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Aviation History
1927
1927 - 0382.PDF
Lindbergh " THIS is worse than I had at Le Bourget." So said Captain Charles Lindbergh—the hero of the Non-stop New York- Paris flight—when called upon to make a speech after his arrival at Croydon on Sunday ; and certainly the scenes that took place on the aerodrome that afternoon have never been equalled in this country—and probably not in any other country either. That disaster did not accompany the splendid welcome accorded him was really remarkable, for at the last minute the crowd—over 100,000 strong—took matters into its own hands and swept everything before it, fences, police (there were only a mere handful anyway), reception committee, and all the carefully pre-arranged plans. As a result, Lind- bergh had the greatest difficulty in landing and only did so by most skilful piloting and judgment—while his aerial escort had to remain up aloft, or go elsewhere. It would hardly be correct to say that the crowd got out of control, for as a matter of fact it controlled itself remarkably well—there were only some half-dozen casualties—and gave an excellent example of that extraordinary collective coolness that is characteristic of British crowds. It may be of interest to add here that in spite of the fact that from the moment " The Spirit of St. Louis " landed it was for a considerable period " under compression " (Lindbergh, we presume, being more or less in a state of " tension ") only slight damage was done to the fabric of the tail plane ! However, let us tell the story from the start. At an earlv "THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS " SHOWS ITSELF : Before attempting to land on the few feet of Croydon Aerodrome available, Lindbergh made several circuits, and this was about as much of him that the majority of the people saw ! These two views give a good idea of the general lines of the Ryan monoplane (220 h.p. Wright "Whirlwind ") that has made history. :: 344
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