fly the helicopter made it not so popular.“On May 6, 1941, Sikorsky flew his VS-300 for 1 hour, 32 minutes, and 26 seconds, breaking the previous world record of 1 hour and 20 minutes that the Fa-61 had held since 1937.”-Don Berliner.

He made the flight to win the prize of $25,000 offered by Raymond B. Orteig of New York City for the first nonstop transatlantic solo flight between New York City and Paris. In his single-engine monoplane named the Spirit of St. Louis, he left Roosevelt Field at 7:52 AM on May 20, 1927. After a flight of 33 hours 32 minutes, he landed at Le Bourget Airport near Paris. The Wright Brothers On December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright made the world's first successful flights in a heavier-than-air aircraft. The brothers had designed, constructed, and flown the airplane.

The preflight arrangements for Charles A. Lindbergh’s flight began in early 1927. Charles A. Lindbergh presented his proposal to Knight, Bixby, and other St. Louis businesspersons whom were impressed with Lindbergh’s confidence and agreed to sponsor his flight. Lindbergh had setup a $15,000 budget and $2,000 of which was Lindberghs. A name, the Spirit of St. Louis, was established. Lindbergh was to choose the plane and decide on all other aspects of the proposed flight.

The Aviator and His Planes. At the age of 26 he dropped his successful career of a movie producer and focused on his second passion, aviation. Hughes bought his first plane in 1932 and with the help of some of his engineers he increased the performance in his plane. This won him first place in his class. The expenses for his love of building his flying machines funding became an issue.

He studied mechanical engineering for two years at the university of Wisconsin and left in nineteen twenty-two to enroll in flight school. In nineteen twenty-three he bought a war surplus training plane and worked as a barnstormer and as a traveling stunt flier. In nineteen twenty-five he completed army flight training. After flight school he worked as an airmail pilot, only to become the chief pilot for the route between St. Louis to Chicago. In nineteen twenty-nine he married Anne Morrow.