90 Years ago this morning; Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field, LI on his way to Paris

[Cooley Hurd]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lindbergh#Flight



Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field for Paris in the early morning of Friday, May 20, 1927. Loaded with 450 U.S. gallons (1,704 liters) of fuel‍—‌strained repeatedly to avoid fuel line blockage, and weighing about 2,710 lb (1,230 kg)‍—‌and hampered by a muddy, rain-soaked runway, Lindbergh's monoplane, powered by a J-5C Wright Whirlwind radial engine, gained speed very slowly during its 7:52 am takeoff, but cleared telephone lines at the far end of the field "by about twenty feet (six meters) with a fair reserve of flying speed".

Never a fan of his politics, but you cannot deny it took guts to do what he did.

Check back tomorrow to see if he makes it.

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Wishing him all the luck in the world!

This is historic!

[Cooley Hurd]

3. If he took off from Roosevelt Field today, he'd run smack into Penney's!

Roosevelt Field Shopping Mall (Wikipedia)

Somewhere in the mall, there's a plaque near a men's room that tells people what happened there in 1927.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. There's something really wrong with that...

They might as well have put up a parking lot.

[JHB]

9. It has those too. Big ones, from what I remember.

[dembotoz]

2. Wonder if he had trouble with tsa?

[RKP5637]

4. ... still waiting to get through TSA. Long wait...

[Cooley Hurd]

5. If by TSA, you mean Tear the Spirit Apart, he did have trouble:

A crowd estimated at 150,000 stormed the field, dragged Lindbergh out of the cockpit, and literally carried him around above their heads for "nearly half an hour". Some damage was done to the Spirit (especially to the fine linen, silver-painted fabric covering on the fuselage) by souvenir hunters before pilot and plane reached the safety of a nearby hangar with the aid of French military fliers, soldiers, and police.

[roamer65]

7. I'm sorry, but in my mind his Nazi sympathies really taint his achievement.

Amelia Earhart was a much better role model, IMO.

[Bucky]

8. and his whereabouts when Amelia Earhardt went "missing" still can't be explained

[speaktruthtopower]

10. Jimmy Stewart..

was perfectly cast in the movie about that.

Little known fact: he couldn't see straight ahead very well in that plane....look at the photo.

[DefenseLawyer]

11. Lindbergh would have been a Trump supporter

He was also a big fan of Hitler and an outspoken anti-Semite. So let's not do too much celebrating about his historic flight without context.

[Cooley Hurd]

12. You provided the context...