Charles Lindbergh

(February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974)

Charles Lindbergh Jr. , known as "Lucky Lindy" and "The Lone Eagle", was a United States aviator famous for piloting the first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.Some believe Lindbergh tarnished his good name by his leadership in the movement to keep the US out of World War II. Others credit Lindbergh for his brave championing of a respectable view that was losing popular support.

Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Swedish immigrants. He grew up in Little Falls, Minnesota. His father, Charles Lindbergh Sr., was a lawyer and later a U.S. Congressman who opposed the entry of the U.S. into World War I; his mother was a chemistry teacher. Early on, he showed an interest in machinery, especially aircraft. Lindbergh, for a short time, attended Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, California [1].In 1922, he quit a mechanical engineering program, joined a pilot and mechanics training program with Nebraska Aircraft, bought his own plane, a World War I-surplus Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny", and became a stunt pilot. In 1924, he started training as a pilot with the Army Air Service. During this time he also held a job as an airline mechanic in Billings, Montana working at Logan International Airport.After finishing first in his class, Lindbergh took his first job as lead pilot of an airmail route operated by Robertson Aircraft Co. of Lambert Field in St. Louis, Missouri. He flew the mail in a DeHavilland DH-4 biplane to Springfield, Peoria, and Chicago, Illinois. During his tenure on the mail route, he was renowned for delivering the mail under any circumstances. He even salvaged stashes of mail from his burning aircraft and immediately phoned Alexander Varney, Peoria's airport manager, to advise him to send a truck.In April 1923, while visiting friends in Lake Village, Arkansas, Lindbergh made his first ever nighttime flight over Lake Village and Lake Chicot.