Lindberghs' landing...................

[Guest Maj Millard]

Have you checked out the "Lindbergh as we rarely see him" post on the news reader ?...In the first of four videos, right towards the end, (#1 'Dead men flying') there is a shot of Lindbergh slipping over some power lines, then he does a classic perfect flare with a one-wing down, one-wheel landing. Remember no direct foward vision in that aircraft due a large fwd fuel tank, just out the side windows. It doesn't get much smoother than that !! Fine style from a great aviator. I just love the way he plants that right main !. Note also that there is no spinner on the plane, so it must have been a test flight

 

By then of course, he was an ex-mailplane pilot in mostly big biplanes, an Army combat trained fighter pilot, and an ex-airshow demo parachute jumper (skydiver ?) to name but a few.

 

A lot of his belongings are in a museum in St Louis MO., the town that backed him financially for the building of the 'Spirit of St Louis'.

 

There is his flying suit and boots, in a glass case. Unfortunatly they washed the flight suit, and it just looks too clean !. A bottle containing oil drained from the plane in Paris. A suitcase containing personal belongings that he left before the flight, and the map he used to fly the 'great circle route' successfully to paris. Remember no GPS, or any nav beacons back then, just pure map and nav work mostly over flat ocean.

 

Most impressive is the glasscase after glasscase full of gold, awards, and other gifts given to him from all over the world after the flight. He was the Neil Armstrong of the time. One impressive thing I remember was a small gold 'Spirit of St Louis' model built from gold fillings that a dentist had saved.

 

Of course the Atlantic had been flown once before by Alcock and Brown in a converted Vickers Vimy bomber, but Lindbergh was the first to do it solo, single engined, which took some sizeable kahoolies in my book....................................................................Maj..

 

 

[bluey the fly]

Maj...Some sizable KAHOOLIES ,really thats a new one, well they certainly were not KALAMATA olives.:thumb_up:

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

Your correct Bluey, they certainly wern't olive size !!...........................:Norton: :yin_yan:

 

 

[Guest burbles1]

Lindbergh certainly had guts - I read about his flight in Peter Fitzsimon's book on Kingsford Smith - he used a world atlas to navigate. What a guy!

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

The book 'Spirit of St Louis' is still my favorite aviation read.

 

It fully outlines all the adversery that he had to overcome, even to make it to the start line, including raising the necessary finance. It also gives a good indication of the technical abilities, and sheer determination that the man had. His fine piloting skills almost fade in comparision. Still a lot of good lessons in there, that are very applicable to todays aviator.........................................................Maj..