Charles Lindbergh :: essays research papers

Charles Lindbergh was a man of many accomplishments. In his time, everybody loved him.Charles was well known all over the world. He was a hero, he represented all that couldbe accomplished in the future. He was a figure for doing what naught else thought couldbe done. Lindbergh was one of those people that everyone else wanted to be.     Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born in Detroit on February 4, 1902, to CharlesLindbergh, Sr., and Evangeline Land Lodge. Yet, he grew up in a small town in Nebraska.     Lindbergh was a whiz with mechanics. By come along twelve, he was in charge of drivingand fixing the car. In high school, he assembled a tractor from a mail order kit. When hewas eighteen he entered the University of Wisconsin to study engineering. He found hewas more interested in flying, so after two years of college, he dropped out and became abarnstormer, which was a pilot who performed daredevil stunts at fairs, and airshows.Lindbergh was a favorite among the crowds. People would travel from all different places,even Europe, to come see his daredevil tricks.      In 1924 Lindbergh enlisted in the U.S. Army so he could be trained to be a pilot.During this time he was given the nickname &8220Lucky Lindy because he would sweatdaredevil stunts with his airplane, and always seem to evade punishment from upperofficers. In 1925 he graduated as the top pilot in his class. He in short began working as amail deliverer between St. Louis and Chicago.     Lindbergh soon heard of an offer given in 1919 by a New York hotel possessor namedRaymond Orteig. The offer was this the first aviator to fly nonstop from New York toParis would receive 25,000 dollars. Nobody had succeeded by 1927, and Lindberghdecided he could do it if he had a suitable plane. Remember, in 1919 this was a very scarything to do There was no radio on your plane, so if it went down, you could not call forhelp, and n obody would know where you were. Also, there was no coast guard, no searchand rescue teams, so if you crashed, you were dead. He arranged for nine St. Louisbusinessmen to help him finance his plane. A company in San Diego called RyanAeronautical Company was chosen to construct the plane, which Lindbergh helped design. The plane was named "The Spirit of St. Louis". A transcontinental record wasimmediately set in a test run when Lindbergh flew from San Diego to New York City in