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Expand. Lionized; boldness of flight decisions; kidnapping; Nazi controversy; route scouting for Pan Am
Charles Lindbergh was an early pilot. He flew solo for the first time from [[New York]] to [[Paris]] in 1927.
Charles Lindbergh was an early pilot. He flew solo for the first time from [[New York]] to [[Paris]] in 1927. This feat created a sensation and he was welcomed by enormous crowds in France and, on his return, in New York. He was known as "Lucky Lindy" and inspired a dance, the "Lindy Hop."
Lindbergh was bold in using a single-engine plane and in flying solo. He argued that aircraft engines were now reliable enough to be counted on, and that the loss of a single-engine plane in a multi-engine aircraft would be so serious that having several engines increased, rather than reduced, the risk. Bolder, perhaps, was his decision to fly alone, meaning that he needed to remain awake for 33 hours.
Lindbergh's life was touched with tragedy when his twenty-month-old baby was kidnapped, and ultimately killed, by Bruno Hauptman.
Lindbergh visited Germany in 1938 and was impressed by and spoke favorably of the German air force. He accepted a medal from Hermann Goering for his services to aviation. He became politically controversial because it appeared that he did not have strenuous objections to the Nazi cause, and some regarded him as a Nazi sympathizer.
He worked as a civilian consultant to aviation companies, particularly Pan American Airways. He flew all over the world scouting possible routes that Pan Am could fly.