Charles lindbergh
Charles lindberghCharles Lindbergh was a man of many accomplishments. In his time, everybody loved him.
Charles was well known all over the world. He was a hero, he represented all that could
be accomplished in the future. He was a figure for doing what nobody else thought could
be done. Lindbergh was one of those people that everyone else wanted to be.
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born in Detroit on February 4, 1902, to Charles
Lindbergh, Sr., and Evangeline Land Lodge. Yet, he grew up in a small town in Nebraska.
Lindbergh was a whiz with mechanics. By age twelve, he was in charge of driving
and fixing the car. In high school, he assembled a tractor from a mail order kit. When he
was eighteen he entered the University of Wisconsin to study engineering. He found he
was more interested in flying, so after two years of college, he dropped out and became a
barnstormer, which was a pilot who performed daredevil stunts at fairs, and airshows.
Lindbergh was a favorite among the crowds. People would travel from all different places,
even Europe, to come see his daredevil tricks.
In 1924 Lindbergh enlisted in the U.S. Army so he could be trained to be a pilot.
During this time he was given the nickname “Lucky Lindy” because he would attempt
daredevil stunts with his airplane, and always seem to evade punishment from upper
officers. In 1925 he graduated as the top pilot in his class. He soon began working as a
mail deliverer between St. Louis and Chicago.
Lindbergh soon heard of an offer given in 1919 by a New York hotel owner named
Raymond Orteig. The offer was this: the first aviator to fly nonstop from New York to
Paris would receive 25,000 dollars. Nobody had succeeded by 1927, and Lindbergh
decided he could do it if he had a suitable plane. Remember, in 1919 this was a very scary
thing to do! There was no radio on your plane, so if it went down, you could not call for
help, and nobody would know where you were. Also, there was no coast guard, no search
and rescue teams, so if you crashed, you were dead. He arranged for nine St. Louis
businessmen to help him finance his plane. A company in San Diego called Ryan
Aeronautical Company was chosen to construct the plane, which Lindbergh helped design.
The plane was named "The Spirit of St. Louis". A transcontinental record was
immediately set in a test run when Lindbergh flew from San Diego to New York City in
twenty hours and twenty-one minutes. Nine days later, Lindbergh started his thirty-three
and a half hour journey across the ocean.
After this flight, Lindbergh became an international celebrity. He was honored
with awards, celebrations, and parades. Some of his more esteemed awards were the
Congressional Medal of Honor and...
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