Flying the Atlantic : 407 



Nobile from Spitsbergen across the North Pole to a landing in 

 Alaska. 



In 1927 a New York merchant of French descent named Ray- 

 mond Orteig had offered a prize of $25,000 for a nonstop flight from 

 New York to Paris. In the spring of that year many well-known avi- 

 ators were grooming machines for long-distance flights apparently 

 with this prize in mind. These included Richard Byrd and Clarence 

 Chamberlain, each of whom had fairly large ships at their disposal 

 and crews of several persons. 



In September, 1926, Rene Fonck, a French aviator, in an attempt 

 to make the nonstop flight to Paris, crashed on the take-off from 

 Roosevelt Field, Long Island. Fonck and another crew member sur- 

 vived the crash but two members of the crew were killed. 



In April 1927 Lieutenant Commander Richard Byrd cracked up 

 the America in a test flight preparatory to attempting the New York 

 to Paris nonstop flight and, about the same time, Commander Noel 

 Davis and his partner were killed in another contending ship called 

 the American Legion. 



Almost unknown at the time was a young aviator named Charles 

 Lindbergh who had asked a young manufacturer named Ryan at San 

 Diego, California, to build and equip a ship for just this flight. Lind- 

 bergh's ship was small and fast and he was flying it alone. He 

 claimed the ship in San Diego, flew it to St. Louis where he paused 

 briefly to see some of the gentlemen of that city who had backed his 

 venture. His next hop carried him to Roosevelt Field outside of 

 New York. This was already a remarkable performance and his un- 

 heralded arrival attracted a good deal of publicity. 



The small ship, the young flier, the lone venture made a combi- 

 nation to arouse the greatest popular interest. Taking advantage of 

 an apparent break in the weather, Lindbergh got under way from 

 Roosevelt Field on May 20 and to the general surprise of the world 

 completed the flight successfully. By this time many people had 

 flown across the Atlantic, but Lindbergh's flight served to dramatize 

 and in a way to popularize the crossing. 



Following the flight Lindbergh was, for a number of years, suc- 

 cessfully advised in matters of public relations and by extending his 

 travels and aerial explorations was able to create, particularly in the 

 United States, a lively interest in air travel. This was finally utilized 

 by a number of the air lines that were then beginning to succeed 

 with commercial air operations. 



Lindbergh's popularity stole the limelight from another very im- 



