This day in Aviation History, 4 February 1902: Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Brigadier General, United States Air Force, Medal of Honor, was born at Detroit, Michigan. Certainly one of the world’s best known pilots, Lindbergh began flight training at the age of 20. In 1924 he was sent to San Antonio, Texas for a year of training at the United States Army flight schools at Brooks and Kelly Fields. He graduated at the top of his class, 5 March 1925, and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Reserve Service. He became an Air Mail pilot and gained valuable flight experience.
On 20 May 1927, Lindbergh departed New York in his custom-built Ryan NYP monoplane, “Spirit of St. Louis”, and 33 hours, 30 minutes later, he landed at Paris, France, becoming the First person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. When he returned to the United States, he was presented the Distinguished Flying Cross by President Coolidge. On 14 December 1927, by Act of Congress, Lindbergh was awarded the Medal of Honor: “For displaying heroic courage and skill as a navigator, at the risk of his life, by his nonstop flight in his airplane, the Spirit of St. Louis, from New York City to Paris, France, 20–21 May 1927, by which Capt. Lindbergh not only achieved the greatest individual triumph of any American citizen but demonstrated that travel across the ocean by aircraft was possible.”
In the late 1930s, as a Colonel in the Army Air Corps, he had various assignments, including evaluating new aircraft at Wright Field. During World War II, he served as a civilian adviser and flew the Chance-Vought F4U Corsair in combat missions with Marine fighter squadrons VMF-216 and VMF-222. He also flew the Lockheed P-38 Lightning with the Army Air Force 433rd Fighter Squadron.
Thank you Charles for leading the way!