Mail Pilot Charles Lindbergh, Famous American Aviator

Mail Pilot Charles Lindbergh, Famous American Aviator

Lindbergh, Charles Augustus (1902-1974), an American aviator, made the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean on May 20-21, 1927. After Lindbergh completed his Army training, He was chosen to lay out and then serve as chief pilot for a new route in air mail between St. Louis and Chicago. He started flying a modified war surplus de Havilland DH-4 biplane after swearing the Oath of Mail Messengers. Twice during his work he lost control of the plane due to bad weather or faulty equipment and had to jump out of it, landing by parachute on nearby fields. On both occasions, his first priority upon landing was to locate the wreckage of the planes and secure the mail.

He continued to be a chief pilot on this Air Mail route until February 1927, when he decided to take part on the race for the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris. And although Charles Lindbergh never returned to the Air Mail career after winning the Orteig Prize, he kept on promoting the Air Mail services, by doing speeches on their behalf and carrying souvenir mail covers from international flights in his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis.

Harris & Ewing

Between 1905 and 1945

Source: Charles A. Lindbergh- Biography (n.d.). The Charles A. And Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from http://bit.ly/XiRRJ4

Charles Lindbergh, U.S. Air Mail Pilot. (2011, July 21). Postcrossing. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from http://bit.ly/oGxPxk

Charles Lindbergh Briography. (n.d.). Charles Lindbergh An American Aviator. Retrieved February 10, 2013 from http://bit.ly/6qV3pw

For Further Exploration Please Visit http://www.charleslindbergh.com/

Link: Library of Congress 

Library of Congress 

Library of Congress 

Harris & Ewing

Medium: Photograph

English

Figures

Postal

Historic