Lindbergh flies in grandfather's slipstream

Published Apr 14, 2002

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San Diego - The grandson of United States aviator Charles Lindbergh flew out of a Californian airfield on Sunday on the first leg of a duplication of his ancestor's famous voyage 75 years ago, said officials.

Erik Lindbergh, 37, took off from the airport named after his grandfather in his "New Spirit of St Louis" plane bound for the central US city of St Louis, Missouri at the start of a journey that will end in Paris next month.

"He took off as scheduled and everything went off without a hitch," said an operations official at Lindbergh Field in San Diego, from where Charles Lindbergh set off in May 1927 to become the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic.

The young Lindbergh's Lancair Columbia 300 is a far cry from the original "Spirit of St Louis", a lumbering contraption made of wood, canvas and metal rods that his grandfather made history in.

Made of a carbon composite material and glass and equipped with a satellite telephone, global positioning satellite and advanced survival gear, the plane should complete the journey in half the time it took Charles, aides said.

While the original trip took a shuddering, nerve-wracking and exhausting 33.5 hours, the re-creation should take about 17 hours of flying time, said flight director Gregg Maryniak.

The pilot will follow the same route from San Diego's Lindbergh Field to St Louis before heading on to New York, then Europe.

Lindbergh was expected to leave St Louis on April 20 and then fly from Republic Field on Long Island, near New York on May 1, to Paris.

But there were worries about weather conditions including wind, ice and thunderstorms, he said, adding that he was hoping for tailwinds which could speed up the flight dramatically.

"This flight is all about a celebration of the past and hope for the future," said Lindbergh.

"As described by my grandfather, the beating of his heart was inseparable from the firing of the spark plugs in the engine," he said.

He hoped to inspire children and support various foundations, including the Arthritis Foundation.

- Sapa-AFP

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