Charles Lindbergh Flies Solo Across the Atlantic
33 hours alone over open ocean turn a mail pilot into the most famous man in the world
Quick facts
- Dates
- May 20-21, 1927
- Route
- Roosevelt Field, NY, to Le Bourget Field, Paris
- Duration/distance
- 33 hours 30 minutes, 3,610 miles
- Aircraft
- Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis
What happened
Charles Lindbergh, previously a contract airmail pilot, took off from Roosevelt Field, New York, on May 20, 1927, in the Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis, a custom single-engine monoplane powered by a 223-horsepower Wright J-5C engine, designed by Donald Hall under Lindbergh's direct supervision. Thirty-three and a half hours and 3,610 miles later, Lindbergh landed at Le Bourget Field outside Paris, completing the first solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic, and was met by a crowd estimated at 100,000 people.
Why it matters
Lindbergh's flight made him an instant global celebrity and is widely credited with catalyzing public and investor confidence in commercial aviation, contributing directly to a surge in airline ticket sales, aircraft manufacturing, and pilot training in the years that followed. He later donated the Spirit of St. Louis to the Smithsonian Institution in 1928, cementing the aircraft's status as a founding artifact of American aviation.
How we know
Lindbergh's prior work as a contract airmail pilot and the route, timing, and immediate aftermath of his transatlantic flight are documented by the San Diego Air & Space Museum and the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, a federally chartered aviation history project.
Sources
- San Diego Air & Space Museum. Contract Air Mail (CAM) · General sourcesandiegoairandspace.org · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match).
- U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission. Airmail: The Air Mail Act of 1925 Through 1929 · General sourcecentennialofflight.net · Cited as a "reference" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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