A young American aviator named Charles A. Lindbergh he did the First Atlantic Transfer of Lonely History And without a stopover on 20 and 21 May 1927: he took off from New York aboard a small single -seater called Spirit of St. Louis. A company that until then seemed almost science fiction, not only for the distance – over 5 800 km – but also for the extreme conditions in which he would find himself. In fact, in those times, flying was far from safe: the planes were fragile, unreliable engines and scarce weather information. Yet, Lindbergh started the same, even giving up the parachute To make room for a larger fuel tank. After beyond 33 hours In flight and almost without sleep, he succeeded in the company: he landed at Le Bourget airport, welcomed by a crowd of over 100 000 people in delirium. No pilot before him had succeeded and nobody had ever dared to do it alone.
Charles Lindbergh, the “Lone Eagle” that made the first Atlantic transmission of history
Born in Detroit on February 4, 1902, Charles Lindbergh He entered history as the first man to perform the legendary solitary crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, From New York to Parison board his plane, lo Spirit of St. Louis. That company, carried out in 1927, represented an epochal turning point for modern aviation and Lindbergh himself who became a hero global.
The celebrations on his arrival in Paris involved hundreds of thousands of people, while the French president and then that of the United States, John Calvin Coolidge Jr.They honored him with official awards, including the prestigious Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1929 Lindbergh married Anne Spencer Morrowa philosopher and talented aviator, and together they had twelve children. But destiny reserved a tragedy that would forever marks his life and that of the nation: the kidnapping of their eldest son, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr., at the age of alone 20 monthsin 1932.
From President Herbert Hoover to controversial figures such as gangster To the Caponeeveryone tried to contribute to the investigations, but unfortunately the story had a bitter ending: more than two months later, a truck driver found The lifeless body of the child abandoned on the edge of a road. The investigations led to the capture of Bruno Richard Hauptmann, a German carpenter with a military and criminal past, accused of kidnapped and killed the child. Hauptmann He was sentenced to death in 1935but never confessed, proclaiming himself innocent until the last breath.
After the drama, Lindbergh moved to Europe, where he aroused disputes for his interest in Nazi Germany and Luftwaffe, and for the decoration received from Hitler. His isolationist position over the years pre -Second World War made him a divisive figure. The last decades of his life Lindbergh devoted himself to the protection of endangered species and the preservation of unexplored territories, carrying out archaeological studies and doctors. Lindbergh died of cancer on August 26, 1974, in his home in Maui, Hawaii.
The first Atlantic broadcast: a journey between fog, ice and sleep that lasted 33 and a half hours
At 7:52 in the morning of May 20, 1927, Lindbergh took off from Long Island in front of a crowd of 500 people. He began to fly over the coast of Cape Cod and the new Scotland, then went over the Atlantic Ocean. The plane, loaded up to the edge of fuel, was so heavy that she managed to detach from the ground for a whisker, touching the telegraph’s threads. In the tanks, beyond 1 700 liters of petrol; On board, only him, without radio, without parachute, without even an indicator for fuel. After just four hours of flight, tiredness began to be felt. Lindbergh flew to the ocean, even less than 3 meters from the waterin the desperate attempt to remain vigilant.
The night was long, freezing, without reference points. At a certain point he entered a dense fog and began to suffer from hallucinationsimagining phantasmatic presences inside the passenger compartment. In order not to fall asleep, he came to Keep the eyelids open with your fingers. He passed 33 and a half hours in flight, without ever closing eye. When he saw the Irish coasts, he understood that he had made it: he was in advance on the scheduled time and only slightly out of course, an incredible company considering the rudimentary means available. Flocked England and then France, until, at 22:22 Local time of 21 Mayhis Spirit of St. Louis He touched the land at Le Bourget airport.
But how was this legendary flight born and why was it so important? It all originated from a prize: $ 25,000 Offered by the magnate Raymond Orteig to anyone who was able to connect New York and Paris without a stopover. Many tried, some lost their lives. Lindbergh, on the other hand, chose to face the company as outsider, without the great funding of competitors or particularly advanced technologies.
The “Lucky Lindy“, As he was nicknamed by the newspapers, was not an unconscious: he had personally designed the plane together with a team of technicians, built thanks to the funds of nine entrepreneurs from Saint Louis, it was a small flying laboratory that showed a simple but revolutionary thing: The long -range flight was possible. Lindbergh not only won the $ 25,000 Orteig prize, but above all he turned on the interest of the world public towards the aviation. In a few years new commercial routes were born, airlines were founded and the sky, from dangerous and unknown territory, finally became a new motorway for humanity.
