Charles Lindbergh
In December of 1903, the very first successful flight was made by the Wright Brothers. That point marked the beginning of Aviation. 24 years later, one man and one plane would fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. This man's name was Charles Lindbergh.
Charles Lindbergh was born on February 04, 1902, in Detroit, Michigan to Charles August Lindbergh and Evangeline Lodge Lindbergh. From the moment when he was born, he was interested in mechanics. Most of all, he loved aviation. At the time he was born, aviation was a developing idea. However, his fascination of airplanes led him to go to the University of Wisconsin, but he dropped out 2 years after entering it. He then went to flying school in Lincoln, Nebraska, and made his first flight as a passenger on April 9, 1922. He was a quick learner, and began flying barnstorming flights in less than eight hours. In 1923, he bought a $500 plane and made his first solo flight in April. In 1924, he went to an army base in Texas to train. After training, he began flying air mail between St. Louis and Chicago in April of 1926.
While delivering mail, Lindbergh decided to try to win the $25000 Orteig Prize by flying solo nonstop from New York to Paris across the Atlantic Ocean. He tested the plane by flying from San Diego to New York City, making it in about 20 hours. He took off from New York City on May 20, 1927 at 7:52 A.M. 33 hours, 29 minutes, 20 seconds later, he landed in Le Bourget Field in Paris. Thousands of people rushed out of their homes, running and congratulating Lindbergh. He had instantly become extremely famous. When he returned to the United States, President Calvin Coolidge gave him the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He then flew around the world, and met an American Ambassador's daughter in Mexico named Ann Morrow. They married in 1929, and Lindbergh taught her how to fly. They traveled around the world together. Lindbergh's house was in New Jersey. However, on March 1932, Lindbergh's first son was kidnapped at 20 months old. There was a ransom note asking for money to have their child back. Lindbergh immediately paid for it, but found his son's dead body 10 weeks later. Lindbergh moved to Europe in late 1935, and a man named Bruno Richard Hauptmann was convicted of the crime of kidnapping Charles' son and was executed. This led to the making of the Federal Kidnapping Act, which later became a law, stating that if kidnappers cross state lines with their victim, then the federal authorities can chase them down. Later, in 1939, Lindbergh returned to the U.S. and joined America's First Committee, which was an isolationist group that opposed the idea of America joining WWII. However, he had criticized President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and solely believed that the U.S. shouldn't go to war. Those actions led to him being publicly denounced by FDR and him resigning from the Army Air Corps. However, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Lindbergh's opinion immediately switched and he wanted to fight in WWII. When he tried to reenlist in the Army Air Corps, he was denied. To help the war effort, he still helped Henry Ford develop B-24 Bombers. In 1943, the United Aircraft sent Charles Lindbergh to the Pacific as an observer after he convinced them. However, he did more than observation. He flew about 50 combat missions, and his flying skill was unmatched. In 1945, Germany and Japan had surrendered.
After WWII, Lindbergh started to withdraw from public attention. He wrote The Spirit of St. Louis¨in 1953, telling of his journey across the Atlantic. Later in his life, he started talking about conservation and saving endangered species. He spent the rest of his life doing this and died from cancer on Maui, Hawaii.
I am building a memorial to honor Charles Lindbergh: It is a huge model of The Spirit of St. Louis named The Spirit of The Spirit of St. Louis. It will contain a statue of Lindbergh inside and will serve as a double purpose learning site. Visitors will enter under the front and travel through the plane, reading the information signs. The signs are a timeline from head to tail of the plane, going further into Lindbergh's life. This memorial is shaped like a plane to model Lindbergh's expert skill at flying, and his big achievement. Let us honor Charles Lindbergh!!!
Charles Lindbergh was born on February 04, 1902, in Detroit, Michigan to Charles August Lindbergh and Evangeline Lodge Lindbergh. From the moment when he was born, he was interested in mechanics. Most of all, he loved aviation. At the time he was born, aviation was a developing idea. However, his fascination of airplanes led him to go to the University of Wisconsin, but he dropped out 2 years after entering it. He then went to flying school in Lincoln, Nebraska, and made his first flight as a passenger on April 9, 1922. He was a quick learner, and began flying barnstorming flights in less than eight hours. In 1923, he bought a $500 plane and made his first solo flight in April. In 1924, he went to an army base in Texas to train. After training, he began flying air mail between St. Louis and Chicago in April of 1926.
While delivering mail, Lindbergh decided to try to win the $25000 Orteig Prize by flying solo nonstop from New York to Paris across the Atlantic Ocean. He tested the plane by flying from San Diego to New York City, making it in about 20 hours. He took off from New York City on May 20, 1927 at 7:52 A.M. 33 hours, 29 minutes, 20 seconds later, he landed in Le Bourget Field in Paris. Thousands of people rushed out of their homes, running and congratulating Lindbergh. He had instantly become extremely famous. When he returned to the United States, President Calvin Coolidge gave him the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He then flew around the world, and met an American Ambassador's daughter in Mexico named Ann Morrow. They married in 1929, and Lindbergh taught her how to fly. They traveled around the world together. Lindbergh's house was in New Jersey. However, on March 1932, Lindbergh's first son was kidnapped at 20 months old. There was a ransom note asking for money to have their child back. Lindbergh immediately paid for it, but found his son's dead body 10 weeks later. Lindbergh moved to Europe in late 1935, and a man named Bruno Richard Hauptmann was convicted of the crime of kidnapping Charles' son and was executed. This led to the making of the Federal Kidnapping Act, which later became a law, stating that if kidnappers cross state lines with their victim, then the federal authorities can chase them down. Later, in 1939, Lindbergh returned to the U.S. and joined America's First Committee, which was an isolationist group that opposed the idea of America joining WWII. However, he had criticized President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and solely believed that the U.S. shouldn't go to war. Those actions led to him being publicly denounced by FDR and him resigning from the Army Air Corps. However, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, Lindbergh's opinion immediately switched and he wanted to fight in WWII. When he tried to reenlist in the Army Air Corps, he was denied. To help the war effort, he still helped Henry Ford develop B-24 Bombers. In 1943, the United Aircraft sent Charles Lindbergh to the Pacific as an observer after he convinced them. However, he did more than observation. He flew about 50 combat missions, and his flying skill was unmatched. In 1945, Germany and Japan had surrendered.
After WWII, Lindbergh started to withdraw from public attention. He wrote The Spirit of St. Louis¨in 1953, telling of his journey across the Atlantic. Later in his life, he started talking about conservation and saving endangered species. He spent the rest of his life doing this and died from cancer on Maui, Hawaii.
I am building a memorial to honor Charles Lindbergh: It is a huge model of The Spirit of St. Louis named The Spirit of The Spirit of St. Louis. It will contain a statue of Lindbergh inside and will serve as a double purpose learning site. Visitors will enter under the front and travel through the plane, reading the information signs. The signs are a timeline from head to tail of the plane, going further into Lindbergh's life. This memorial is shaped like a plane to model Lindbergh's expert skill at flying, and his big achievement. Let us honor Charles Lindbergh!!!