Page 21 - Ruth Law

RUTH LAW
DAYTONA'S PIONEER AVIATOR

THE LONE EAGLE
LUCKY LINDY

Charles Augustus Lindbergh
1902-1974

Charles Lindbergh was born in 1902 in Detroit, Michigan,
and grew up on a farm in Minnesota. He attended the
University of Wisconsin to study engineering. After two
years he left school, being more interested in aviation
than engineering. Charles became a barnstormer, a pilot
who performs daredevil stunts at fairs. In 1924, he
enlisted in the Army, and in 1925 graduated Army flight
training as the best in his class.

On May 20, 1927, his plane, the "Spirit of St. Louis,"
lifted off from Roosevelt field in New York City and
landed near Paris, France, on May 21, 1927. He flew
3600 miles in 33-1/2 hours, in a single seat, single
engine plane using only a compass, air speed indicator
and luck! He became the first person to fly solo across
the Atlantic. President Coolidge awarded him the
Congressional Medal of Honor and Distinguished Flying
Cross.

Lindbergh said," The life of an aviator seemed to me
ideal. It involved skill. It brought adventure. It made
use of the latest developments of science. Mechanical
engineers were fettered to factories and drafting boards
while pilots have the freedom of wind with the expanse
of sky. There were times in an aeroplane when it
seemed I had escaped mortality to look down on earth
like a God."

HER PLACE IN AVIATION HISTORY
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