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138-670: Reggio military airport was inaugurated in 1939 (the first airport in Calabria), becoming operative for commercial flights in 1947; later it was named after Italian Royal Air Force war-hero Tito Minniti , who was born in Reggio Calabria . Its IATA airport code REG is derived from Reggio , Calabria 's main city, which the airport is closest to. On the outskirts of the airport the training grounds of local football club Reggina Calcio are located. In March 2017, Alitalia announced it would terminate all 56 weekly flights to and from

276-725: A Knight of the Order of Leopold ; as Lindbergh shook the king's hand, he said: "I have heard much of the famous soldier-king of the Belgians." The United Press reported that "One million persons are in Brussels today to greet Lindbergh," constituting "the greatest welcome ever accorded a private citizen in Belgium." After Belgium, Lindbergh traveled to the United Kingdom . He departed Brussels and arrived at Croydon Air Field in

414-552: A commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Service Reserve Corps . Lindbergh later said that this year was critical to his development as both a focused, goal-oriented individual and as an aviator. The Army did not need additional active-duty pilots, however, so following graduation, Lindbergh returned to civilian aviation as a barnstormer and flight instructor , although as a reserve officer he also continued to do some part-time military flying by joining

552-554: A custom monoplane for $ 10,580, and on February 25 , 1927, a deal was formally closed. Dubbed the Spirit of St. Louis , the fabric-covered, single-seat, single-engine high-wing monoplane was designed jointly by Lindbergh and Ryan's chief engineer Donald A. Hall . The Spirit flew for the first time just two months later, and after a series of test flights Lindbergh took off from San Diego on May 10 . He went first to St. Louis, then on to Roosevelt Field on New York's Long Island . In

690-760: A dozen other schools from Washington, D.C. , to California during his childhood and teenage years (none for more than two years), including the Force School and Sidwell Friends School while living in Washington with his father, and Redondo Union High School in Redondo Beach, California , while living there with his mother. Although he enrolled in the College of Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in late 1920, Lindbergh dropped out in

828-494: A few hours had elapsed since takeoff. To keep his mind clear, Lindbergh descended and flew at only 10 feet (3 m) above the water's surface. By around 11:52 AM, he had climbed to an altitude of 200 feet (60 m), and at this point was 400 miles (640 km) distant from New York. Nova Scotia appeared ahead and, after flying over the Gulf of Maine , he was only "6 miles (10 km), or 2 degrees, off course." At 3:52 PM,

966-659: A glimpse" of him. The crowd became so great that police had to call in reserves from Scotland Yard . Upon his arrival back in the United States aboard the U.S. Navy cruiser USS  Memphis  (CL-13) on June 11 , 1927, a fleet of warships and multiple flights of military aircraft escorted him up the Potomac River to the Washington Navy Yard , where President Calvin Coolidge awarded him

1104-812: A goodwill tour to Mexico along with humorist and actor Will Rogers , Lindbergh met Anne in Mexico City in December 1927. The couple was married on May 27 , 1929, at the Morrow estate in Englewood, New Jersey , where they resided after their marriage before moving to the western part of the state. They had six children: Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (1930–1932); Jon Morrow Lindbergh (1932–2021); Land Morrow Lindbergh (b. 1937), who studied anthropology at Stanford University ; Anne Lindbergh (1940–1993); Scott Lindbergh (b. 1942); and Reeve Lindbergh (b. 1945),

1242-832: A major part of the British land and air forces were diverted there giving the Italian forces time to recover. New Italian aircraft and units were supplemented by the arrival of the German Afrika Korps , and the attached Luftwaffe contingent deployed almost 200 airplanes in Libya and another 600 in Sicily. Working with the Luftwaffe, the Regia Aeronautica performed better due to the exchange of tactical doctrine and

1380-462: A period of one month, they subsequently came to be known in the philatelic world as the covers of the "Lost Mail Flight". The historic flight was received with much notoriety in the press and marked the beginning of extended airmail service between the United States and Mexico. In his autobiography, Lindbergh derided pilots he met as womanizing "barnstormers"; he also criticized Army cadets for their "facile" approach to relationships. He wrote that

1518-600: A sign he had reached the other side of the Atlantic. He circled and flew closely, but no fishermen appeared on the boat decks, although he did see a face watching from a porthole. Dingle Bay , in County Kerry of southwest Ireland , was the first European land that Lindbergh encountered; he veered to get a better look and consulted his charts, identifying it as the southern tip of Ireland. The local time in Ireland

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1656-523: A significant address, titled "Speech on Neutrality", outlining his position and arguments against greater American involvement in the war. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and German declaration of war against the U.S. , Lindbergh avidly supported the American war effort but was rejected for active duty, as Roosevelt refused to restore his commission. Instead he flew 50 combat missions in

1794-589: A small French Navy fleet shelled the Ligurian coast on 15 June, the Italian air force was not able to prevent this action or attack the French ships effectively, showing a lack of cooperation with the Regia Marina , Italian navy. The Regia Aeronautica carried out 716 bombing missions, with Italian aircraft dropping a total of 276 tons of bombs on French fortifications, military bases, and airfields (some of

1932-647: A successful strike on the port of Oran . The only unit of the Regia Aeronautica to fly the Piaggio P.108 was the 274th Long-Range Bombardment Group, which was formed in May 1941 as the first machines came off the assembly lines. Training and achieving full operation strength took far longer than anticipated, and the 274th only became operational in June 1942. When the Greco-Italian War started on 28 October 1940,

2070-531: A total of 19,000 km (11,800 miles) with Savoia-Marchetti S.55 flying boats . This Decennial Air Cruise included stops in Amsterdam , Derry , Reykjavík , Labrador , Montreal , Chicago , Brooklyn , and Washington D.C. , with the highlight being a landing in Lake Michigan in front of Chicago Navy Pier and a procession through the city before crowds of thousands of Americans to coincide with

2208-518: A war of attrition. By 31 January, Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta , reported that the Italian military forces in East Africa were down to 67 operational aircraft with limited fuel. By the end of February, the Regia Aeronautica had only 42 aircraft left in East Africa, and the British now had the upper hand. In March, surplus personnel of air force units had to fight as infantry. By the end of

2346-621: A week when he ran into a ditch in Glencoe, Minnesota , while flying his father—then running for the U.S. Senate—to a campaign stop. In October, Lindbergh flew his Jenny to Iowa , where he sold it to a flying student. He returned to Lincoln by train, where he joined Leon Klink and continued to barnstorm through the South for the next few months in Klink's Curtiss JN-4C "Canuck" (the Canadian version of

2484-485: A year later in May 1923 at Souther Field in Americus, Georgia , a former Army flight-training field, where he bought a World War I surplus Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" biplane for $ 500. Though Lindbergh had not touched an airplane in more than six months, he had already secretly decided that he was ready to take to the air by himself. After a half-hour of dual time with a pilot who was visiting the field, Lindbergh flew solo for

2622-436: Is approximately 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of Reggio's historic city centre. It is accessible by car or public transport. The airport is reachable in 7 minutes by regional trains from Reggio Calabria Centrale or Melito di Porto Salvo. Even the airport railway station has faced criticism by the local community, due to its 2 km (1.2 mi) distance from the terminal and the low number of passengers which use it. Otherwise,

2760-466: Is in fine shape and I could circle Europe without touching it." Belgian troops with fixed bayonets protected the Spirit to avoid a repeat of the damage at Le Bourget. From Evere, Lindbergh motored to the U.S. embassy, and then went to place a wreath on the Belgian tomb of the unknown soldier . He then visited the Belgian royal palace at the invitation of King Albert I , where the king made Lindbergh

2898-678: Is that this is worse than what happened at Le Bourget Field," he told them. "But all the same, I'm glad to be here." When he reached the reception room where British Secretary of State for Air Sir Samuel Hoare , U.S. Ambassador Alanson B. Houghton , and others waited, his first words were: "Save my plane!" Mechanics moved the Spirit to a hangar where it was placed "under a military guard." Also present at Croydon were former Secretary of State for Air Lord Thomson , Director of Civil Aviation Sir Sefton Brancker , and Brig. Gen. P. R. C. Groves . Accompanied by two Royal Air Force planes, he then flew 90 miles from Croydon to Gosport , where he left

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3036-431: The 33 + 1 ⁄ 2 hours of the flight, the aircraft fought icing , flew blind through fog for several hours, and Lindbergh navigated only by dead reckoning (he was not proficient at navigating by the sun and stars and he rejected radio navigation gear as heavy and unreliable). He was fortunate that the winds over the Atlantic cancelled each other out, giving him zero wind drift—and thus accurate navigation during

3174-724: The Spirit of St. Louis inspired the Regia Aeronautica to embark on a longer transatlantic voyage with stops in West Africa and Brazil . Possibly the most brilliant successes were the floatplane world speed record of 709 km/h (440.6 mph) achieved by Francesco Agello in the Macchi-Castoldi MC-72 in October 1934 and the long-range formation flight to the United States and back to Italy in 1933,

3312-714: The 110th Observation Squadron , 35th Division, Missouri National Guard , in St. Louis. He was promoted to first lieutenant on December 7, 1925, and to captain in July 1926. In October 1925, Lindbergh was hired by the Robertson Aircraft Corporation (RAC) at the Lambert-St. Louis Flying Field in Anglum, Missouri, (where he had been working as a flight instructor) to lay out and then serve as chief pilot for

3450-889: The Allied forces . In northern Italy, the National Republican Air Force ( Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana , or ANR) flew for the Italian Social Republic and the Axis . The first ANR fighter unit was the 101st Gruppo Autonomo Caccia Terrestre , based in Florence . Aircraft of the Royal and Republican air forces never fought each other. The ACI operated in the Balkans and the ANR in northern Italy and

3588-524: The Canyon of Heroes to City Hall, where he was received by Mayor Jimmy Walker . A ticker-tape parade followed to Central Park Mall , where he was awarded the New York Medal for Valor at a ceremony hosted by New York Governor Al Smith and attended by a crowd of 200,000. Some 4,000,000 people saw Lindbergh that day. That evening, Lindbergh was accompanied by his mother and Mayor Walker when he

3726-520: The Caribbean , which he had earlier laid out as a consultant to Pan American Airways to be then flown under contract to the Post Office as Foreign Air Mail (FAM) routes 5 and 6. On 10 March 1929, Lindbergh flew an inaugural flight from Brownsville, Texas , to Mexico City via Tampico , in a Ford Trimotor airplane, carrying a load of U.S. mail. When a number of mail bags came up missing for

3864-607: The Century of Progress Exhibition. This pioneering achievement was organized and led by General of Aviation Italo Balbo . During the latter half of the 1930s, the Regia Aeronautica participated in the Spanish Civil War , as well as the invasions of Ethiopia and Albania . The first test for the new Italian Royal Air force came in October 1935, with the Second Italo-Ethiopian War . During

4002-576: The Daily Mail prize for the first nonstop transatlantic flight . They left St. John's, Newfoundland , on June 14 , 1919, and arrived in Clifden, County Galway , Ireland the following day. Around the same time, French-born New York hotelier Raymond Orteig was approached by Augustus Post , secretary of the Aero Club of America, to put up a $ 25,000 (equivalent to $ 439,000 in 2023) award for

4140-602: The Distinguished Flying Cross and Medal of Honor , the highest U.S. military award. He also earned the highest French order of merit , the Legion of Honor . His achievement spurred significant global interest in both commercial aviation and air mail , which revolutionized the aviation industry worldwide (a phenomenon dubbed the " Lindbergh boom "), and he spent much time promoting these industries. Time magazine honored Lindbergh as its first Man of

4278-703: The Distinguished Flying Cross . Lindbergh received the first award of this medal, but it violated the authorizing regulation. Coolidge's own executive order, published in March 1927, required recipients to perform their feats of airmanship "while participating in an aerial flight as part of the duties incident to such membership [in the Organized Reserves]", which Lindbergh failed to satisfy. Lindbergh flew from Washington, D.C., to New York City on June 13 , arriving in Lower Manhattan . He traveled up

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4416-501: The Levasseur PL 8 seaplane L'Oiseau Blanc ; they disappeared somewhere in the Atlantic after last being seen crossing the west coast of Ireland . Financing the historic flight was a challenge due to Lindbergh's obscurity, but two St. Louis businessmen eventually obtained a $ 15,000 bank loan. Lindbergh contributed $ 2,000 (equivalent to $ 35,000 in 2023) of his own money from his salary as an air mail pilot and another $ 1,000

4554-468: The Pacific Theater as a civilian consultant and was unofficially credited with shooting down an enemy aircraft. In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower restored his commission and promoted him to brigadier general in the U.S. Air Force Reserve . In his later years, he became a Pulitzer Prize -winning author, international explorer and environmentalist, helping to establish national parks in

4692-728: The Regia Aeronautica before the truce with the Allies was the defence during the United States Army Air Forces ' bombings of Frascati and Rome on 8 September 1943. After the Italian armistice , the Regia Aeronautica was briefly succeeded by two new Italian air forces. Headquartered at Salerno in southern Italy, the Royalist Italian Co-belligerent Air Force ( Aviazione Cobelligerante Italiana , or ACI) fought alongside

4830-542: The Regia Aeronautica fielded 193 combat aircraft, which initially failed to achieve air superiority against the Royal Hellenic Air Force (RHAF), which had 128 operational aircraft out of a total of 158. The poor infrastructure for Albania air bases hindered communications and movements between the Italian flying units. Only two airfields – Tirana and Valona – had macadam runways , so autumn and winter weather made operations more difficult. There

4968-639: The Regia Aeronautica fought side by side with the German Luftwaffe in the Western Desert . Although the air campaign in Libya was seriously limited because of desert conditions, the Italian Royal Air Force managed to retain a force of nearly four hundred airplanes. During the first British counter-offensive, the Regia Aeronautica had suffered heavy losses (over 400 aircraft) until the Axis attack on Greece began, when

5106-468: The Regia Aeronautica was seen as splendid air arm, holding no fewer than 33 world records, which was more than Germany (15), France (12), the United States (11) Soviet Union (7), Japan (3), the United Kingdom (2) and Czechoslovakia (1). When World War II began in 1939, Italy had a paper strength of 3296 machines. While numerically still a force to be reckoned with, it was hampered by

5244-661: The Regio Esercito , sometimes dropping poison gas bombs against the Ethiopian army. After the end of hostilities on 5 May 1936, for the following 13 months the Regia Aeronautica had to assist Italian forces in fighting Ethiopian guerrillas. During the Spanish coup of July 1936 , Italian pilots in Spanish Foreign Legion uniforms airlifted Francisco Franco 's Army of Africa from Spanish Morocco to

5382-584: The Spanish Nationalists and took part in training and joint operations with the pilots of the German " Condor Legion ". Mussolini sent to Spain 6000 aviation personnel as well as about 720 aircraft, including 80-90 Savoia-Marchetti SM 81 , 100 Savoia Marchetti SM.79 bombers and 380–400 Fiat CR.32 biplanes that dominated the air, proving superior to the Soviet Polikarpovs of the Spanish Republican Air Force . The Aviazione legionaria achieved approximately 500 aerial victories, losing 86 aircraft in air combat and about 200 flying personnel. But more important than

5520-426: The Spanish mainland . During the Spanish Civil War Italian pilots fought alongside Spanish Nationalist and German Luftwaffe pilots as members of the Aviazione Legionaria (" Aviation Legion "). This deployment took place from July 1936 to March 1939 and complemented an expeditionary force of Italian ground troops called the " Corps of Volunteer Troops ". In Spain, the Italian pilots were under direct command of

5658-416: The Spirit before returning to the United States. On May 28, Lindbergh flew to Evere Aerodrome in Brussels , Belgium, circling the field three times for the cheering crowd and taxiing to a halt just after 3:00 PM, as a thousand children waved American flags. On his way to Evere, Lindbergh had met an escort of ten planes from the airport, who found him on course near Mons but had trouble keeping up as

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5796-401: The Spirit from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., where it has been on public display at the Smithsonian Institution ever since. Over the previous 367 days, Lindbergh and the Spirit had logged 489 hours 28 minutes of flight time. A " Lindbergh boom " in aviation had begun. The volume of mail moving by air increased 50 percent within six months, applications for pilots' licenses tripled, and

5934-468: The Spirit made during their 7,800 mi (12,600 km) "Good Will Tour" of Latin America and the Caribbean between December 13 , 1927, and February 8 , 1928, and the only franked mail pieces that he ever flew in his iconic plane. Two weeks after his Latin American tour, Lindbergh piloted a series of special flights over his old CAM-2 route on February 20 and February 21 . Tens of thousands of self-addressed souvenir covers were sent in from all over

6072-461: The Spirit on May 29, where a crowd of 100,000 "mobbed" him. Before reaching the airfield he overflew London where crowds, some on roofs, "gazed at the flyer" and observers with "field glasses in the West End business district" watched him. About 50 minutes before he landed, the "roads leading toward Croydon airport were jammed." Flying into the airfield, Lindbergh "appeared on the horizon" at 5:50 PM accompanied by six British military planes, but

6210-421: The Spirit to be dismantled for shipment back to New York. On May 31, accompanied by an attache of the U.S. Embassy , Lindbergh visited British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin at 10 Downing Street and then motored to Buckingham Palace , where King George V received him as a guest and awarded him the British Air Force Cross . In anticipation of Lindbergh's visit to the palace, a crowd massed "hoping to get

6348-400: The Spirit was averaging "about 100 miles an hour." On landing, Lindbergh was welcomed by military officers and prominent officials, including Belgian Prime Minister Henri Jaspar , who led the procession of Lindbergh's plane to a "platform where it was raised to the view of cheering thousands." "It was a splendid flight," Lindbergh declared, stating: "I enjoyed every minute of it. The motor

6486-440: The Spirit ; he was flying 90 miles per hour (140 km/h) at 10,000 feet (3,000 m), and was 500 miles (800 km) from Newfoundland. Eighteen hours into the flight, he was halfway to Paris, and while he had planned to celebrate at this point, he instead felt "only dread." Because Lindbergh flew through several time zones, dawn came earlier, at around 2:52 AM. He began to hallucinate about two hours later. At this point in

6624-399: The Stalingrad area. In mid 1942 the more modern Macchi C. 202 was introduced to operations in Russia. The CSIR was subsumed by the ARMIR in 1942 and the ARMIR was disbanded in early 1943 after disaster during the Battle of Stalingrad . The Air Corps pulled out of operations in January 1943, transferring to Odessa . From 1944 to 1945, Italian personnel operated from the Baltic area and in

6762-472: The United States Army Air Service there (and later at nearby Kelly Field ). Lindbergh had his most serious flying accident on March 5 , 1925, eight days before graduation, when a mid-air collision with another Army S.E.5 during aerial combat maneuvers forced him to bail out. Only 18 of the 104 cadets who started flight training a year earlier remained when Lindbergh graduated first overall in his class in March 1925, thereby earning his Army pilot's wings and

6900-425: The Western Desert Campaign was a near equal struggle between the Regia Aeronautica and the British Royal Air Force (RAF). Early on, the fighters available to both sides were primarily older biplanes, with Italian Fiat CR.32 and Fiat CR.42s flying against British Gloster Gladiators . After the Italian disasters during Operation Compass and the arrival of General Erwin Rommel and his German Africa Corps ,

7038-629: The air offensive on the British controlled island of Malta along with the German Air Force in an attempt to protect the Axis sea routes from Sicily, Sardinia, and Italy to North Africa. Up to the end of 1940, the Regia Aeronautica carried out 7410 sorties against the island, dropping 550 tons of bombs, but losing 35 aircraft. The Italians claimed 66 British planes in these first six months of combat, but these claims were exaggerated. In 1941, Regia Aeronautica carried out further attacks on Malta, but less intensely than in 1940. The Italian airmen started to fear Maltese fighters and AA artillery, so much that

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7176-451: The " Italian Army in Russia " ( Armata Italiana in Russia , or ARMIR) were known as the "Italian Air Force Expeditionary Corps in Russia" ( Corpo Aereo Spedizione in Russia ). These squadrons, initially consisting of 22° Gruppo CT with 51 Macchi C.200 fighters and 61° Gruppo with the Caproni Ca.311 bomber, supported the Italian armed forces from 1941 to 1943. They were initially based in the Ukraine and ultimately supported operations in

7314-509: The "Good Will Tour", it included stops in Mexico (where he also met his future wife, Anne, the daughter of U.S. Ambassador Dwight Morrow ), Guatemala , British Honduras , El Salvador , Honduras , Nicaragua , Costa Rica , Panama , the Canal Zone , Colombia , Venezuela , St. Thomas , Puerto Rico , the Dominican Republic , Haiti , and Cuba , covering 9,390 miles (15,110 km) in just over 116 hours of flight time. A year and two days after it had made its first flight, Lindbergh flew

7452-417: The Atlantic, three of which were from Col. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. , son of former President Theodore Roosevelt , who had written letters of introduction at Lindbergh's request. Lindbergh left the airfield around midnight and was driven through Paris to the ambassador's residence, stopping to visit the French Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe ; after arriving at the residence, he slept for

7590-430: The BR.20s did not cause much material damage, moreover aircraft were needed on the Greek front and in Cyrenaica so in January 1941 the bombers and CR.42s started to be withdrawn to Italy. Just two squadrons of G.50s remained until mid-April 1941. During this campaign, Regia Aeronautica lost 36 planes, (including 26 in accidents) and 43 aircrew personnel, without achieving a single confirmed air victory. Initially,

7728-491: The British Operation Crusader , while inflicting heavy losses on RAF bombers. During Rommel's second offensive, the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe suffered considerable losses due to stronger Allied resistance during air battles over El Alamein and bombing raids over Alexandria and Cairo. The Regia Aeronautica , having suffered heavy losses in Egypt, was withdrawn progressively to Tobruk, Benghazi, Tripoli and, eventually, Tunisia. The Regia Aeronautica participated in

7866-481: The British 150 kills. Actually the air war against Greece cost the Italians just 65 losses (but 495 damaged) while RAF losses in the Greek campaign were 209 aircraft, 72 in the air, 55 on the ground, and 82 destroyed or abandoned during the evacuation. In August 1941 the Regia Aeronautica sent an Air Corps of 1,900 personnel to the Eastern Front as an attachment to the " Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia " ( Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia , or CSIR) and then

8004-466: The British Protectorate of Bahrain . In Italian East Africa the Regia Aeronautica performed better than in other war theaters. In June 1940, the Italian Royal Air Force had here 195 fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft, plus 25 transport planes. Some of these aircraft were outdated, but the Italians had Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 (12 examples) and Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 bombers and Fiat CR.42 fighters. In relative terms, these were some of

8142-418: The British crown colony of Gibraltar and its important naval base from July 1940. In 1942, Italian Piaggio P.108 bombers attacked Gibraltar from Sardinia , flying a number of long-range night raids. Up to October 1942, the Regia Aeronautica carried out 14 raids with a total of 32 bombers. The last raids on Gibraltar were flown during the 1943 Allied landing in Algeria , when those bombers also made

8280-407: The English coast, that Lindbergh's plane had started across the English Channel . News soon spread across both "Europe and the United States that Lindbergh had been spotted over England," and a crowd started to form at Le Bourget Aerodrome as he neared Paris. At sunset, he flew over Cherbourg , on the French coast 200 miles (320 km) from Paris; it was around 2:52 PM New York time. Over

8418-451: The Italian and German air forces and claimed almost 1,500 Axis planes, three times the real losses: up to November 1942, the Luftwaffe admitted to losing 357 aircraft and the Regia Aeronautica 210. But during the siege, the RAF's losses were even heavier, amounting to 547 in the air (including some 300 fighters) and 160 on the ground, plus 504 aircraft damaged in the air and 231 on the ground. The Regia Aeronautica began its attacks on

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8556-438: The Italian flag colors across the full span of the undersides of the wings, making numerous record-breaking flights. Between 1 April 1939 and 1 November 1939, Italian airmen established no fewer than 110 records, winning world championships in round trips, long-range flights, high speed and altitude flights. After successful long-range flights around the Mediterranean Sea , Charles Lindbergh 's successful transatlantic flight in

8694-409: The Jenny). Lindbergh also "cracked up" this aircraft once when his engine failed shortly after takeoff in Pensacola, Florida , but again he managed to repair the damage himself. Following a few months of barnstorming through the South , the two pilots parted company in San Antonio , Texas, where Lindbergh reported to Brooks Field on March 19 , 1924 to begin a year of military flight training with

8832-501: The Nebraska Aircraft Corporation's flying school in Lincoln and flew for the first time on April 9 as a passenger in a two-seat Lincoln Standard "Tourabout" biplane trainer piloted by Otto Timm . A few days later, Lindbergh took his first formal flying lesson in that same aircraft, though he was never permitted to solo because he could not afford to post the requisite damage bond. To gain flight experience and earn money for further instruction, Lindbergh left Lincoln in June to spend

8970-634: The U.S. and protect certain endangered species and tribal people in both the Philippines and east Africa . After retiring in Maui , Lindbergh died in 1974. Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan , on February 4 , 1902, and spent most of his childhood in Little Falls, Minnesota , and Washington, D.C. He was the only child of Charles August Lindbergh ( birth name Carl Månsson), who had emigrated from Sweden to Melrose, Minnesota , as an infant, and Evangeline Lodge Land Lindbergh of Detroit. Lindbergh had three elder paternal half-sisters: Lillian, Edith, and Eva. The couple separated in 1909 when Lindbergh

9108-439: The Year in 1928, President Herbert Hoover appointed him to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics in 1929, and he received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1930. In 1931, he and French surgeon Alexis Carrel began work on inventing the first perfusion pump , a device credited with making future heart surgeries and organ transplantation possible. On March 1, 1932, Lindbergh's first-born infant child, Charles Jr.,

9246-405: The airport (to Milan , Rome and Turin ) stating all routes were heavily loss-making. However, this decision was revoked shortly after. In summer 2017, Sacal S.p.A. (Società aeroportuale calabrese), also managing Lamezia Terme , took over the management of the airport. The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Reggio Calabria Airport: The Reggio Calabria Airport

9384-477: The airport is reachable by bus routes 27 and 27/ from the University and San Brunello and by the Port-Airport direct route, all of which are operated by ATAM and with nearby towns and ports by various provincial bus operators. There was also a projected pier to allow the docking of the ferries from Messina , allowing the residents of the Sicilian city to use the Reggio Calabria Airport instead of driving 100 kilometres (60 mi) south to Catania Airport . This pier

9522-540: The area around the Baltic Sea . From 10 June 1940 up to 8 September 1943, the Regia Aeronautica lost 6483 aircraft (other sources report 5201 ), including 3483 fighters, 2273 bombers, torpedo-bombers and transports, plus 227 reconnaissance planes. The Royal Italian Air Force itself claimed 4293 enemy aircraft, including 1771 destroyed on the ground. Personnel losses suffered during the conflict consisted of 3007 dead or missing, 2731 wounded and 9873 prisoners of war. The Regia Aeronautica tended not to keep statistics on

9660-449: The area led to the Allies' Syria-Lebanon Campaign . In one of the lesser known incidents of the war, starting in July 1940, Italian aircraft bombed cities in the British Mandate of Palestine . This was aimed at pushing the British back and retaking the greater Mediterranean, as in ancient Roman times. The bombing of Tel Aviv on 10 September killed 137 people. In mid-October, the Italians also bombed American-operated oil refineries in

9798-461: The arrival of more modern aircraft. In mid-1942, during the Battle of Bir Hakeim (26 May 1942 – 11 June 1942) the new Macchi C.202 fighter outperformed all of the Desert Air Force 's fighters, achieving an unprecedented ratio kill/loss of 4.4/1, better than that of famed Messerschmitt Bf 109s (3.5/1) fighting the same battle. During Rommel's first offensive, the Italians managed to divert RAF attacks from his forces and covered his retreat during

9936-517: The balcony of the U.S. embassy , responding "briefly and modestly" to the calls of the crowd. The French Foreign Office flew the American flag, the first time it had saluted someone who was not a head of state. At the Élysée Palace , French President Gaston Doumergue bestowed the Légion d'honneur on Lindbergh, pinning the award on his lapel, with Ambassador Herrick present for the occasion. Lindbergh also made flights to Belgium and Britain in

10074-563: The best aircraft on hand to either side at the beginning of the East African Campaign . In addition, the Italian aircraft were often based at better airfields than those of the British and Commonwealth forces. When the war began, Italian pilots were relatively well trained and confident of their abilities. At the beginning of the hostilities, Regia Aeronautica achieved aerial superiority and occasionally skilled Italian pilots, flying their Fiat biplanes, managed to shoot down even

10212-653: The bombs were dropped on the targets. Despite this misuse of resources, the bombing missions made possible and supported the limited Italian advance into southern France by the Regio Esercito , with the Italian air force retaining its fame until the Battle of Britain showed its limitations. After the war, there was a widespread rumour in France, especially between Paris and Bordeaux , of Italian aircraft strafing civilian columns, with many people claiming to have seen

10350-857: The book for $ 25 each, all of which were purchased before publication. "WE" was soon translated into most major languages and sold more than 650,000 copies in the first year, earning Lindbergh more than $ 250,000. Its success was considerably aided by Lindbergh's three-month, 22,350-mile (35,970 km) tour of the United States in the Spirit on behalf of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics . Between July 20 and October 23 , 1927, Lindbergh visited 82 cities in all 48 states, rode 1,290 mi (2,080 km) in parades, and delivered 147 speeches before 30 million people. Lindbergh then toured 16 Latin American countries between December 13 , 1927, and February 8 , 1928. Dubbed

10488-522: The cockpit, and carried him around above their heads for "nearly half an hour." Some minor damage was done to the Spirit by souvenir hunters before pilot and plane reached the safety of a nearby hangar with the aid of French military fliers, soldiers, and police. The Times reported that before the police could intervene the "souvenir mad" spectators "stripped the plane of everything which could be taken off," and were cutting off pieces of linen when "a squad of soldiers with fixed bayonets quickly surrounded"

10626-774: The colonization of Libya in 1911, it made the first reconnaissance flight in history on 23 October, and the first ever bombing raid on 1 November. During World War I , the Italian Corpo Aeronautico Militare , then still part of the Regio Esercito (Royal Army), operated a mix of French fighters and locally built bombers, notably the gigantic Caproni aircraft. The Regia Marina (Royal Navy) had its own air arm, operating locally built flying boats. The Italian air force became an independent service—the Regia Aeronautica —on 28 March 1923. Benito Mussolini 's fascist regime turned it into an impressive propaganda machine, with its aircraft, featuring

10764-433: The dark hours of his flight". However, as Berg wrote in 1998, Putnam's chose the title without "Lindbergh's knowledge or approval," and Lindbergh would "forever complain about it, that his use of 'we' meant him and his backers, not him and his plane, as the press had people believing"; nonetheless, as Berg remarked, "his frequent unconscious use of the phrase suggested otherwise." Putnam's sold special autographed copies of

10902-629: The dwindling numbers of the Greeks. However, this advantage did not stop the Hellenic Army from forcing the Regio Esercito onto the defensive and back into Albania. In early 1941, the tide was turned as the German Wehrmacht launched its simultaneous invasions of Yugoslavia and Greece . For the 11-day campaign against Yugoslavia, the Regia Aeronautica deployed 600 aircraft, claimed five air victories (plus 100 planes destroyed on

11040-413: The early morning of Friday, May 20 , 1927, Lindbergh took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island . His destination, Le Bourget Aerodrome , was about 7 miles (11 km) outside Paris and 3,610 miles (5,810 km) from his starting point. He was "too busy the night before to lie down for more than a couple of hours," and "had been unable [to] sleep." It rained the morning of his takeoff, but as

11178-630: The eastern coast of Cape Breton Island was below; he struggled to stay awake, even though it was "only the afternoon of the first day." At 5:52 PM, he was flying along the Newfoundland coast, and passed St. John's at 7:15 PM. On its May 21 front page, The New York Times ran a special cable from the prior evening: "Captain Lindbergh's airplane passed over St. John's at 8:15 o'clock tonight [7:15 New York Daylight Saving Time]...was seen by hundreds and disappeared seaward, heading for Ireland...It

11316-799: The fame of the Italian air force and the heated and confused climate. Regia Aeronautica aircraft were involved in the Middle Eastern theatre almost from the start of Italian involvement in World War II. During the Anglo-Iraqi War , German and Italian aircraft of "Flyer Command Iraq" ( Fliegerführer Irak ) stopped to refuel in the Vichy French -controlled Mandate of Syria as they flew to Iraq . These masqueraded as Iraqi Air Force aircraft and were painted as such en route . Continued concern over German and Italian influence in

11454-578: The far end of the field "by about twenty feet (6.1 m) with a fair reserve of flying speed". At 8:52 AM, an hour after takeoff, Lindbergh was flying at an altitude of 500 feet (150 m) over Rhode Island , following an uneventful passage‍—‌aside from some turbulence‍—‌over Long Island Sound and Connecticut . By 9:52 AM, he had passed Boston and was flying with Cape Cod to his right, with an airspeed of 107 miles per hour (172 km/h) and altitude of 150 feet (46 m); about an hour later he began to feel tired, even though only

11592-415: The faster and better armed Hawker Hurricane monoplanes. However, during the first three months, Regia Aeronautica lost 84 aircraft and had 143 aircrew personnel killed and 71 wounded, but the losses did not halt Italian operations. Cut off from Italy as they were though, problems with lack of fuel, munitions, spare parts and replacements became a serious problem and the Regia Aeronautica was worn down in

11730-484: The final stages of the war, the Regia Aeronautica deployed up to 386 aircraft, operating from Eritrea and Somalia . The Italian aviators did not have any opposition in the air, as the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force had just 15 transport and liaison aircraft, only nine of which were serviceable. However, the Regia Aeronautica lost 72 planes and 122 aircrew while supporting the operations of

11868-861: The first successful nonstop transatlantic flight specifically between New York City and Paris within five years after its establishment. When that time limit lapsed in 1924 without a serious attempt, Orteig renewed the offer for another five years, this time attracting a number of well-known, highly experienced, and well-financed contenders ‍—‌none of whom was successful. On September 21 , 1926, World War   I French flying ace René Fonck 's Sikorsky S-35 crashed on takeoff from Roosevelt Field in New York. U.S. Naval aviators Noel Davis and Stanton H. Wooster were killed at Langley Field , Virginia, on April 26 , 1927, while testing their Keystone Pathfinder . On May 8 French war heroes Charles Nungesser and François Coli departed Paris – Le Bourget Airport in

12006-533: The first time in about 60 hours. Lindbergh's flight was certified by the National Aeronautic Association of the United States based on the readings from a sealed barograph placed in the Spirit . Lindbergh received unprecedented acclaim after his historic flight. In the words of biographer A. Scott Berg , people were "behaving as though Lindbergh had walked on water, not flown over it". The New York Times printed an above

12144-511: The first time in the Jenny. After spending another week or so at the field to "practice" (thereby acquiring five hours of "pilot in command" time), Lindbergh took off from Americus for Montgomery, Alabama , some 140 miles (230 km) to the west, for his first solo cross-country flight. He went on to spend much of the remainder of 1923 engaged in almost nonstop barnstorming under the name "Daredevil Lindbergh", this time flying in his "own ship" as

12282-401: The flight to the besieged island became known as the rotta della morte , the "route of death". In 1942, for its operations against Malta, between 1 January and 8 November, the Regia Aeronautica had 100 more aircraft lost in action. Malta suffered heavy loss of equipment, ship, and vehicles, and was to the edge of starvation. However the besieged island managed to withstand the attacks from

12420-410: The flight, he "continually" fell asleep, awakening "seconds, possibly minutes, later." But after "flying for hours in or above the fog," the weather finally began to clear. 7:52 AM marked twenty-four hours in the air for Lindbergh and he did not feel as tired by this point. At around 9:52 AM New York time, or twenty-seven hours after he left Roosevelt Field, Lindbergh saw "porpoises and fishing boats,"

12558-596: The fold , page-wide headline: "Lindbergh Does It!" and his mother's house in Detroit was surrounded by a crowd reported at nearly a thousand. He became "an international celebrity, with invitations pouring in for him to visit European countries," and he "received marriage proposals, invitations to visit cities across the nation, and thousands of gifts, letters, and endorsement requests." At least "200 songs were written" in tribute to him and his flight. " Lucky Lindy! ", written and composed by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Abel Baer ,

12696-463: The following month, Italians had only 13 serviceable aircraft left in East Africa. At last, on 24 October 1941, about one month prior to the final Italian surrender, the last Italian aircraft of the campaign, a Fiat CR.42, was shot down. On 10 September 1940, an independent air corps for supporting Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain was established. It was named Corpo Aereo Italiano , or CAI. It

12834-614: The ground) and suffered five losses. However, from that point on, the role of the Regia Aeronautica in the Balkans Campaign was primarily that of supporting the Luftwaffe . This support role continued during the occupation of Greece and Yugoslavia that followed. The Regia Aeronautica claimed 218 aircraft shot down plus 55 probables against the RHAF and RAF, while the Greeks claimed 68 air victories (plus 23 probables) and

12972-438: The ideal romance was stable and long-term, with a woman with keen intellect, good health, and strong genes, his "experience in breeding animals on our farm [having taught him] the importance of good heredity". Anne Morrow Lindbergh was the daughter of Dwight Morrow , who, as a partner at J.P. Morgan & Co. , had acted as financial adviser to Lindbergh. He was also the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico in 1927. Invited by Morrow on

13110-763: The impact Lindbergh had on people. Even the first walk on the moon doesn't come close. The twenties was such an innocent time, and people were still so religious—I think they felt like this man was sent by God to do this. And it changed aviation forever because all of a sudden the Wall Streeters were banging on doors looking for airplanes to invest in. We'd been standing on our heads trying to get them to notice us but after Lindbergh, suddenly everyone wanted to fly, and there weren't enough planes to carry them. Barely two months after Lindbergh arrived in Paris, G. P. Putnam's Sons published his 318-page autobiography "WE" , which

13248-497: The individual level, instead reporting kills for a certain unit, attributed to their unit commander. However, pilots were able to keep personal log books, so the few that survived through World War II give individual statistics. Here is a list of the aces attributed with ten or more kills: The Regia Aeronautica was succeeded by Aeronautica Militare when Italy became a republic on 2 June 1946. Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974)

13386-682: The local aircraft industry which was using obsolete production methods. In reality, only 2000 aircraft were fit for operations, of which just 166 were modern fighters (89 Fiat G.50 Freccias and 77 Macchi MC.200s ), both slower than potential opponents as the Hawker Hurricane , the Supermarine Spitfire and the Dewoitine D.520 . The Regia Aeronautica also had neither long-range fighters or night fighters. Technical assistance provided by its German ally did little to improve

13524-485: The long flight over featureless ocean. On arriving at Paris, Lindbergh "circled the Eiffel Tower" before flying to the airfield. He flew over the crowd at Le Bourget Aerodrome at 10:16 and landed at 10:22 PM on Saturday, May 21 , on the far side of the field and "nearly half a mile from the crowd," as reported by The New York Times . The airfield was not marked on his map and Lindbergh knew only that it

13662-444: The massive crowd "swept over the guard lines" and forced him to circle the airfield "while police battled the crowd," and "not until 10 minutes later had they cleared a space large enough" for him to land. Police reserves were sent to the airfield in "large numbers," but it was not enough to contain the multitude. As the plane came to a stop, the crowd "waved American flags, smashed fences and knocked down police," while Lindbergh himself

13800-512: The material losses were the wrong conclusions drawn from air war in Spain. The Air Ministry, blinded by the success of the Fiat CR.32, persisted in its belief that the biplane could still dominate the sky, and ordered large numbers of Fiat CR.42 Falcos , the last war biplane in history. The Regia Aeronautica played a limited role during the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939. In July 1939,

13938-523: The middle of his sophomore year. From an early age, Lindbergh had exhibited an interest in the mechanics of motorized transportation, including his family's Saxon Six automobile, and later his Excelsior motorbike. By the time that he started college as a mechanical engineering student, he had also become fascinated with flying, though he "had never been close enough to a plane to touch it". After quitting college in February 1922, Lindbergh enrolled at

14076-407: The new route. On two occasions, combinations of bad weather, equipment failure, and fuel exhaustion forced him to bail out on night approach to Chicago ; both times he reached the ground without serious injury. In mid-February 1927 he left for San Diego , California, to oversee design and construction of the Spirit of St. Louis . In 1919, British aviators John Alcock and Arthur Brown won

14214-643: The newly designated 278-mile (447 km) Contract Air Mail Route #2 (CAM-2) to provide service between St. Louis and Chicago (Maywood Field) with intermediate stops in Springfield and Peoria, Illinois . Lindbergh and three other RAC pilots flew the mail over CAM-2 in a fleet of four modified war-surplus de Havilland DH-4s . On April 13 , 1926, Lindbergh executed the United States Post Office Department 's Oath of Mail Messengers, and two days later he opened service on

14352-516: The next few months barnstorming across Nebraska , Kansas , Colorado , Wyoming , and Montana as a wing walker and parachutist . He also briefly worked as an airplane mechanic at the Billings, Montana, municipal airport . Lindbergh left flying with the onset of winter and returned to his father's home in Minnesota. His return to the air and his first solo flight did not come until half

14490-765: The northern part of the Eastern Front under the direct command of the Luftwaffe under the name Air Transport Group 1 (Italian: 1° Gruppo Aerotrasporti "Terracciano" , German: 1° Staffel Transportfliegergruppe 10 (Ital) ). This group was part of the National Republican Air Force of the Italian Social Republic . By the time of the Tunisian Campaign , the Regia Aeronautica and the Luftwaffe rarely enjoyed parity let alone air superiority in North Africa . The Regia Aeronautica

14628-534: The number of planes quadrupled. President Herbert Hoover appointed Lindbergh to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics . Lindbergh and Pan American World Airways head Juan Trippe were interested in developing an air route across Alaska and Siberia to China and Japan. In the summer of 1931, with Trippe's support, Lindbergh and his wife flew from Long Island to Nome, Alaska , and from there to Siberia, Japan and China. The flight

14766-532: The pilot. A few weeks after leaving Americus, he made his first night flight near Lake Village, Arkansas . While Lindbergh was barnstorming in Lone Rock, Wisconsin , on two occasions he flew a local physician across the Wisconsin River to emergency calls that were otherwise unreachable because of flooding. He broke his propeller several times while landing, and on June 3 , 1923 he was grounded for

14904-408: The plane "was wheeled into position on the runway," the rain ceased and light began to break through the "low-hanging clouds." A crowd variously described as "nearly a thousand" or "several thousand" assembled to see Lindbergh off. For its transatlantic flight, the Spirit was loaded with 450 U.S. gallons (1,700 liters) of fuel that was filtered repeatedly to avoid fuel line blockage. The fuel load

15042-423: The plane, providing guard as it was "wheeled into a shed." Lindbergh met the U.S. Ambassador to France , Myron T. Herrick , across Le Bourget field in a "little room with a few chairs and an army cot." The lights in the room were turned off to conceal his presence from the frenzied crowd, which "surged madly" trying to find him. Lindbergh shook hands with Herrick and handed him several letters he had carried across

15180-536: The several decorations authorized by Federal law will be awarded for the same act of heroism or extraordinary achievement" (Lindbergh was recognized for the same act with both the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Flying Cross). The statute authorizing the award was also criticized for apparently violating procedure; House legislators reportedly neglected to have their votes counted. Lindbergh

15318-517: The situation. On 10 June 1940, during the closing days of the Battle of France , Italy declared war on France and the United Kingdom. On 13 June, Fiat CR.42s attacked French Air Force bases and escorted Fiat BR.20s that bombed the harbour of Toulon . Two days later, CR.42s from 3° Stormo and 53° Stormo attacked again French air bases and clashed with Dewoitine D.520s and Bloch MB.152s , claiming eight kills for five losses. But when

15456-550: The targets being Toulon, Briançon, Traversette, and Cap San Martin); during this short war, Regia Aeronautica lost 10 aircraft in aerial combat and 24 aircrew personnel, while claiming 10 kills and 40 French planes destroyed on the ground. According to a book published after the war by Generale Giuseppe Santoro , critical of the unplanned use of the Air Force, which had not been prepared for operations of aerial bombing against fortifications, only about 80 long tons (81 t) of

15594-412: The tricolour roundels painted on them. These allegations have been disproved, as the Italian aircraft did not have the range to hit such distant targets and concentrated on short-range military objectives ( Regia Aeronautica wing roundels had three fasci littori , having replaced the tricolour ones). It was concluded that this was nothing more than a myth, arising from the reaction to the Italian attack,

15732-472: The world, so at each stop Lindbergh switched to another of the three planes he and his fellow CAM-2 pilots had used, so it could be said that each cover had been flown by him. The covers were then backstamped and returned to their senders as a promotion of the air mail service. In 1929–1931, Lindbergh carried much smaller numbers of souvenir covers on the first flights over routes in Latin America and

15870-446: Was 3:00 PM. Flying over Dingle Bay, the Spirit was "2.5 hours ahead of schedule and less than 3 miles (5 km) off course." Lindbergh had navigated "almost precisely to the coastal point he had marked on his chart." He wanted to reach the French coast in daylight, so increased his speed to 110 miles per hour (180 km/h). The English coast appeared ahead of him, and he was "now wide awake." A report came from Plymouth , on

16008-561: Was a Nazi sympathizer, although Lindbergh never publicly stated support for the Nazis and condemned them several times in both his public speeches and personal diary. However, he supported the isolationist America First Committee and resigned from the U.S. Army Air Corps in April 1941 after President Franklin Roosevelt publicly rebuked him for his views. In September 1941, Lindbergh gave

16146-475: Was a thousand pounds heavier than any the Spirit had lifted during a test flight, and the fully loaded airplane weighed 5,200 pounds (2,400 kg; 2.6 short tons). With takeoff hampered by a muddy, rain-soaked runway, the plane was "helped by men pushing at the wing struts," with the last man leaving the wings only one hundred yards (90 m) down the runway. The Spirit gained speed very slowly during its 7:52   AM takeoff, but cleared telephone lines at

16284-576: Was also the usual lack of co-operation between the Italian Navy and Army. Finally, just few days after the start of the war, Italian pilots were confronted by No. 80 Squadron , led by the outstanding ace Marmaduke Pattle and equipped with Gloster Gladiators , No. 30 Squadron , No. 211 Squadron and No. 84 Squadron with Bristol Blenheims , and No. 70 Squadron with Vickers Wellingtons . Gradually, Italian air power (including Squadriglie flying from Italian air bases) grew to over 400 aircraft against

16422-406: Was an American aviator, author, and military officer. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris , a distance of 3,600 miles (5,800 km), flying alone for 33.5 hours in the first solo transatlantic flight. His aircraft, the Spirit of St. Louis , was designed to compete for the $ 25,000 Orteig Prize for the first flight between the two cities. Lindbergh

16560-413: Was built, but the prevailing winds did not allow the ferries to dock. This issue, together with low passenger numbers have caused the pier to be abandoned and used by fishermen, becoming a symbol of waste of public money. [REDACTED] Media related to Reggio Calabria Airport at Wikimedia Commons Regia Aeronautica The Royal Italian Air Force ( Regia Aeronautica Italiana ) ( RAI )

16698-540: Was carried out with a Lockheed Model 8 Sirius named Tingmissartoq . The route was not available for commercial service until after World War   II, as prewar aircraft lacked the range to fly Alaska to Japan nonstop, and the United States had not officially recognized the Soviet government. In China they volunteered to help in disaster investigation and relief efforts for the Central China flood of 1931 . This

16836-429: Was described as "grinning and serene" amid the "seething" crowd. The United Press reported that a "man's leg was broken in the crush," and another man fell from atop a hangar and suffered internal injuries. English officials were reportedly "surprised" by the enthusiasm of the welcome. A limousine pulled near the Spirit , escorting Lindbergh to a tower on the field where he responded to the cheering crowd. "All I can say

16974-442: Was donated by RAC. The total of $ 18,000 was far less than what was available to Lindbergh's rivals. The group tried to buy an "off-the-peg" single or multiengine monoplane from Wright Aeronautical , then Travel Air , and finally the newly formed Columbia Aircraft Corporation , but all insisted on selecting the pilot as a condition of sale. Finally the much smaller Ryan Aircraft Company of San Diego agreed to design and build

17112-412: Was finished on May 21 itself, and was "performed to great acclaim in several Manhattan clubs" that night. After landing, Lindbergh was eager to embark on a tour of Europe. As he noted in a speech a few weeks afterward, his flight marked the first time he "had ever been abroad," and he "landed with the expectancy, and the hope, of being able to see Europe." The morning after landing, Lindbergh appeared in

17250-427: Was flying at 10,000 feet (3,000 m). A towering thunderhead stood in front of him, and he flew into the cloud, but turned back after he noticed ice forming on the plane. While inside the cloud, Lindbergh "thrust a bare hand through the cockpit window," and felt the "sting of ice particles." After returning to open sky, he "curved back to his course." At 11:52 PM, Lindbergh was in warmer air, and no ice remained on

17388-425: Was flying quite low between the hills near St. John's." The Times also observed that Lindbergh was "following the track of Hawker and Greeve and also of Alcock and Brown ". Stars appeared as night fell around 8:00 PM. The sea became obscured by fog, prompting Lindbergh to climb "from an altitude of 800 feet (240 m) to 7,500 feet (2,300 m) to stay above the quickly-rising cloud." An hour later, he

17526-625: Was forced on the defensive during the Sicilian Campaign . Italian pilots were constantly fighting against Allied efforts to sink Regia Marina ships. Just before the Allied invasion, a huge Allied bomber offensive struck the airfields in Sicily in an effort to gain further air superiority. This left the Regia Aeronautica very weak, but aircraft continued to arrive from Sardinia , southern Italy , and southern France . The last mission of

17664-642: Was honored as the first Time magazine Man of the Year (now called "Person of the Year") when he appeared on that magazine's cover at age 25 on January 2 , 1928; he remained the youngest Time Person of the Year until Greta Thunberg in 2019. The winner of the 1930 Best Woman Aviator of the Year Award, Elinor Smith Sullivan , said that before Lindbergh's flight: People seemed to think we [aviators] were from outer space or something. But after Charles Lindbergh's flight, we could do no wrong. It's hard to describe

17802-574: Was kidnapped and murdered in what the American media called the " crime of the century ". The case prompted the U.S. to establish kidnapping as a federal crime if a kidnapper crosses state lines with a victim. By late 1935, the press and hysteria surrounding the case had driven the Lindbergh family into exile in Europe, from where they returned in 1939. In the months before the United States entered World War II , Lindbergh's non-interventionist stance and statements about Jews and race led some to believe he

17940-545: Was later documented in Anne's book North to the Orient . Lindbergh used his world fame to promote air mail service. For example, at the request of Basil L. Rowe, the owner of West Indian Aerial Express (and later Pan Am 's chief pilot), in February, 1928, he carried some 3,000 pieces of special souvenir mail between Santo Domingo, Dominican Repulic ; Port-au-Prince, Haiti ; and Havana, Cuba ‍—‌the last three stops he and

18078-705: Was promoted to the rank of colonel in the Air Corps of the Officers Reserve Corps of the U.S. Army . On December 14 , 1927, a Special Act of Congress awarded Lindbergh the Medal of Honor , despite the fact that it was almost always awarded for heroism in combat. It was presented to Lindbergh by President Coolidge at the White House on March 21 , 1928. The medal contradicted Coolidge's earlier executive order directing that "not more than one of

18216-525: Was raised mostly in Little Falls, Minnesota , and Washington, D.C., the son of U.S. Congressman Charles August Lindbergh . He became a U.S. Army Air Service cadet in 1924. Later that year, he was hired as a U.S. Air Mail pilot in the Greater St. Louis area, where he began to prepare for his historic 1927 transatlantic flight . For his flight, President Calvin Coolidge presented Lindbergh both

18354-538: Was seven years old. His father, a U.S. Congressman from 1907 to 1917, was one of the few congressmen to oppose the entry of the U.S. into World War I (although his congressional term ended one month before the House of Representatives voted to declare war on Germany ). Lindbergh's mother was a chemistry teacher at Cass Technical High School in Detroit and later at Little Falls High School , from which her son graduated on June 5 , 1918. Lindbergh attended more than

18492-419: Was some seven miles northeast of the city; he initially mistook it for some large industrial complex because of the bright lights spreading out in all directions‍—‌in fact the headlights of tens of thousands of spectators' cars caught in "the largest traffic jam in Paris history" in their attempt to be present for Lindbergh's landing. A crowd estimated at 150,000 stormed the field, dragged Lindbergh out of

18630-646: Was the air force of the Kingdom of Italy . It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolished and the Kingdom of Italy became the Italian Republic , whereupon the name of the air force changed to Aeronautica Militare . At the beginning of the twentieth century, Italy was at the forefront of aerial warfare: during

18768-433: Was the first of 15 books he eventually wrote or to which he made significant contributions. The company was run by aviation enthusiast George P. Putnam . The dustjacket notes said that Lindbergh wanted to share the "story of his life and his transatlantic flight together with his views on the future of aviation", and that "WE" referred to the "spiritual partnership" that had developed "between himself and his airplane during

18906-577: Was the guest of honor at a 500-guest banquet and dance held at Clarence MacKay 's Long Island estate, Harbor Hill . The following night, Lindbergh was honored with a grand banquet at the Hotel Commodore given by the Mayor's Committee on Receptions of the City of New York and attended by some 3,700 people. He was officially awarded the check for the prize on June 16 . On July 18, 1927, Lindbergh

19044-832: Was under command of Generale Rino Corso Fougier . It comprised approximately 170 aircraft including 80 Fiat Br.20 bombers and 98 Fiat G.50 Freccia and CR.42 fighters. The transfer of the planes was completed by 19 October. The CAI was based in Nazi-occupied Belgium . Bad weather and planes inadequate to that war theater hindered effective action by the CAI. The CR.42s clashed with British Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires just two times, in November. The Italians claimed five victories and nine probables, but five Fiat biplanes were shot down. The RAF, however, reported no losses. The 17 bombing raids carried out by

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