The Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC is a exciting and fun visit for anyone at any age. There are collections of Aircraft from the Wright Brothers to the Space Shuttle. Flight and Space memorabilia are displayed on the floor and hanging from the ceiling. Also, if you wish to enjoy a movie they have an IMAX theater. This all makes for a great day.
Charles Augustus Lindbergh
On May 20, 1927 Charles A. Lindbergh took off in the Spirit of St. Louis from Roosevelt Field, near New York City, at 7:52 A.M for a trip across the Atlantic Ocean. No one had ever completed this trip nonstop before. Other pilots had crossed the Atlantic before him, but Lindbergh was the first person to do it alone nonstop.
Because of the length of the trip a decision was made to take out the windshield of the aircraft in order to facilitate another fuel tank to be placed in front of Lindbergh’s seat; this caused Lindbergh to have to stick his head out of the window in order to see. With no sleep prior to the flight because of concerns over having enough fuel aboard for the trip, the rain that had been coming down for 6 days, building and puddling on the muddy runway, which would cause a drag or resistance to the aircraft’s main gear. That coupled with the added weight of fuel would together all slow the planes takeoff speed. All of these concerns caused him obvious anxiousness over the trip. Six pilots had already perished attempting to be the first to cross the Atlantic non stop.
With all of these problems he was able to takeoff. Lindbergh recounted in his autobiography “We”, that a fly helped keep him awake during the 33-1/2 hour flight. Lindbergh, given all of these problems landed at Le Bourget Field, near Paris, on May 21 at 10:21 P.M. Paris time (5:21 P.M. New York time). Thousands of cheering people had gathered to meet him. He had flown more than 3,600 miles in 33 1/2 hours. nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean on May 20-21, 1927.
Below is a photograph I took of the Spirit of St. Louis at the Air & Space Museum. By contrast in the photo is a NASA Test plane.
The Spirit of St. Louis flown by Charles A. Lindburgh, build by Ryan Mfg., California
After I left the Air & Space museum I watched two men of Grecian decent playing Bocce ball on Mall.
Thanks, more tk
