June 2004 - Issue 6

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The History of Commercial Aviation

Early Planes

Modern Airliners

Jet Age

Jumbo Jets

Spirit of St. Louis

The Spirit of St. Louis' front window was sacrificed in the name of greater fuel tank capacity.

Not until the Apollo 11's Eagle touched down on the moon four decades later would the world be as excited as when the Spirit of St. Louis, piloted by its own Lone Eagle, Charles Lindbergh, touched down in Paris in 1927.

Many competitors prepared to win the $25,000 cash prize awarded to the first to fly nonstop between New York and Paris. While rival pilots built bigger, multi-engine planes, Charles Lindbergh's requirements for his plane were simple: a single-engine aircraft with reserve power for heavy take-off weight and a pilot cabin behind all gas tanks for safety during a forced landing. Also required was capacity for a lot of fuel. Four hundred gallons of fuel were stored in almost every available space. The wings were extended from twenty-seven to forty-five feet in order to lift the extra fuel, which amounted to nearly half the plane's overall take-off weight. With so much fuel, all non-essential items were stripped from the aircraft including a radio, navigation lights, brakes and a parachute. The plane's front window was even sacrificed for greater fuel tank space. A periscope was installed in order for Lindbergh to get a forward view.

The Spirit of St. Louis was named in honor of the hometown of Charles Lindbergh's financial backers.

Capable of flying 4,200 miles - more than enough to reach Paris - the Spirit of St. Louis has been described as a flying gas tank. But the plane's ability to fly those 4,200 miles would fall to the single Wright engine. The engine's first challenge was its biggest - merely lifting the plane off the ground with such a heavy fuel load. Lindbergh flew many successful tests, but even so, the Wright Whirlwind engine labored heavily to pull the plane off the ground as it set off for Paris. As the plane took off, the plane's landing gear missed a set of telephone wires by a mere 20 feet. With that obstacle cleared, the engine operated flawlessly for the next thirty-three hours. When the plane touched down at Le Bourget Airport in Paris on May 21, 1927, a crowd of 150,000 enthusiastically cheered Lindbergh.

The Spirit of St. Louis' entire purpose was this one flight. But the little plane would travel many more miles after reaching its intended transatlantic destination. Shipped back to the United States aboard a U.S. Navy ship, the plane was flown by Lindbergh - the only person ever to pilot the craft - to all 48 contiguous states and to numerous countries in Central and South America to promote the cause of aviation. Finally, nearly a year after its historic crossing of the Atlantic, the Spirit of St. Louis made its final flight. Lindbergh flew from its namesake St. Louis to Washington D.C., where he presented the plane to the Smithsonian Institution, where it's been on display ever since.

Plane Specifications
Manufacturer	Ryan
First Flight:	April28, 1927
Wingspan:	46 feet
Length:	27 feet, 8 inches
Height:	9 feet, 10 inches
Weight:	2, 150 lbs
Top Speed:	117 mph
Cruising Speed:	117 mph
Flight Altitude:	10, 000 feet
Range:	4, 000 miles
Engines:	1 Wright Whirlwind J-5C 9-Cylinder radial engine 2
Passenger Accommodations:	1 crew