Birthday of St. Louis resident (as an adult), Charles Lindbergh who flew the Spirit of St. Louis.
Charles Lindbergh
Major Albert Lambert, on behalf of the Missouri Aeronautical Society of which he was a member, leased a field northwest of downtown St. Louis on this date in 1920.
Charles Lindbergh flew the first air mail run between St. Louis and Chicago. His employer, Robertson Aircraft Company of St. Louis would grow into American Airlines. Lindbergh crashed twice on this St. Louis to Chicago run and fellow pilots began calling him “Lucky Lindy.”
Missouri History Today August 17, 1927: Lindbergh Memorializes New Kansas City Airport
Charles Lindbergh set a speed record on the first leg of his historic flight. After a day’s rest he flew to New York and set another record. Lindbergh was delayed several days by bad weather, but on the morning of May 20 took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island. Shortly before nightfall, he passed …
On this date in history, Charles Lindbergh departs for Paris in the Spirit of Louis.
The Spirit of St. Louis is completed, and Charles Lindbergh takes it for a test flight. Although this flight happened in San Diego, there was significant attention paid to this flight in Missouri. The revolutionary monoplane that was destined to make the first transatlantic flight had been paid for mostly by families from St. Louis.
Charles Lindbergh was turned down by his boss, William B. Robertson, for help in financing his solo Trans-Atlantic flight. He already had $1,000 from Albert Bond Lambert. The Post-Dispatch also turned Lindy down, but business leaders Harry Hall Knight and Harold Bixby would say yes.
This date in Missouri history: Airmail pilot Charles “Lucky Lindy” Lindbergh survived his fourth parachute jump. His plane ran out of fuel over Bloomington, Illinois.
Having arrived in town in the Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindbergh dedicated the new Municipal Airport in Kansas City. A crowd of 25,000 was on hand.
King George awarded Charles Lindbergh England’s Distinguished Flying Cross on this day. This and many other Lindbergh items are on display for free at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.
President Coolidge presented Charles Lindbergh with the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Direct air mail service began between St. Louis and New York.
With engine failure in his mail plane, Lucky Lindy (Charles Lindbergh) glided in for a safe landing in a farm field. Two weeks earlier his plane ran out of gas near Chicago and he was forced to bail out.
When news broke that Charles Lindbergh was returning home from his goodwill tour of Mexico and South America, 100,000 people crowded the St. Louis riverfront to welcome him. When he saw the crowd, Lindbergh put on a stunt-flying show for them.
