The first aviator who managed to cross the Atlantic Ocean alone was Charles Lindbergh. A motivated and talented pilot, this American knew what he wanted from a young age. He dropped out of university to enroll in flight courses, and was not mistaken with the choice.
Background
Charles Lindbergh (1902 - 1974) was interested in aviation from an early age. When he was studying in Wisconsin, in his sophomore year he realized that he wanted to do flying business much more. He decided to leave his studies and study to be a pilot. After graduating from the courses, Lindbergh entered the army, and then began working in airmail.
Many daredevils had already tried to make transatlantic flights before Linberg, but until then no one had succeeded, largely due to the imperfection of flight technology. After all, it was required to overcome more than 7 thousand km without making landings, and, therefore, without being able to refuel. The problem was that it was impossible to take too much fuel on board, light aircraft of that time simply could not take off with such a load. Nevertheless, the interest in crossing the Atlantic Ocean was huge, one big businessman even appointed a prize of 25 thousand dollars to anyone who can do it. There were many attempts, but none were successful.
Lindbergh simply could not help but accept the challenge and get involved in this exciting, albeit dangerous adventure. He placed an order with Ryan Aeronautical for the manufacture of a motor-plane, independently developed by him, which, in the pilot's opinion, was capable of this flight. The resulting car was named the Spirit of St. Louis.
The pilot had to sacrifice brakes, a parachute, a radio and even a flashlight for an overview, all in order to take on board as much fuel as possible.
Training
To test the plane, Lindbergh flew from San Diego to New York in May 1927, but landed once in St. Louis. Nevertheless, the flight time was 21 hours 45 minutes, and this was already a transcontinental record.
In New York, it turned out that the weather could force the pilot to postpone the flight for several days. Nevertheless, relying on the forecast, which promised a little clarification, Charles courageously decides to fly out on May 20.
He arrived at the airfield before dawn. At 7:40 am the engine was fired, and at 7:52 am the Spirit of St. Louis took off from Roosevelt airfield. The event was widely covered by all the media in America, the whole country was worried about the hero. A lot of people went out to see him off.
Due to the fact that on May 20, due to the rains, the ground on the takeoff field was slightly soft, the plane picked up speed very slowly. It even nearly hit the power line on takeoff. But in the air, the situation leveled off, and Lindsberg slowed down to save fuel.
Flight
The difficulty was created by the fact that the additional tank changed the center of gravity of the monoplane, because of it the aircraft could easily go into a spin. Lindsburg was accompanied by a plane to Long Island, on which a photographer was present. But soon he left the pilot, turning back.
In the evening, Lindbergh was already flying over Nova Scotia. Soon he met bad weather. Thunderclouds, upon hitting which the plane froze and threatened to fall into the water, forced Charles to maneuver, sometimes he flew a few meters from the water.
The daredevil was expected to receive numerous awards not only from his own country, but many European states also honored him with orders and honors.
Soon Lindbergh saw the coast of Ireland in the distance. The weather improved markedly, and by the evening of the second day the pilot was already overcoming France. By about 22 o'clock, the pilot noticed Paris, and soon he had already passed the Eiffel Tower. At 22:22 Charles Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget airfield. He crossed the Atlantic Ocean, covering 5809 km in 33 hours and 30 minutes.
