Charles Lindbergh: American Hero

quote:

---

Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance of 3,600 miles (5,800 km), flying alone for 33.5 hours. His aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis, was designed and built by the Ryan Airline Company specifically to compete for the Orteig Prize for the first flight between the two cities. Although not the first transatlantic flight, it was the first solo transatlantic flight, the first nonstop transatlantic flight between two major city hubs, and the longest by over 1,900 miles (3,000 km). It is known as one of the most consequential flights in history and ushered in a new era of air transportation between parts of the globe.

---

quote:

---

After a six-month stay in Britain, the Lindberghs traveled to Germany, where they were treated as honoured guests of the Third Reich. Charles visited centres of military aviation, where he assessed the pace of Germany’s rearmament, while Anne was fêted in Berlin. Lindbergh praised the Luftwaffe’s fighter and bomber designs, and he asserted that “Europe, and the entire world, is fortunate that a Nazi Germany lies, at present, between Communistic Russia and a demoralized France.” Lindbergh viewed the Soviet Union as the paramount threat to Western civilization, and his belief in the supremacy of airpower led him to conclude that Britain and France were effectively prostrate before the growing might of the Luftwaffe.

---