French claim that Lindbergh was NOT first to fly across the Atlantic

[Story]

According to French aviation enthusiast Bernard Decré, Lindbergh was only the first to complete the crossing and survive, with two French pilots believed to have reached the coast of Canada ten days before Lindbergh's Spirit of St Louis touched down in Paris in May 1927.

New documentary evidence found in the U.S. national archives may prove that Charles Nungesser and Francois Coli completed a transatlantic crossing and were the first men to do so, though they were likely killed in the process.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Lindbergh-NOT-fly-Atlantic.html#ixzz15Ef71Z7b

 

[dhermann1]

I believe the challenge was New York to Paris (or vice versa). There were several flyers who didn't make it. As everybody knows, Alcock and Brown had flown from Newfoundlad to Ireland (I believe) in 1919, so the trans Atlantic thing was already done. Almost only counts in horse shoes.

 

[Stearmen]

The First 84

Actually at least 84 men crossed the Atlantic by air before Lindbergh. The first were our American Navy Nancy flying boats, albeit not non stop, they stoped in the Azores, still a big accomplishment. But the first non stop from mainland Europe to the US, as made by Dr. Hugo Eckener and crew in the Zeppelin LZ126 as war reparation. They flew just short of 4000 miles, longer then Lindberg's flight!

 

[Shangas]

I've never quite understood Lindbergh. If people flew across the Atlantic before him (and I know there were lots, I've researched this part of history fairly extensively), then why is Lindbergh the only one that most people remember today? What exactly was *he* famous for? Was it the first SOLO flight nonstop across the Atlantic? Or...fill me in here.

 

[dhermann1]

There was a prize of $25,000 put up for the first person who could fly non stop from Paris to New York (or vice versa). Several people had already perished when Lindberg took off. All other attempts had been made in larger aircraft, carrrying more than one crew member. Most flights were sponsored by famous organizations, or were done by famous flyers (like Nungesser and Coli).
Lindbergs's plane, in contrast, was tiny. It carried only him. It was generally expected that noone would ever hear of him again after he took off from Long Island. The public was unaware of the precise calculations that had gone into Lindberg's plans. He knew exactly what he was doing, and it can be argued that he knew what he was doing better than any of the others making the attempt.
It was truly one of the most brilliant and amazing personal accomplishments of all time, and as the years go by it still stand the test of time.

 

[Talbot]

I believe the intent of the Orteg Prize was to prove the practicality of long haul air travel, not the crossong of the Atlantic.

Many heroic souls were lost in this pursuit. Easy to forget in these days of security gates and airline queues.

Lindbergh's feat was truly heroic, not just for what he achieved, but for his reasons.

His book, 'The Spirit of St Louis' won the '54 Pulitzer. Worth a read if only to put things in context.

Good yarn too!

T

 

[LizzieMaine]

The best way to appreciate the real significance of Lindy's accomplishment is to visit the Smithsonian Air and Space museum and see his plane in person. And then imagine the courage it took to fly it across the Atlantic alone.

The second most impressive accomplishment in aviation, though, is Wrong Way Corrigan's solo flight from New York to Ireland in 1938, in a beat-up secondhand plane with no navigation equipment. Of course, he was trying to go to California. (Of course.)

 

[scotrace]

The second most impressive accomplishment in aviation, though, is Wrong Way Corrigan's solo flight from New York to Ireland in 1938, in a beat-up secondhand plane with no navigation equipment. Of course, he was trying to go to California. (Of course.)

There really was a Wrong Way Corrigan???

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yep. Douglas L. Corrigan, who had actually been one of the mechanics who built "The Spirit Of St. Louis" for Lindy in 1927. He bought a secondhand plane for $300 in 1933, added extra gas tanks, and tried for five years to get official permission to fly it across the Atlantic. Every time, the authorities refused, telling him the plane wasn't airworthy. Finally, in the summer of 1938, he gave up and took off from New York for his home in California. Thirty hours later, he landed in Ireland, and became one of the biggest stories of the year.

To the end of his life, just a few years back, he insisted he really did get lost in the fog. And no one ever believed him.

 

[JimWagner]

While flying in the navy we called our crew's navigator Wrong Way Smerzniak. But he really did get lost a lot.

 

[Chas]

Hold on here- the article says that they crashed off the coast of St. Pierre & Miquelon (two little islands S of Newfoundland). That means short of the coast. So they didn't make it and that still makes Lindbergh the first. To successfully make a crossing, you have to actually land the thing.

 

[TidiousTed]

The two British pilots that crossed the Atlantic in 1919. Read about it here

 

[MikeKardec]

Nungesser was a REAL character. Lots of strange stories about him. Many crashes, knocked the landing gear off his Neuport in a dogfight during WWI and belly flopped the stubs through the upper wing of a German plane and forced the German to land them both. Jumped from a damaged aircraft and landed in, get this, a haystack ... I'm not sure whether to believe all this stuff or if I remember it wrong! He painted a complicated semi masonic design on his planes and, from what I remember, it was a bit of wreckage containing a piece of this design that made it to Newfoundland. More research is necessary!