8/3/2019 _Lone Eagle_ Charles a. Lindbergh-An Aviation Hero

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JOURNAL OF AIRCRAFTVol. 39, No. 3, May June 2002

Lone Eagle Charles A. LindberghAn Aviation Hero

A S we prepare to begin our celebration next year of 100 yearsof powered ight, we pause this month to recognize the 75thanniversary of perhaps the most notable aviation event since thathistoric ight of Orville Wright on Dec. 17, 1903.

For only 24 years later, on May 20, 1927 the 25-year-oldCharles A. Lindberghthe Lone Eagletook off by himselffrom the rain-soaked original Roosevelt Field, Long Island, NY,in a small single-engine plane called the Spirit of St. Louis.Heavily laden with fuel, the plane bounced down the muddyeld, gradually became airborne, and barely cleared the tele-phone wires at the elds edge. Lucky Lindy landed 33- 1

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and 3600 miles later at Le Bourget eld near Paristhe rstsolo, nonstop trip from New York to Paris. This historic heroicight brought the concept of domestic and international ightsharplyinto public view and stimulateda new commercial and mil-itary aviation era, realized only 25 years later as the jet age wasborn.

With his backers entrusting in him their full condence,Lindbergh had set off to nd the right plane. While other avia-tors were placing their faith in the increased power and purportedsafety of multi-engine planes, Lindbergh determined that multipleengines increased, rather than decreased, the odds of failure. Imnotsurethreeengineswould reallyadd much to safetyon a ightlikethat. Thered be three times the chance of engine failure, he laterrecorded.For his transatlanticattempt,he soughtout a single-engineplane. His equation was simple (and familiar for current designers):less weight (oneengineandone pilot) would increase fuel efciencyand allow for a longer ying range. Although the initial plan wasto modify a standard model Ryan M-2, Colonel Lindbergh quicklydetermined that modication was less practical than redesign. His

active participationin the development of the aircraft is noted. Helaid out the following specications: That the plane should be ofmonoplane type,powered by a singleWright J-5-0engine, have ad-equate reserve power on take-off when loaded with over 400 gal ofgasoline, and must have the pilot located in the rear of all tanks forsafety in a forced landing. Thus the airplane, actually designed byDonald Hall, was laid out from scratch to these specications. Anyitem considered unnecessary or too heavy was left behind. Theseincluded a radio, a parachute, gas gauges, and navigation lights.Colonel Lindbergh designed for himself special lightweight bootsfor the ight, and went so far as to cut his maps down to includeonly those reference points he would need. Every ounce mattered.Instead of a heavy leather pilots seat, Lindbergh would be perchedin a far lighter wicker chair.

The Spirit, which did not even exist as a design concept priorto Feb. 1927, weighed just over a ton empty, but over 5000lbs. fullyloaded, mainly with 451 gal of fuel.

TherestofCharlesA.Lindberghslifewasdevotedtothedevelop-ment of commercialaviation,medicalresearch,technicalassistanceto the military in World War II, and aviation consulting.

Orville Wrights historic rst ight and the next three to followchallenged the piloting skills of the Wrights, for it was regarded asa miracle that they were able to y their machine at all. CharlesLindbergh,in his Autobiographyof Values, explainshow they wereable to handle the unstable craft: There are elements in man thatescape rational description, that lie beyond the measurements ofscience. They may exist at distance beyond the body, yet still exertan inuence within.

Thomas M. WeeksBall Aerospace Technology Corporation

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