USA/FRANCE: GRANDSON OF AVIATOR CHARLES LINDBERGH PREPARES TO RECREATE HIS HISTORIC SOLO FLIGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

Record ID: 552017

  • Title: USA/FRANCE: GRANDSON OF AVIATOR CHARLES LINDBERGH PREPARES TO RECREATE HIS HISTORIC SOLO FLIGHT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC
  • Date: 1st May 2002
  • Summary: FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (MAY 1, 2002) (REUTERS) PAN DOWN: CROWD OF LOCAL SCHOOLCHILDREN HOLDING SIGNS, STANDING AMONG THEM JANET SIMPSON, WHO SAW THE ORIGINAL LINDBERGH FLIGHT SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIMPSON SAYING: "It was really wonderful, I really appreciated it somehow, because I also felt that was a very special day in my life, and I read everything I
  • Embargoed: 16th May 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK / CHESTERFIELD, MISSOURI; UNITED STATES / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, FRANCE / UNIDENTIFIED LOCATIONS
  • City:
  • Country: France
  • Topics: History,People,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA3SNJ1UZ2XBAF3CNVWLPE3HA1H
  • Story Text: Seventy five years after his grandfather, Charles Lindbergh made the historic solo flight across the Atlantic, his grandson is recreating the journey. After successfully taking off from New York, Erik Lindbergh is now en-route to Paris, hoping to complete the trip in 16 hours, less than half the time it took his grandfather.
    Aviation history is being repeated. Grandson of historic pilot Charles Lindbergh is now up in the sky - well on his way to recreating his grandfather's famous solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris - seventy five years ago.
    Under blue skies and brilliant sunshine, a marked difference from the gloomy clouds his grandfather experienced in 1927, Erik Lindbergh successfully took off from Republic Airport in Farmingdale, New York at 12.16pm local time (1615 GMT).
    Around 150 people cheered and waved him goodbye, among them, his sister Kristina Lindbergh. She blew her brother kisses as she waved goodbye. She said it was an emotional moment.
    "I'm very proud of him that he's put all this together, he's worked very hard," she said.
    The departure was almost two hours delayed, so Lindbergh could catch the right jet stream to get him to France as fast as possible. Charles Lindbergh made the trip in 33 hours and 29 minutes, Erik hopes to cut that time in half, aiming for a 16 hour journey. His main challenge is the weather.
    Peter Diamandis, Chairman and President of the X-Prize Foundation, which is manning Lindbergh's mission control, said Erik will have to skillfully navigate various cloud systems along the way.
    Diamandis said: "He'll be flying at around five thousand feet and to avoid icing he's going to have to either dip down to seven thousand feet or try and climb above the clouds and X-prize Mission Control in St Louis will guide him through that, and then, outside Paris, it will be cold and rainy, and so he'll dodge in between the clouds there, but he should make it safely to Paris by about 9 or 10am local time in Le Bourget."
    Erik's plane "The New Spirit of St Louis" is named after his grandfather's, but the similarities end there. His plane is significantly more sophisticated than the tiny original flown, it is made of glass and composite material instead of the steel tubing, fabric and wood of the original. It also has all the trappings of modern aviation, including Global Satellite Positioning systems.
    Erik Lindbergh began the recreation journey on April 20, when he left St. Louis. While Charles flew at an average cruising speed of 108 miles (173.8 km) an hour, his grandson will cruise at an average speed of 184 miles (296.1 km) an hour.
    The modern day take-off bought back memories for some elderly women gathered on the airstrip, who also witnessed the 1927 flight. Janet Simpson was 16 years old when she took the morning off school to watch Charles's plane make it's precarious take-off for France. She says it was exciting back in 1975.
    "It was really wonderful, I really appreciated it somehow, because I also felt that was a very special day in my life, and I read everything I could about the family and all, so when I learned about Erik, I thought how exciting and then, when I was invited to come today, I thought isn't this grand I'll be able to see him." Simpson said.
    Witnessing the repetition of history were also a new generation of aviation dreamers from several local schools.
    Thirteen-year-old Katie Cobb said she is in awe of what Erik Lindbergh is doing.
    "I think he's amazing, to have the courage to, you know...obviously he really loved his father...I mean, grandfather, he has a lot of respect for him, and I think he's a wonderful man to recreate something like that."
    In 1927, the elder Lindbergh was spurred to cross the ocean alone by the Orteig Prize, a $25,000 award for the first aviator to make the trip. In 2002, the younger Lindbergh hopes his trip will publicise the X Prize, which offers $10 million to the first private team to fly to space in a privately built spacecraft and then to return to space within two weeks.
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