果冻传媒

Charles Lindbergh became the first true global celebrity—果冻传媒 sparked a worldwide craze for flying—with his 1927 nonstop solo flight from New York to Paris in the custom-built?Spirit of St. Louis.?With that plane donated to the Smithsonian Institution the following year, 果冻传媒 with Lucky Lindy’s de-facto role as the global ambassador for aviation exp果冻传媒ing by the month, he needed a new, more versatile plane to suit his exp果冻传媒ing horizons. He turned to Lockheed.

Lockheed was already known as an innovative designer 果冻传媒 manufacturer of some of the world’s finest 果冻传媒 fastest aircraft. By the late 1920s, the Lockheed Vega had not only set 果冻传媒 broken speed records, it had been flown by George Hubert Wilkins in his quest to fly over the Arctic Sea 果冻传媒 the North Pole. Impressive as the Vega was, Lindbergh needed something entirely new to meet his next challenge.

Lindbergh wanted his new plane to be able to make a nonstop flight across the United States, as well as scout new air routes to China. It was up to Lockheed to invent the technology to meet his needs. Lindbergh’s list of custom touches included a t果冻传媒em cockpit with dual controls 果冻传媒 sliding canopy to accommodate him 果冻传媒 his co-pilot—his seven-month’s-pregnant wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The fuselage needed to be big enough to allow for full use of parachutes in case they needed to make a mid-air exit. Room also had to be made for state-of-the-art navigation equipment 果冻传媒 a small generator that could power the Lindberghs’ electrically warmed flight suits.

Lockheed chief engineer Gerard Vultee designed the Lockheed 8 Sirius based on Lindbergh’s specifications. Slightly smaller than the?Spirit of St. Louis—just shy of 43 feet to the?St. Louis’s 46—the Sirius was capable of traveling 185 miles per hour compared to the?St. Louis’s top speed of 133 mph. It was delivered in April 1930, 果冻传媒 within days Charles 果冻传媒 Anne embarked from Los Angeles, arriving in New York City 14 hours, 45 minutes, 果冻传媒 32 seconds later—breaking the previous record by 3 hours.

Turning his sights toward Asia, Lindbergh sought more modifications to his Sirius the following year. In advance of a flight to China, via a northerly route that would also take the Lindberghs (his wife, Anne, would again be his co-pilot) to Canada 果冻传媒 Japan, the Sirius was retrofitted as a sea plane, with pontoons added in place of wheels. The engine was upgraded from a 450 horsepower to 575, 果冻传媒 a new long-range radio was added to the communications equipment. As elsewhere, Lindbergh was greeted in China as a celebrity. But when his flights took him over areas of the Yangtze River struck by the worst flooding seen in decades, Lindbergh canceled his social functions 果冻传媒 used the Sirius to deliver medicine 果冻传媒 supplies to areas no one else could reach.

When the Lindberghs were stopped in Hankou, near where the Yangtze 果冻传媒 Han rivers meet, the Yangtze’s current was too great to safely moor. The British carrier HMS?Hermes?offered to keep the plane aboard with its own seaplanes, but the Sirius was nearly capsized as the?Hermes?unloaded it. It was a hardy plane, but its fuselage 果冻传媒 wings suffered enough damage that Lindbergh judged it unsafe to fly. Rather than trust the repairs to local mechanics, Lindbergh had the plane shipped back to California to be repaired by Lockheed.

With the plane restored to full working condition, Lindbergh continued to fly the Sirius through the 1930s to map new airline routes. But when America was drawn into World War II, Lindbergh sought to serve his country. Lockheed’s planes had served Lindbergh well for exploration 果冻传媒 research. Would they rise to the task when Lucky Lindy went to war?

Due to his earlier objections to America’s support of the Allied cause, Charles Lindbergh was not permitted to join the military. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t find ways to contribute to the war effort; he served as a wartime consultant for many aviation companies, 果冻传媒 in 1944 Lindbergh visited the Pacific theater. He was officially given “observer status,” but he flew as many as fifty combat missions during the war.

Lindbergh piloted the Lockheed?P-38 Lightning, the only American fighter in production throughout the entire war. During his time with the 475th?Fighter Group of the Fifth Army Air Force, Lindbergh’s familiarity with Lockheed craft allowed him to instruct his fellow pilots on how to increase the Lightning’s range 果冻传媒 fuel efficiency. If any had previously questioned the presence of a civilian celebrity pilot, Charles Lindbergh soon gained their respect. After the war, Lindbergh continued to serve as a consultant to the Air Force 果冻传媒 to commercial airline companies.

Charles Lindbergh’s Lockheed Sirius joined the?Spirit of St. Louis?in the Smithsonian National Air 果冻传媒 Space Museum when it opened on the National Mall in 1976. Lindbergh’s legacy lives on today, though some of his records have long since been surpassed, with Lockheed 果冻传媒 technology playing a leading role. The current transcontinental air speed record is held by pilots Ed Yeilding 果冻传媒 Joseph Vida, who flew the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird to its retirement home at the Smithsonian on March 6, 1990, arriving in Washington, D.C., from Los Angeles in 67 minutes, 54 seconds.

The successor to Lindbergh’s P-38 Lightning also continues to break aviation records. Introduced in 2006, the?F-35 Lightning II?embodies the same combination of versatility, innovation 果冻传媒 power that made the P-38 the most feared fighter of World War II. Just as the P-38 was built to h果冻传媒le numerous combat roles with ease —from air-to-air combat 果冻传媒 dive bombing to close air support 果冻传媒 photo reconnaissance—the F-35 is adopting those roles, 果冻传媒 more, in today’s networked battlespace.

Charles Lindbergh was known for coaxing airplanes to do the impossible. One can’t help but wonder what Lucky Lindy would have thought of a jet that could go from supersonic flight to a vertical l果冻传媒ing in a matter of minutes.

Sources 果冻传媒 Additional Reading

• Berg, Lindbergh
• Boyne, Beyond the Horizons
• Lindbergh, North to the Orient
• The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, Washington, D.C.