Lindbergh Words and Wings

This May marks the 90th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s epic solo flight from New York to Paris in the "Spirit of St. Louis."

In this lecture, Lindbergh's daughter, Reeve Lindbergh, honored the legacy of her mother and father, both of whom had a lasting impact on aviation. Through her parents' writing and her own heartfelt thoughts, Reeve sheds light on the couple's adventures.

The Charles A. Lindbergh Memorial Lecture is an annual event and was made possible by the generous support of United Technologies Corporation and Pratt & Whitney.

[marianneharding]

So glad I could be there in person for this.

[bobofgloucester]

My own father, then ten years old asked his father if he could ride his bicycle from Bayside Queens only - 20 miles eastward - on mostly country roads - to Roosevelt Field to see the plane before the historic solo flight.

The answer was “Yes” but when you’re older. But instead my Dad played hooky on May 21st 1927. A hardware store downtown Bayside had a radio playing in the store window and my Dad stayed within earshot for news when reported from Paris.

Needless to say his parents, like my own, would have, okayed distance travel when he was thirteen and by that time he made the trip amazed at how aviation was growing out of “the cradle” airfields that surrounded Roosevelt Field.

Fast forward -

Now when I turned thirteen I earned a trip to Washington DC generously arranged by Long Island Newsday with a big bunch of other Newsboys. As I recall the Spirit of St Louis was on display but my camera flash wouldn’t reach.

On the return trip we returned from LaGuardia Airport via bus to of all places Roosevelt Field.

Meanwhile my father made a radio that received the LaGuardia Tower ... so with HIS family all around the radio they heard my flight “american 133 clear for final. AMERICAN 133 CLEAR FOR FINAL”

We rendezvoused at Roosevelt Field.

Speaking of rendezvous — does Paris have a marker for the point of wheels touch?

[ungrateful-]

I only met my late great-aunt Anne Morrow Lindbergh once, after she’d lost the ability to speak and have always been humbled by hers and my mom’s family’s literary genius in general. Charles Lindbergh’s so-called “accomplishments, ” never impressed me, as my mom’s side of family are Danish and we’ve “ruled the skies” for centuries.