21. May 1927
99 years ago
Alone, with no windscreen and no sleep, a 25-year-old flew across the Atlantic — and landed straight into world fame.
Early on 20 May 1927, a heavily loaded single-engine plane lifted off a muddy airstrip outside New York. The "Spirit of St. Louis" was so full of fuel it barely cleared the telephone wires at the end of the field. At the controls sat 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh — alone.
Scroll to fly↓
Ahead of him lay the Atlantic: nearly 5,800 kilometres of open ocean with no land, no radio and not another soul. He had no windscreen to look through — only a small periscope and a side window — and flew for hours on end above the endless waves.
The night was the worst. Fog wrapped the plane, ice formed on the wings, and sleeplessness dragged at his eyelids. Lindbergh stuck his head out into the freezing wind to stay awake on sheer willpower as the hours crawled by.
After more than a day in the air, the coast of Ireland appeared below him — almost exactly on course. Fishing boats waved, and he held a steady heading on over England and the Channel toward France.
Late on the evening of 21 May, after 33.5 hours alone, the "Spirit of St. Louis" touched down at Le Bourget outside Paris. Around 100,000 people stormed onto the airfield in the dark. Overnight, the unknown mail pilot had become the most famous man in the world.