"We" : $b The famous flier's own story of his life and his trans-Atlantic flight, together with his views on the future of aviationLindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus)
History
"We" : $b The famous flier's own story of his life and his trans-Atlantic flight, together with his views on the future of aviation
Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus)
Aeronautics -- Flights; Air pilots -- Biography; Transatlantic flights
“I continued on a compass course of 50 degrees until 7:15 P.M. when I
saw a dull glow on top of the fog, indicating a town below. There were
several of these light patches on the fog, visible only when looking
away from the moon, and I knew them to be towns bordering Maywood. At
no time, however, was I able to locate the exact position of the field,
although I understand that the searchlights were directed upward and
two barrels of gasoline burned in an endeavor to attract my attention.
Several times I descended to the top of the fog, which was 800 to 900
feet high, according to my altimeter. The sky above was clear with the
exception of scattered clouds, and the moon and stars were shining
brightly. After circling around for 35 minutes I headed west to be sure
of clearing Lake Michigan, and in an attempt to pick up one of the
lights on the Transcontinental.
“After flying west for fifteen minutes and seeing no break I turned
southwest hoping to strike the edge of the fog south of the Illinois
River. My engine stopped at 8:20 P.M., and I cut in the reserve. I was
at that time only 1,500 feet high, and as the engine did not pick up as
soon as I expected I shoved the flashlight in my belt and was about to
release the parachute flare and jump when the engine finally took hold
again. A second trial showed the main tank to be dry, and accordingly a
maximum of twenty minutes’ flying time left.
“There were no openings in the fog and I decided to leave the ship as
soon as the reserve tank was exhausted. I tried to get the mail pit
open with the idea of throwing out the mail sacks, and then jumping,
but was unable to open the front buckle. I knew that the risk of fire
with no gasoline in the tanks was very slight and began to climb for
altitude when I saw a light on the ground for several seconds. This was
the first light I had seen for nearly two hours, and as almost enough
gasoline for fifteen minutes’ flying remained in the reserve, I glided
down to 1,200 feet and pulled out the flare release cable as nearly as
I could judge over the spot where the light had appeared. This time the
flare functioned but only to illuminate the top of a solid bank of fog,
into which it soon disappeared without showing any trace of the ground.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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