The Spirit of St. Louis (Registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built single engine, single seat monoplane that was flown solo by Charles Lindbergh on May 20–21, 1927, on the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris for which Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize.
Lindbergh took off in the Spirit from Roosevelt Airfield, Garden City (Long Island), New York and landed 33 hours, 30 minutes later at Le Bourget Aerodrome in Paris, France.
Design and development
Officially known as the Ryan NYP (for N ew Y ork to P aris), the single-engine monoplane was designed by Donald A. Hall of the aircraft manufacturer Ryan Airlines located in San Diego, California. To save design time the NYP was loosely based on the company's 1926 Ryan M-2 mail-plane with the main difference being the 4,000 mile range of the NYP. Hall documented his design in "Engineering Data on the Spirit of St. Louis " which he prepared for the US NACA and is included as an appendix to Lindbergh's 1953 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Spirit of St. Louis.
In 1927, the company was owned by Benjamin Franklin Mahoney who had co-founded it as an airline in 1925 with T. Claude Ryan. The latter remained with the company after Mahoney bought out his interest in 1926, but there is some dispute as to how involved Ryan may have been in its management after selling his share. It is known, however, that Hawley Bowlus was the factory manager who oversaw construction of the Ryan NYP, and that B.F. Mahoney was the sole owner at the time of Donald A. Hall's hiring. Although the "Spirit" was designed and built in San Diego for a flight from New York to Paris, it was named after the city of St. Louis, Missouri because both Lindbergh and his financial backers lived in that city. The flight was inspired by the $25,000 Orteig Prize for the first non-stop flight between New York and Paris which Lindbergh would win in the monoplane. (The three earlier failed attempts made prior to Lindbergh's flight, in which a total of six aircrew were killed, all involved biplanes.) Hall and Ryan Airlines' staff worked closely with Lindbergh to design and build the Spirit in just 60 days. Although what was actually paid to Ryan Aeronautical for the project isn't clear, Mahoney offered to do it "at cost."
Design
Lindbergh believed that multiple engines resulted in a greater chance of failure while a single-engine design would give him greater range. To increase fuel efficiency, the Spirit of St. Louis was also one of the most advanced and aerodynamically streamlined designs of its era.
Lindbergh believed that a flight made in a single-seat monoplane designed around the dependable Wright J-5C "Whirlwind" radial engine provided the best chance of success. The Ryan NYP had a fuel capacity of 450 US gallons (1,700 l; 370 imp gal) or 2,385 pounds (1,082 kg) which was necessary in order to have the range to make the anticipated flight non-stop. The large main fuel tank was placed in the forward section of the fuselage, in front of the pilot, which improved the center of gravity. While locating fuel tanks at the front reduced the risk of the pilot's being crushed to death in the event of a crash, this design decision also meant that there could be no front windshield, and that forward visibility would be limited to side windows only. A periscope was installed to provide a forward view, as a precaution against hitting ship masts, trees, or structures while flying at low altitude; however, it is unclear whether the periscope was used during the flight. Lindbergh also used special navigation instruments such as the Earth Inductor Compass as its main instrument, allowing Lindbergh to navigate while taking account of the magnetic declination of the earth.
Lindbergh sat in a cramped cockpit which was 94 cm wide, 81 cm long and 130 cm high (36 in × 32 in × 51 in). The cockpit was so small, Lindbergh could not stretch his legs. The Spirit of St. Louis was powered by a 223-horsepower (166 kW), air-cooled, 9-cylinder Wright J-5C "Whirlwind" radial engine. The engine was rated for a maximum operating time of 9,000 hours (more than one year if operated continuously), and had a special mechanism that could keep it clean for the entire New York-to-Paris flight. It was also, for its day, very fuel efficient enabling longer flights carrying less fuel weight for given distances. Another key feature of Lindbergh's radial engine was that it was rated to self-lubricate the engine's valves for 40 hours continuously. Lubricating, or "greasing," the moving external engine parts was a necessity most aeronautical engines of the day required to be done manually by the pilot or ground crew prior to every flight and would have been otherwise somehow required during such a long flight.
The engine was built at Wright Aeronautical in Paterson, New Jersey by a 24-year old engine builder, Tom Rutledge, who was disappointed that he was assigned to the unknown aviator Charles Lindbergh. Four days after the flight he received a letter of congratulations from the Wright management. His estate owns pictures of historical interest.
The race to win the Prize required time saving design compromises. The original wingspan of the Ryan M2 was increased by 10 ft and redesigned to create a surface area large enough to lift 450 US gallon of fuel (carried in five fuel tanks: left wing, right wing, mid wing, nose and in available payload space) along with the lone pilot and minimum necessary gear.
However, Donald A. Hall decided that the empennage (tail assembly) and wing control surfaces would not be altered from his original Ryan M-2 design, thus minimizing redesign time that was not available without delaying the flight. The result was a less aerodynamic stability which the experienced Lindbergh nevertheless approved. There is dispute regarding whether Hall and Lindbergh also preferred this design since the estimated 40-hour flight would be very challenging in terms of pilot fatigue. More than likely, Hall and Lindbergh together weighed the advantages and disadvantages of this setup, determining that some level of instability would help keep Lindbergh awake. This indeed resulted in a less than optimally stable design that tended to randomly introduce unanticipated pitch, yaw, and bank (roll) elements into its overall flight characteristics. Lindbergh later wrote how these random unanticipated movements helped keep him awake at various times during the flight. The stiff wicker seat in the cockpit was also purposely uncomfortable, though custom fitted to Lindbergh's tall and lanky frame.
Lindbergh also insisted that unnecessary weight be eliminated. For example, he carried no radio in order to save weight. Radios were quite unreliable at the time in any case. Also, although he was an airmail pilot, he refused to carry souvenir letters on the transatlantic journey, insisting that every spare ounce be devoted to fuel. The fuselage was made of treated fabric over a metal-tube frame, while the wings were made of fabric over a wood frame.
A small, left-facing Native American-style swastika was painted on the inside of the nosecone of the Spirit of St. Louis along with the names of all the Ryan Aircraft Co. employees who designed and built it. It was meant as a message of good luck prior to Lindbergh's solo Atlantic crossing as the symbol was often used as a popular good luck charm with early aviators and others. The inside of the nosecone can be viewed on the original Spirit of St. Louis at the National Air and Space Museum.
Legacy
Lindbergh's prize winning New York to Paris flight made him an instant celebrity and media star. In successfully winning the Orteig Prize, his solitary flight seemed to stir the public's imagination. He wrote: "I was astonished at the effect my successful landing in France had on the nations of the world. It was like a match lighting a bonfire." Lindbergh subsequently flew the Spirit of St. Louis to Belgium and England before President Calvin Coolidge sent the United States Navy cruiser USS Memphis (CL-13) to bring them back to the United States. Arriving on June 11, Capt. Lindbergh and the Spirit were escorted up the Potomac River to Washington, D.C. by a fleet of warships, multiple flights of military pursuit planes, bombers, and the rigid airship USS Los Angeles (ZR-3) where President Coolidge then presented the 25-year old U.S. Army Reserve aviator with the Distinguished Flying Cross. Over the next 10 months, Lindbergh and his now famous flying "partner" made a number of extensive promotional and goodwill tours across the United States and Latin America.
Just one year and two days after making their first flight at Dutch Flats in San Diego, CA, on April 28, 1927, Lindbergh and the Spirit flew together for the final time while making a hop from St. Louis to Bolling Field, in Washington, D.C., on April 30, 1928. There he presented his iconic mono
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