THE LANDS: Ray E. Garrison to Francis De Tarr, Sept. 22, 1955; John Scott Land to Charles Henry Land, Sr., July 4, 1861; CAL to Mr. Meyers, Apr. 3, 1964; Alfred R. Henderson to CAL, Apr. 7, 1969; CAL to North Callahan, May 6, 1966; “Some Conflicts and Unresolved Problems in the Historical Account of Robert Land,” attached to Alfred Henderson to CAL, ca. Mar. 23, 1971; “Contributions of Charles H. Land to Dentistry,” attached to Alfred Henderson to CAL, Mar. 10, 1969; CAL, “(Previous Lodge & Land records),” n.d.; “A Lot of Mad Doctors,” (Detroit) Evening News, Mar. 21, 1888, p. 1.
Some of Dr. Charles Henry Land’s patents were for artificial teeth, artificial dentures, improvements on the filling of decayed teeth, methods of operative dentistry, and a baby jumper. He also invented a gold inlay system and a porcelain inlay system, as well as numerous gas and oil burners and furnaces for use in the manufacture of pottery and artificial teeth. According to Curt Proskauer, Curator of the Museum at the Dental School of Columbia University, Dr. Land “introduced the all-porcelain jacket crown which was patented in 1889 and is now in common use.” (Curt Proskauer to CAL, Nov. 5, 1952.)
ELLL: CAL to Bruce Larson, July 24, 1968; Everett M. Lodge to Dr. L. Laszlo Schwartz, Nov. 29, 1957; BUM, pp. 1–3; Capt. Willard Glazier, Down the Great River (Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers, Publishers, 1892), p. 154; ELLL, “Little Falls, Minnesota,” (U), n.d.; ELLL to Evangeline Land, Tuesday [ca. 1900], Nov. 21, 1900, ca. Nov., 1900, Nov. 8, 1900; Susan Hayden Land (grandmother) to ELLL, Mar. 20, 1901; ELLL, “Facto,” n.d. [Y:259/591].
ELLL MARRIES CA: Olive Adele Evers (principal of Stanley Hall) to CA, Nov. 29, 1900 and Oct 22, 1901; ELCS, (N), 1959; ELLL, “For CAL, Jr.,” (N), n.d. [Y:259/595]; ELLL, two different pieces titled “The Home at Little Falls,” n.d.
BIRTH OF CAL: ELLL, “All that I can tell—from the time you were born,” n.d.; ELLL, untitled notes about CAL birth, n.d.; AOV, p. 3.
3 NO PLACE LIKE HOME
E: AOV, p. 43.
CAL EARLY CHILDHOOD, 1902–6: ELCS to AML, Feb. 4, 1975, ELLL (handwritten N), c. 1930; CA to ELLL, Feb. 8, 1902; Haines, Lindberghs, pp. 71, 81–2; CAL (N), n.d. (MHS); CAL to Bruce Larson, Apr. 7, 1967; CAL, “Chronology” [Y: 276/738]; CAL (N), n.d. [Y:182/123]; Grace Nute (N) of (I) with Mr. and Mrs. Robert Herron, Sept. 9, 1937; Grace Nute (N) of (I) with Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Opsahl, May 11, 1937; “Fine Residence Burned,” Little Falls Daily Transcript, Aug. 7, 1905; CAL (N), Apr. 16, 1966; CAL to Bruce Larson, Oct. 23, 1972; BUM, pp. 5–6, 9–10; CAL (N) on Larson’s L of Minnesota, Oct. 17, 1971; SSL, pp. 372–3; CA to ELLL, ca. Dec. 15, 1905; CAL to Bruce Larson, Jan. 24, 1971.
CA GOES TO WASHINGTON: Lucas, CAL, SR., pp. 29–49, 78; Haines, Lindberghs, pp. 98, 102–3 (citations from CA’s speeches), 115 (first votes in Congress), 116–7, 129, 134–5; Larson, L of Minnesota, pp. 38–68, 73; ELCS to Grace Nute, Apr. 8, 1936; H. P. Bell to CA, Apr. 16 and 24, 1906; CA to Carl Bolander, Oct. 15, 1906; Thomas Pederson, “CAL, Sr. (As I Knew Him),” (U), n.d. [Y:277/763]; Grace Nute (N) of (I) with Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Opsahl, May 11, 1937; misc. CA letters, n.d. [MNHS, P1675, Folder 1]; SSL, pp. 308–11; the Panic of 1907 is discussed in Ron Chernow, The House of Morgan (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press: 1990), pp. 121–9; Ida Tarbell, “The Hunt for a Money Trust,” American Magazine, May, 1913, p. 11; CA, speech, cited in Congressional Record, Appendix, pp. 12072–12077, July 22, 1935.
The common background of the “insurgent” legislators was observed by James Holt in Congressional Insurgents and the Party System, 1909–1916 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967), p. 3, and cited in Lucas’s study of CA, p. 13. The other outstanding insurgents in the House of Representatives included George W. Norris of Nebraska, Edmond H. Madison of Kansas, Victor Murdock of Kansas (an urban journalist), John M. Nelson of Wisconsin, and Miles Poindexter of Washington.
FAMILY DISCORD AND DISCONTENT: SSL, pp. 373–5; ELLL to CAL, Jan 5, 1938; Lillian Roberts to ELLL, Jan. 14, 29, and Feb. 20, 1908; ELCS to CAL, May 24, 1974; ELCS to CAL, Apr. 15, 1966; ELLL to ELL, Feb. 10, 1909 and Feb. 8, 1910; Lillian Johnson to ASB (I), July 18, 1993; ELCS to AML, Mar. 11, 1977; ELLL to ELL, two letters, n.d. (each dated “Sunday”), June 30, 1909, July 8, 1909, June 22 and 30, 1909, Dec. 10, 1909; ELLL (N), n.d.; ELLL, “Notes, 1909”; ROSS, Aug. 3, 1968; CA to CAL, Sept. 18, 1914 and Nov. 5, 1915; AOV, p. 60; FRDT, pp. 2–3; SSL, p. 376–7; BUM, p. 8; CAL to Bruce Larson, Feb. 19, 1966; DAVIS, Aug. 4, 1969; ELLL to ELL, June 6 and July 31, 1915; ELL to ELLL, n.d. [Y:224/62]; CA’s affair is discussed in M. N. Koll to CA, Feb. 13, 1910, CA to Koll, Feb. 16, 1910, ELLL to ELL, Apr. 8, 1918, and is further documented in Grace Nute to CAL (recording memories of Mrs. Charles Weyerhauser), Apr. 16, 1941; RML (quoting ELCS) to ASB (I), Aug. 1, 1993; ELL TO ELLL, n.d. (c. Aug., 1918); CAL to Grace Nute, Aug. 10, 1937.
CAL BOYHOOD; DETROIT AND D.C.: CAL, (U) “English” draft of SSL, c. 1937; CAL (N) on life of Charles Henry Land, Nov. 29, 1952; CAL to Alfred Henderson, Jan. 12, 1974, May 8 and 31, 1971, June 20, 1966, Mar. 2, 1974; CAL (D), “Paris,” Dec., 1938; SSL, pp. 316–21; ELLL, (N), n.d.; CAL, copybooks [Y:198/1]; CAL, “Paris” draft of SSL, Mar., 1939; Grace Nute (N) of (I) with Mr. and Mrs. A. M. Opsahl, May 11, 1937; CA to ELLL, n.d. (ca. 1910); William R. and Mary Anne MacKaye, Mr. Sidwell’s School (Washington, D.C.: Acropolis Books, 1983), pp. 100–1; “L a Member of ‘Roosevelt Gang,’” Detroit Free Press, June 3, 1927; ELLL to ELL, Jan. 8, 1910; AOV, p. 55; CAL, “Foreword” to Larson’s L of Minnesota, p. xiv; SSL, pp. 311, 313, 314; ELLL to ELL, Feb. 21, 1916; CAL, notebook, 1912.
CAL EARLY ADOLESCENCE: AOV, pp. 57, 59–60; CA quoted in Congressional Record, 63rd Congress, 2nd session, p. 15708, cited in Larson, L of Minnesota, p. 179; BUM, pp. 25, 29–30; CAL to Kevin Hammerbeck, Feb. 22, 1970; CAL, notebook, “Auto Trip,” Spring, 1916; Northern Lights (official publication of Antique Automobile Club of America), July, 1969, p. 4.
CALIFORNIA: ELCS to AML, Apr. 13, 1979; ROSS, Aug. 3, 1968; CAL, timeline, Aug., 1957; BUM, p. 31; AOV, p. 7; CAL to CA, n.d. (c. 1916); ELCS to AML, Apr. 13, 1979; CA to ELCS, n.d. (c. 1916) and Oct. 15, 1916; CA, “Some Recollections of My Daughter Lillian, 1916,” Little Falls Daily Transcript, Nov. 6, 1916; ELCS to AML, Dec. 9, 1976; ELLL (N), n.d.; ELL to ELLL, Feb. 28 and Apr. 11, 1917.
CA LEAVES D.C.: Haines, Lindberghs, pp. 221–3, 262; Larson, L of Minnesota, pp. 207, 209, 250–52, 329; Congressional Record, 64th Congress, 2nd session, Feb. 12, 1917, pp. 1–4, 81147–16998; CA to ELCS, Feb. 17, 1917; CA to CAL, Apr. 5, 1917; CA’s quote, “The trouble with war …” is cited in CAL introduction to Larson, L of Minnesota, p. xiv; CA, Why Is Your Country at War? (Washington, D. C.: National Capital Press, Inc., 1917), p. 8; CA to CAL, June 12, 1918; Harrison Salisbury, A Journey for Our Times (New York: Harper & Row, 1983), p. 16; Walter Quigley, introduction of reprint of CA’s Your Country at War (Philadelphia: Dorrance & Co., Inc., 1934), pp. 7–13; CA to ELCS, Sept, 13, 1918.
CAL ON THE FARM: CA to ELLL, ca. Apr., 1917; CAL to ELCS, Jan. 28, 1956; CA to CAL, ca. Apr., 1917; BUM, pp. 32–3, 39–40, 43–5; DAVIS, Aug. 5, 1969; ROSS, Aug. 3, 1969; “What L’s Town Thinks of Him,” PIC, Sept. 30, 1941; AOV, pp. 61–3; ELLL, (N); SSL, pp. 380–2, 384–5; CAL to Grace Nute, Jan. 12, 1938; CA to CAL, Feb. 1, 1919 (MHS); Alex Johnson to T. Willard Hunter (I), June 14, 1981 [CAL House, Little Falls]; CAL, timeline, Aug., 1957.
4 UNDER A WING
E: SSL, p. 261.
CAL AT WISCONSIN AND ROTC: ELLL, “Madison,” (U-N), n.d.; Daniel H. Borus (ed.), These United States (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992), p. 398; ELLL to “64” (family at 64 W. Elizabeth St., Detroit), Oct. 22, 1920; George Buchanan Fife, Lindbergh: The Lone Eagle (Cleveland: The World Syndicate Publishing Co., 1927), pp. 134–40; CAL, timeline, n.d.; SSL, pp. 247, 357–8, 403–4; ELLL (N), 1920; FRDT; WE, p. 24; F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Echoes of the Jazz Age,” The Crack-up (New York: New Directions, 1945) p. 15; DAVIS, Aug. 6, 1969; CA to ELCS, Feb. 29, 1920, and Apr. 23, 1921; CAL (D), Aug., 1921; CA to CAL, July 11, July 23, another on July 23, Sept. 9 and 19, 1
921; ELLL to CA, ca. 1921; CA to ELLL, Feb. 10, 1922; Univ. of Wisconsin, College of Mechanics and Engineering, grades, June 24, 1921; BUM, pp. 45–6; CAL, journal, July 20–Aug. 21, 1921; R. D. Herzog (Nebraska Aircraft Corp) to CAL, Dec. 28, 1921; Ralph C. Diggins School to CAL, Feb. 28, 1922; P. H. Hyland to ELLL, Feb. 7, 1922.
Camp Knox, Kentucky, would later become Fort Knox.
HISTORY OF FLIGHT: Prof. Peter Wegner, “What Makes Airplanes Fly” (lectures) at Yale University, 1990–1; Francis Trevelyan Miller, The World in the Air (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1930), vols. I and II; Walter J. Boyne, The Smithsonian Book of Flight (Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Books, 1987), pp. 33–114; C. H. Gibbs-Smith, AVIATION: AN HISTORICAL SURVEY (London: H. M. Stationery Office, 1970), pp. xi–xiv, 1–179; Tom D. Crouch, The Bishop’s Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright (New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1989), pp. 242–99.
LEARNING TO FLY: R. D. Herzog to CAL, Jan. 31, 1922; ROSS, Aug. 4, 1968; AOV, p. 9; Secretary of Admissions, Teachers College, Columbia University to ELLL, Aug. 14, 1922; ELLL to CAL, Apr. 8, 14, 28, and 30, 1922, Aug. 14, 1922; WE, p. 25; CAL to Richard Plummer, Apr. 22, 1922; CAL to ELLL, Apr. 5, 8, 10, and 22, 1922; SSL, pp. 247–9, “Personnel of Page’s Aerial Pageant,” flyer, n.d.
BARNSTORMING: SSL, pp. 253–68, 430; WE, pp. 28–31, 34–9; CAL to ELLL, June 22, 1922, Aug. 11, 1922; Billings (Montana) Gazette Sun, Aug. 27, 1922, n.p.; ELLL to CAL, May 26, 1922, Aug. 14, 1922, Sept. 5, 1922; CAL, timeline; CAL to Richard Glendenning, Sept. 17, 1969; Edward W. Kraske to CAL, Mar. 3, 1953; CA’s condition is discussed in CAL to Bruce Larson, July 7, 1967 and CA to ELLL, Sept. 17, 1921, n.d. (c. 1922), and Mar. 18, 1924; ELCS to CA, Mar. 30, 1922; CA to CAL, Jan. 23, 1922 and Feb. 7, 1923.
CAL AND HIS OWN PLANE: CAL to CA, Mar. 21, 23, and 31, 1923, Apr. 4, 20, and 29, 1923; CA to CAL, Apr. 11, 12, and 14, 1923, May 17, 1923; CAL to Secretary of Committee on Attractions, ca. 1923; “John Wyche Rites Today,” n.s., c. July 1, 1962; SSL, pp. 436–50; WE, pp. 39–50, 52–67, 70–77; CAL to Mr. Sloan, July 11, 1957; CAL to ELLL, Apr. 9, 1923, May 23, 1923; Rudy Hayes, “L Visisted Here,” Americus Times Recorder, Aug. 28, 1979, p. 1; Glenn Messer to ASB (I), Mar. 5, 1993; Phyllis Cheryl Love, “Charles L’s Visit in Maben” (essay at Mississippi State University), Jan. 7, 1969; “L’s Son Detained in Flight to Join Father,” n.s., n.d.; CAL to Bruce Larson, Apr. 7, 1967; “Plane Damaged Near Glencoe,” Glencoe Enterprise, June 14, 1923; CA to ELCS, July 3, 1923; CA to ELLL, Dec. 25, 1923; CAL to Stan Bleazard, Jan. 8, 1965; BUM, p. 46.
CAL CONSIDERS AND JOINS ARMY: WE, pp. 78–104, 109; FRDT; Lieutenant Harold McGinnis to CAL, Nov. 14, 1923; L. H. Drennan to C. H. Land (meaning CAL), Dec. 6, 1923; Reed Inert, American Racing Planes and Historic Air Races (Chicago: Willcox and Follett, 1952), pp. 49–51; editorial referred to in Harold Bixby to CAL, prob. Jan. 14, 1961; CAL to ELLL, Oct. 17, 1923 and Jan. 16, 1924; SSL, pp. 279–80, 408, 417–8; CAL to CA, Feb. 29, 1924, Mar. 21, 1924; ELLL to CAL, Nov. 29, 1923 and Mar. 21, 1924; CA to ELCS, Feb. 11, 1924; CA to CAL, Jan. 16, 1924.
CA’S DEMISE: ELC to CAL (T), Apr. 16, 1924, and Apr. 18, 1924 (T), Apr. 23, 1924, May 12, 22, and 24 (T), 1924, June 2, 1924; ELC, “Memoir of Last Illness of C. A.,” (U), n.d.; ELC to George Christie, Apr. 23, 25, and 27, 1924, May 5, 1924; Dr. A. W. Adson to CAL (T), Apr. 23, 1924; CAL to Leon Klink, Apr. 24, 1924; CAL to ELLL, Apr. 28, 1924, May 25 and 28, 1924, June 2, 1924, July 8, 1924; ELLL to CAL, “Monday,” Apr., 1924, April, 23, 1924, May 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30, 1924, June 5, 1924; ELC to AML, Nov. 28, 1976; ELLL to “Brother” (Charles H. Land, Jr.), May 2, 3, and 4, 1924; “C. A. Lindbergh Dies Saturday,” Red Lake Falls Courier, May 29, 1924, pp. 1, 5; “Funeral Honors Paid to L in Minneapolis,” Minneapolis Daily Star, May 28, 1924; “Statement of Facts,” State of Minnesota Appellant’s Brief #24994, 1925; AOV, pp. 396–7.
CAL IN ARMY: Elmer Beckstrand to CAL, Feb. 12, 1925; WE, pp. 121–51; CAL to CA, Apr. 4, 1924; DAVIS, Aug. 12, 1969; Ross Jordan to CAL, Jan. 10, 1968; SSL, pp. 214–7, 278–281, 420–2; ELLL to CAL, June 10, Aug. 9 and 13, Sept. 12, 1924, Mar. 9, 1925; CAL to ELLL, Sept. 17 and 19, Nov. 19, 1924, Jan. 10, Mar. 21, 1925; Air Service News Letter, Apr. 2, 1925; C. D. McAllister, quoted in Orange County Register, Feb. 22, 1995, n.p.; Harold Fisher to CAL, Feb. 11, 1925; CAL (U-N) on Dale Van Every and Morris DeHaven Tracy, Charles Lindbergh: His Life (New York: D. Appleton, 1927), Dec. 5, 1968; FRDT; Earl Potts to CAL, Feb. 15, 1953; CAL to “Gang” (Army friends), Jan. 26, 1926.
5 SPIRIT
E: OFAL, p. 49.
CAL ARRIVING IN ST. LOUIS: Manley O. Hudson, “Missouri: Doesn’t Want to Be Shown,” in Borus, These United States, p. 206; A. B. Lambert to CAL, June 5, 1925; A. B. Lambert, “A Brief Summary of the Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Airport,” Oct., 1941 [MHS]; SSL, pp. 20, 122, 281; 35th Division Air Service News, May, 1926; George Oonk to CAL, Feb. 17, 1925; “Harold Bixby, a Chief Supporter of L,” NYT, Nov. 20, 1965; AOV, p. 66; Harlan “Bud” Gurney to CAL, Feb. 10, ca. Feb. 16, May 11, 1925; the man who wished to urinate on his hometown is mentioned in CAL, timeline; “Vera May Dunlop’s Flying Circus,” handbill, n.d. [MHS]; “Who Wants to Ride Airplane,” n.s., June 26, 1925; CAL to ELLL, May 20, July 7 and 10, Aug. 10, 1925; clipping from St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 22, 1927; “O. E. Scott, Airport Manager in ‘20s, Dies,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, July 8, 1948, p. 7A; “Fliers Arrive for Big Four Flying Circus,” St. Charles Daily Banner, June 25, 1925, p. 1; FRDT; Col. Tenney Ross, Special Orders #154, Headquarters 7th Corps Area, July 3, 1925; CAL to Raymond Fredette, July 15, 1971.
COLORADO; PREPARING FOR AIR MAIL: WE, pp. 156–69; J. Wray Vaughan to CAL, Aug. 7 (T) and 9 (T), 1925; CAL to ELLL, Aug. 10, 19, 29, Sept. 1, and Oct. 5, 1925; SSL, p. 281; Mil-Hi Airways business card, 1925; William B. Robertson to CAL, Aug. 24, 1925; CAL to ELLL, Nov. 6 and 22, 1925, Jan. 6, 12, Feb. 5 and 26, Mar. 14, 1926; Miller, World in the Air, pp. 275–95; CAL to “Sir,” (Detroit Aviation Society), Jan. 2, 1926; C. B. Fritsch (Detroit Aviation Society) to CAL, Jan. 7, 1926; SSL, pp. 287, 325; FRDT; WE, p. 170; CAL, Last Will and Testament, Dec. 11, 1925; DAVIS, Aug. 9, 1969; AOV, pp. 66–7; Philip Love to CAL, Aug. 14, Nov. 13, Dec. 17, 1925; “Steve” to CAL, Sept. 19, 1925; Joseph Wecker, “News of St. Louis Aviation ‘Old-Timers,’” Dec. 1967; Mrs. Eva Martin (Reliance Correspondence Club) to “Sir” (CAL), n.d.
AIR MAIL COMMENCES: CAL to ELLL, Apr. 10, 1926; CAL to Josephine Austin, Aug. 2, 1972; “St. Louis Mail By Air to New York in 15 Hours,” n.s., Apr. 16, 1926; “Air Mail Day,” advertisement, ca. May 19, 1926; WE, pp. 172–93; “Airmail Payments Put on Pound Basis,” n.s., June 18, 1926; CAL to William Conkling, June 14, 1938; CAL to Billy Wilder, May 20, 1954; CAL to William P. MacCracken, Jr., July 21, 1968; AOV, p. 68; SSL, pp. 5–9, 11–4, 324–6; Rip Cord (publication of Caterpillar Club), n.d., pp. 48–51; Constance Fetzer to CAL, Nov. 10, 1969; W. H. Conkling to CAL, Sept. 17, 1926; Sgt. A. W. Thiemann to CAL, Sept. 18 and Nov. 27, 1926; CAL’s reports of his parachute drops reprinted in Aeronautic Review, Nov., 1926, pp. 174–5; Wecker, “St. Louis Old-Timers,” Dec., 1967; CAL to E. E. Larabee, July 18, 1967; CAL to ELLL, June 8 and Aug. 29, 1926; O. P. Austin (of National Geographic Society) to CAL, Oct. 18, 1926; “CAL,” National Guardsman, May, 1957, pp. 11–13, 39; “Physical Examination for Flying” for CAL, Dec. 13, 1926 [MHS].
ORTEIG PRIZE; CAL SEEKS PLANE: Graham Wallace, The Flight of Alcock and Brown (London: Putnam, 1955), pp. 287–300; Edward Jablonski, Atlantic Fever (New York: Macmillan, 1972), pp. 27, 53–4; Richard K. Smith, “Fifty Years of Transatlantic Flight,” AIAA 6th Annual Meeting, paper #69–1044, pp. 1–2; “History of the Prize,” menu from presentation of Orteig Prize, June, 1927; CAL to Ed Pendray, July 22, 1963; WE, pp. 198–9; SSL, pp. 17–20, 25–7, 30–4, 41, 45–6, 51–75; FRDT; CAL, prospectus, n.d. [MHS]; CAL to ELLL, Oct. 30, Dec. 26 and 28, 1926, Jan. 15, 1927. Feb. 11, 15, and 18, 1927; A. B. Lambert to Nettie Beauregard, Dec. 10, 1937; Giuseppe Bellanca to CAL, Dec. 4, 1926; “L, Mail Pilot, May Fly For … Award,” prob. NYT, ca. Feb. 9, 1927; A
. B. Lambert, “Suggested procedure,” (U-N), ca. Jan. 1927 [MHS: 291/85]; CAL, (D), Feb. 18–27, 1927.
One of Sikorsky’s financial backers was fellow expatriate Sergei Rachmaninoff.
SAN DIEGO: WPA Guide to California (New York: Pantheon, 1984), pp. 258–64; SSL, pp. 79–86, 90–98, 101, 104, 112, 116, 118–22, 132–4, 503–4; Ryan Airlines, Inc., “Order,” Feb. 25, 1927; CAL to ELLL, Feb. 25, Mar. 3, 8, 12, 27, Apr. 24, May 7, 1927; H. H. Knight to CAL (T), Feb. 25, 1927; CAL to H. H. Knight (T), Feb. 26, 1928 (actually 1927); Walter Balderston, “Lindbergh” (U memoir), Apr., 1928; U. S. Grant Hotel bills, Mar. 3, 10, 17, 1927; WE, pp. 198–212; Donald Hall, “Technical Notes,” NACA #257, July, 1927; CAL to Ev Cassagneres, Jan. 29, 1974; C. W. Ambrust to CAL, Mar. 15 and 28, 1927; A. G. Spalding to Ryan Air Lines (T), Mar. 24, 1927; ELLL to CAL, Mar. 3, 4, 7, 9, 21, Apr. 8 and 27, 1927; Douglas Corrigan, That’s My Story (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1938), pp. 91, 93–4; Ev Cassagneres, The Spirit of Ryan (Blue Ridge Summit, PA: TAB Books, 1982), pp. 56, 60; Gus the Sign Painter, bill, n.d.; CAL to Harry Knight (T), Apr. 25, 1927; for specifications of plane, see SSL, pp. 531–40; Harry Knight to CAL, Mar. 21, 1927.
The plastic used in the windows and skylight of the Spirit of St. Louis was Pyralin, a nitro-cellulose.
In 1938 Douglas Corrigan would capture the imagination of the press and the public after taking off in his $900 “crate” of a plane, “intending” to fly from Bennett Airport, Long Island, to California. Twenty-eight hours later he landed in Dublin, a stunt to which he never owned up, reveling instead in the publicity and celebrity that crowned him “Wrong-Way Corrigan.”
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