Prior to fuelling The Spirit Lindbergh's crew had strained and restrained the Shell Aviation fuel to eliminate as much sediment as possible. Six well-known aviators had already lost their lives in pursuit of the Orteig Prize when Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on his successful attempt in the early morning of Friday, May 20, 1927. Designated as an award to the pilot of the first successful nonstop flight made in either direction between New York City and Paris within five years after its establishment, the $25,000 Orteig Prize (1927 money in 2015 $342,465.75) as first offered by the French-born New York hotelier (Lafayette Hotel) Raymond Orteig on. Air Mail pilot to instantaneous world fame as the result of his Orteig Prize. In 1927, at the age of 25, Lindbergh emerged from the virtual obscurity of a U.S. Photo George Johnson US Army Sinal Corps/commons.wikimedia

After spending week or so at the field to 'practice' (thereby acquiring five hours of 'pilot in command' time), Lindbergh took off from Americus for Montgomery, Alabama, on his first solo cross-country flight, and went on to spend much of the rest of 1923 engaged in almost nonstop barnstorming under the name of 'Daredevil Lindbergh'.Ĭurtiss Jenny. He then bought a World War I surplus Curtiss JN-4 'Jenny' biplane for $500. With the onset of winter in May 1923 he returned to the air and first solo flight. However, he was not permitted to 'solo' during his time at the school because he could not afford to post a bond for the required fee. A few days later Lindbergh took his first formal flying lesson in that same machine. After quitting college in February 1922, Lindbergh enrolled as a student at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation's flying school in Lincoln and two months later and flew for the first time in his life on 9 April 1922. By the time he started college as a mechanical engineering student, he had also become fascinated with flying. From an early age, Charles Augustus Lindbergh ((FebruAugust 26, 1974), had exhibited an interest in the mechanics of motorized transportation. Charles Lindberg Photo Harris & Ewing / United States Library of Congress.

Pioneer mail pilot