LINDBERGH, CHARLES A. (5902- ), American aviator, and the first flyer to make a New York to Paris non-stop flight, was born on Feb. 4, 1902, at Detroit, Mich. When about two months old Lindbergh's parents took him to Little Falls, Minn., where he later graduated from high school. His interests led him to study engineering at the University of Wisconsin for three semesters and to enroll in a flying school in Lincoln, Neb.
On March 19, 5924, he enlisted as a flying cadet in the air service of the War Department at Kelly field, Texas, and in the spring of 1925 was commissioned second lieutenant. In Nov. 1925 he enlisted in the 11oth squadron of the 35th Division Missouri National Guards as first lieutenant, and in the following November was made a captain in the Officers Reserve Corps. On April 15, 1925, he entered upon his duties as an air-mail pilot on the route from St. Louis to Chicago, and it was while flying this route that he decided to compete for the $25,000 prize offered by Raymond B. Orteig for a New York to Paris non-stop flight.
In St. Louis he found men to finance the project and in Feb. 1927 he placed his order for the plane which subsequently became so well known as the "Spirit of St. Louis." He left San Diego for New York, via St. Louis, at 3.55 P.M. Pacific time, on May so; arrived at Curtis field, L.I. at 5.33 P.M. on May i 2, making a record for an overland flight. At 7.52 on the morning of May 20 he left Roosevelt field, L.I., for Paris, and arrived there, at Le Bourget, at to P.M. Paris time, on the evening of the 21st. Among the many honours conferred upon him for his achievement were the French Cross of the Legion d'honneur, the British Royal Air Force Cross and, in the United States, the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was promoted to the rank of
colonel. Following his enthusiastic reception in Washington (June 1) and in New York (June 13), he made an air tour which in cluded 78 cities and every State in the Union. Upon invitation from President Calles of Mexico he made a non-stop flight from Washington, D.C., to Mexico City on Dec. 13-14, 1927. The "good will" mission was continued southward to include the countries of Central America, northern South America and the West Indies. In all he visited 16 countries and flew 7,86o m. before returning to St. Louis on Feb. 13, 1928. For this he was awarded the Woodrow Wilson Medal and $25,000. Subsequently he became chairman of the technical committee of the Transcontinental Air Transport. In 1933 he flew from America to Copenhagen by way of Greenland, Iceland and the Shetland Isles to test the route.
In 1929 he married Anne Morrow, daughter of Dwight W. Mor row. The kidnapping of their first child attracted world-wide at tention (see KIDNAPPING). Anne Lindbergh's book, North to the Orient, describing the joint flight of herself and husband in 1931 to China and Japan, revealed considerable ability. In December, 1935, the Lindbergh's removed their home to England.
See We, an autobiography (1927), and the biographical sketches written by R. J. Beamish (1927), G. B. Fife (1927) and D. Van Every and M. DeH. Tracy (1927) ; also E. Reeves, Lindbergh Flies On (1929).