SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS

The 'Spirit of St. Louis' is a custom-built airplane flown by Charles Lindbergh that made the first non-stop solo trans-Atlantic flight on 20 May and 21 May 1927. This was also the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris, for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.
Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Airfield in Long Island, New York and made a successful touchdown at the Le Bourget Aerodrome in Paris, France. The flight lasted 33 hours, 30 minutes and 29.8 seconds. Lindbergh was the 104th person to fly the Atlantic.

Contents

Design and development

Technical specifications

Legacy

Disposition

Specifications (Ryan NYP)

References

External links

Gallery

Related content

Design and development

Officially known as the 'Ryan NYP', the aircraft was designed by Donald A. Hall of the aircraft manufacturer Ryan Airlines in San Diego, California. The plane was loosely based on the Ryan M-2, a mail-carrier built in 1926, to cut design time. However the ''Spirit'' represented a "new design" considering the Ryan M-2 could not be redesigned to make the 3,600 mile flight. Donald A. Hall elaborated on these facts in the "Engineering Data on the ''Spirit of St. Louis''" (originally published in ''The Spirit of St. Louis'' by Charles Lindbergh).
At the time, the company was owned by Benjamin F. "Frank" Mahoney, who had founded the company as an airline in 1925 with T. Claude Ryan and retained him as manager after buying out his interest in 1926. Although designed for the New York to Paris flight and built in San Diego, it was named after the city of St. Louis, Missouri because Lindbergh's financial investors lived in that city. The flight was inspired by the $25,000 Orteig Prize for the first non-stop flight between New York and Paris. On 21 May, the plane touched down in Le Bourget, Paris, France winning the Prize.
Hall and the Ryan Airlines staff worked closely with Lindbergh to design and build the single-seat, single-engine monoplane in just sixty days, for a cost of just over $10,000 (though the actual cost isn't clear, since Mahoney offered the plane "at cost"). In the spring of 1927, several other pilots and aircrew were also preparing to make the Transatlantic flight to compete for the Orteig Prize.

Technical specifications

Lindbergh believed that the more engines a plane had, the greater the possibility of engine failure. He was of the opinion that single-engine planes traveled farther, and thus decided to purchase one. To increase fuel efficiency, the Spirit of St. Louis was one of the most streamlined aircraft of its era.
Lindbergh believed that a flight in a small airplane, designed around the dependable Wright J-5C, stood the best chance of completion. The Ryan NYP was very different from others since it had extra fuel tanks, in order to travel a much greater distance non-stop. The large main fuel tank was placed in the forward section of the fuselage, in front of the pilot, which improved the center of gravity of the aircraft. Locating fuel tanks at the front of the aircraft reduced the risk of the pilot being crushed to death in crash, thus there was no front windshield, and the pilot's view was limited to the side windows. A periscope was installed and fastened to the plane's left side to provide a forward view, as a precaution against hitting ship masts, trees, or structures while flying at low altitude; however, it is unclear whether the periscope used during the flight. Lindbergh also used special navigation instruments such as the Earth Inductor Compass, which was the plane's main instrument, allowing Lindbergh to navigate while taking account of the magnetic deviation of the earth.
Lindbergh sat in a cramped cockpit which was 94 centimeters wide by 81 centimeters long and 130 centimeters high. The cockpit was so small, Lindbergh could not stretch his legs. The Spirit of St. Louis was powered by a 223-horsepower, air-cooled, 9-cylinder Wright J-5C "Whirlwind" engine. The engine was rated for a maximum operating time of 9,000 hours (more than one year if operated continuously), and had a special mechanism that could keep it clean the whole New York-to-Paris flight. Mass/power ratio was: 23 lb/hp (10.4 kg/hp).
The race to win the trophy required time saving design compromises. The original wingspan of the Ryan M2 was increased by 10 feet and redesigned to create a surface area large enough to lift 450 gallons (1,703 liters) of fuel (carried in five fuel tanks: left wing, right wing, mid wing, nose and in available payload space) along with the lone pilot and minimum necessary gear.
However, Hall decided that the tail and control surfaces of the aircraft would not be altered from his original Ryan M2 design, thus minimizing redesign time that was not available without delaying the flight. The result was a less stable aircraft which the experienced Lindbergh nevertheless approved. There is dispute regarding whether Hall also preferred this design since the estimated 40-hour flight would be very challenging in terms of pilot fatigue. More than likely, Hall and Lindbergh together weighed the advantages and disadvantages of this setup, determining that an unstable aircraft would help keep Lindbergh awake. This indeed resulted in a plane with unstable flight characteristics, with a tendency to curve, dip, and bank at random times. The stiff wicker seat in the cockpit was also purposely uncomfortable, though custom fitted to Lindbergh's tall and lanky frame. Lindbergh later wrote about how the plane woke him various times during the flight in his book, ''The Spirit of St. Louis''.
Lindbergh also insisted that unnecessary weight be eliminated. For example, he carried no radio in order to save weight. Radios were quite unreliable at the time in any case. Also, although he was an airmail pilot, he refused to carry souvenir letters on the transatlantic journey, insisting that every spare ounce be devoted to fuel. The aircraft fuselage was made of treated fabric over a metal-tube frame. The wings were made of fabric over a wood frame.
A swastika was painted on the inside of the nosecone of the ''Spirit of St. Louis'' along with the names of all the Ryan Aircraft Co. employees that built the airplane. It was a message of good luck prior to Lindbergh's solo Atlantic crossing as the swastika was a popular good luck charm and symbol with early aviators. ^[1]

Legacy

Lindbergh's transatlantic flight made him an instant celebrity and media star. In successfully winning the Orteig Prize, his solitary flight seemed to stir the public's imagination. He wrote: "I was astonished at the effect my successful landing in France had on the nations of the world. It was like a match lighting a bonfire" ^[2].
He subsequently flew the Spirit of St. Louis to Belgium and England before President Coolidge sent a Navy cruiser to bring Lindbergh and his airplane back to the United States. Lindbergh then flew the Spirit of St. Louis on promotional and goodwill tours across the United States and Latin America. The final flight of the Spirit of St. Louis took place on 30 April 1928, when Lindbergh flew from St. Louis to Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., where he presented the historic aircraft to the Smithsonian Institution.
Charles Lindbergh wrote the book ''WE'' about his 1927 epic transatlantic journey from New York to Paris only weeks after the flight. The title "''WE''" refers to Lindbergh and the ''Spirit of St. Louis'' being together and the only two on the flight. In 1953, he wrote ''The Spirit of St. Louis'' which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1954.

Disposition

The original ''Spirit of St. Louis'' is currently on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, in the main atrium on the same side as the Bell X-1 and SpaceShipOne. The aircraft was presented to the Smithsonian Institution by Lindbergh in 1928. A large number of replicas have been made — both static and flying. The Experimental Aircraft Association, for instance, owns two such replicas, both of which were registered under the original's NX211. Other examples are found at the Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport, the Missouri Historical Society, the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, San Diego Aerospace Museum, and San Diego International Airport.
Three replicas of the ''Spirit of St. Louis'' were built for 1957 film ''The Spirit of St. Louis'' starring James Stewart. One example is on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan ^[3]and a second replica is at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. ^[4]

Specifications (Ryan NYP)

References

1. The inside of the nosecone can be viewed on the original ''Spirit of St. Louis'' at the National Air and Space Museum.
2. Nevin 1980, p. 99.
3. The Spirit of St. Louis (film)
4. Hardwick and Schnepf 1989, p. 60.


★ Hall, Donald A. ''Technical Preparation of the Airplane "Spirit of St. Louis" N.A.C.A. Technical Note #257''. Washington: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, July 1927. Spirit Access date: 18 May 2007

★ Hardwick, Jack and Schnepf, Ed. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies." The Making of the ''Great Aviation Films''. General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989.

★ Lindbergh, Charles A. ''We''. New York: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, 1927.

★ Nevin, David, ed. ''The Pathfinders'' (The Epic of Flight, v. 2). Alexandria, Virginia: Time-Life Books, 1980. ISBN 0-8094-3256-0.

★ Schiff, Barry. "The Spirit Flies On: Remembering the Flight that Changed the Course of History." ''AOPA Pilot'', May 2002. Spirit of St. Louis Access date: 18 May 2007.

External links

★ ''Spirit of St. Louis'' at the National Air and Space Museum

★ The ''Spirit of St. Louis''

★ Lindbergh's Transatlantic Flight: New York to Paris Timeline, May 20-21, 1927

★ Photo Archive by Donald A. Hall: Designer of the ''Spirit of St. Louis''

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