1902-1974
Pioneer Aviator

"Lucky Lindy."

The greatest aeronautic feat of the 1920s, and indeed one of the greatest and most-publicized events of the decade in any sense, was Charles Augustus Lindbergh's solo, nonstop crossing of the Atlantic in 1927. More important than the personal fame the flight brought Lindbergh was its impact on the history of aviation. It proved that it was possible to build planes capable of flying long distances safely, paving the way for the development of commercial airlines and specialized military aircraft.

The Orteig Prize.

Lindbergh's flight was not the first Atlantic crossing by air. Eight years earlier five navy men in a seaplane, the NC-4, had flown from Newfoundland to the Azores to Portugal and then to England. Still, nobody had ever flown solo directly from an American city to a European capital, and the Orteig prize of $25,000 was offered for the...