Aviation History

[gregrobertson]

A friend of mine in the US has sent me this link. If you are into Aviation history you might find this interesting.

 

Greg.

 

Quite the takeoff roll...

 

Subject: Fwd: LINDBERGH'S "EVENT"-START TO FINISH

 

To:

 

Win Perkins, a real estate appraiser who specializes in airport properties,

 

has posted on his Website, a video he created of Charles Lindbergh's

 

famous and risky takeoff in the "Spirit of St. Louis " on May 20,1927.

 

According to Perkins, this is unlike any other presentation of the takeoff footage.

 

Perkins said he "painstakingly assembled news footage from five cameras

 

that filmed Lindbergh's takeoff from Roosevelt Field, Long Island "and "

 

mixed it with enhanced audio from the same newsreel sources."

 

This is one of the most interesting videos I've seen come over the Internet.

 

When you click on the address link below, episode #4 comes up ready to play,

 

but I suggest you first click on "Contact" to the left and select #1, then watch

 

them in order, #1 through #4

 

(each time closing the video window at the upper right, going back to

 

"Contact" and selecting the next one).

 

I was glued to the screen through all four segments.

 

http://www.airportappraisals.com/

 

 

[DAVID SEE]

:oh yeah:Just watched the 4 videos..........awesome!!!!!!!

 

Watched No.3 four times. That thing must of been built like a lightwing .

 

(The big grin is supposed to go after lightwing, still learning to drive this thing)

 

Cheers Davo :o)

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

I have been a big fan of 'Slim' Lindbergh for many years , read all of his fascinating books, and 'The Spirit Of St Louis' is top of my list as books go.

 

It's not just about the flight across the Atlantic , but more about the determination it took for him to get to the start line in the first place. Pure determination, by slim, and those who lent their expertise to support him. At the time he knew more about great circle navigation than the US Navy of the time. And in fact lectured them on it whilst in San Diago building the 'Spirit', at the Ryan Factory. He spent his evenings in their drawing room, and did a lot of the design work on the 'Spirit' himself.

 

He despised being called 'Lucky Lindy' as he thought there was no luck involved, just good preparation, and the right equipment.

 

The takeoff out of New York for Paris is one of the ballsyest you'll ever see, and demonstrates the skill he possessed by then, after his many years flying out of Lambert Field at St Louis, as a night mail pilot. He skilfully used every square inch of wing area that morning, to get off the ground, and never really ever got the tail fully up.

 

That aircraft had never taken off before with a full load of fuel on board, and never ever did again. There is no doubt he was the Neil Armstrong of his time..........at the Smithsoian there was a ladder near the suspended Spirit of St Louis. He would come in every now and then , climb up, and sit for hours in the aircraft..it was his space, and he was energised again by his time alone in it.......Maj...

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

:oh yeah:Just watched the 4 videos..........awesome!!!!!!!Watched No.3 four times. That thing must of been built like a lightwing .

(The big grin is supposed to go after lightwing, still learning to drive this thing)

 

Cheers Davo :o)

The wing on the Lightwing is not unlike the one on the Spirit....both use the Clarke Y airfoil, and both real good lifters !.........................Maj.......

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

I found out the other day that in the 30s Lindbergh owned and flew one of my all time favourite aircraft. A Monocoupe. The one he owned now hangs above the arrivals area at St Louis airport, after recently being meticulously restored to very original condition.

 

Monocoupes, were the racers of their day, and achieved great performance with very low horsepower. The one below which is not the one Lindbergh owned, shows clearly why they are still considered the Bugatti of aircraft, as far as collectability goes.....Many of the original small number built, still exist, but most have been completely rebuilt once or twice due to accidents, many of them fatal in races during the 30-40s....on one notably occasion at the Cleveland National Air-races a Monocoupe 110 special clipwing with less than 200HP, easily beat a Beechcraft Staggerwing with 450 HP !!!........Aviatt in the states were building and offering a replica Aviatt Monocoupe 110 special but I'm not sure if they still do, or if the made many..........Maj.....

 

 

 

[Neil_S]

Great videos - very enjoyable....

 

Neil

 

 

[pudestcon]

:oh yeah:Just watched the 4 videos..........awesome!!!!!!!Watched No.3 four times. That thing must of been built like a lightwing .

(The big grin is supposed to go after lightwing, still learning to drive this thing)

 

Cheers Davo :o)

Once your smilie is in the post, click and drag it to the position you want it.

Pud

 

 

[kgwilson]

Great videos. Lindbergh certainly didn't like all the media attention. Everyone else was grinning & laughing & wanting to be in the photos with him. He just stood there stony faced putting up with it all. His commitment to the task though is legendary.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Great videos. Lindbergh certainly didn't like all the media attention. Everyone else was grinning & laughing & wanting to be in the photos with him. He just stood there stony faced putting up with it all. His commitment to the task though is legendary.

There is an interesting theory about how people get to the top of any field of human endeavour.

Talent, or guts and determination? The answer seems to be nearer to practise, practise, practise!

 

Lindbergh sure did lots of that.

 

http://www.wisdomgroup.com/blog/10000-hours-of-practice/

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Great videos. Lindbergh certainly didn't like all the media attention. Everyone else was grinning & laughing & wanting to be in the photos with him. He just stood there stony faced putting up with it all. His commitment to the task though is legendary.

He could not see any purpose for any press coverage prior to his flight...they were just a hindrance, and he had better things to do.

 

He did not need money or fame as the St Louis backers gave him the money, and he had the plane, manufactured by Ryan at San Diago.

 

Lindbergh was very organised, driven, and had a great technical mind. He was convinced he had the right engine, and aircraft to do the job, and he was right.

 

After the NY- Paris flight he became very close friends with Henry Ford. Ford made the B-24 Liberator at Fords Willow Run plant, during WW2. They were getting shot out of the sky over Europe because they lacked a foward firing turrent. The Luftwaffe has sensed the shortcoming, and were attacking head-on.

 

Henry Ford asked Lindbergh to design a turrent quickly. He assembled a team of around twenty, and had a working turrent up and running in two months. It saved a lot of lives.

 

Lindbergh also test flew the Corsair and P-47 Thunderbolt, and had a lot to do with the V12 Allison's used in the P-38 Lightning., which he also flew as a technical advisor in New Guinea. Lindbergh was a trained fighter pilot, but too late to see service in WW1. He was a Captain originally, but was made a Colonel after the NY- Paris flight...................Maj....