Dave U. Random
2010-08-02 15:25:01 UTC
(Wall Street Journal) - Lindbergh's was indeed "The Flight of the
Century," (Amazon: http://xrl.us/LindyFlight ), as Thomas Kessner
titles his account of the 1927 transatlantic journey and its
consequences for the pilot and his nation.
The impetus for Lindbergh and other aviators to attempt the
unprecedented ocean crossing was a $25,000 prize offered by a
French immigrant to the U.S., hotel owner Raymond Orteig, for the
first person to fly nonstop between New York and Paris. The prize
had gone unclaimed since it was established in 1919. By the mid-
1920s, though, airplane technology had finally improved
sufficiently to make transatlantic flight at least feasible for a
pilot intrepid enough to try it.
Capturing the prize involved a race against time as well.
Lindbergh's competitors, backed by substantial organizations, were
readying large, multi-engine aircraft. They included polar explorer
Richard Byrd, acclaimed in 1926 for being the first person to fly
over the North Pole; he would be a passenger in a massive Fokker
trimotor plane while professional pilots handled the controls.
Lindbergh, by contrast, was a 25-year-old airmail pilot backed by
hometown boosters who hoped to make St. Louis a hub for American
air travel, as it had been for covered-wagon journeys the century
before...
Continued: http://sn.im/LindyFlight
Century," (Amazon: http://xrl.us/LindyFlight ), as Thomas Kessner
titles his account of the 1927 transatlantic journey and its
consequences for the pilot and his nation.
The impetus for Lindbergh and other aviators to attempt the
unprecedented ocean crossing was a $25,000 prize offered by a
French immigrant to the U.S., hotel owner Raymond Orteig, for the
first person to fly nonstop between New York and Paris. The prize
had gone unclaimed since it was established in 1919. By the mid-
1920s, though, airplane technology had finally improved
sufficiently to make transatlantic flight at least feasible for a
pilot intrepid enough to try it.
Capturing the prize involved a race against time as well.
Lindbergh's competitors, backed by substantial organizations, were
readying large, multi-engine aircraft. They included polar explorer
Richard Byrd, acclaimed in 1926 for being the first person to fly
over the North Pole; he would be a passenger in a massive Fokker
trimotor plane while professional pilots handled the controls.
Lindbergh, by contrast, was a 25-year-old airmail pilot backed by
hometown boosters who hoped to make St. Louis a hub for American
air travel, as it had been for covered-wagon journeys the century
before...
Continued: http://sn.im/LindyFlight