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7:52am - Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New
York. The heavy plane, loaded with 450 gallons of fuel, clears telephone wires
at the end of the runway by only 20 feet. |
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8:52am - Altitude: 500 ft. Wind velocity: 0 mph. Currently over Rhode Island.
Except for some turbulence, the flight over Long Island Sound and Connecticut
was uneventful. Only 3,500 miles to Paris. |
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9:52am - Boston lies behind the plane; Cape Cod is to the right. Altitude: 150
ft. Airspeed: 107 mph. Wind velocity: 0 mph. |
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10:52am - There's a breeze blowing from the NW at 10mph. Lindbergh begins to
feel tired, although only four hours have passed since leaving New York. He
descends and flies within ten feet of the water to help keep his mind clear. |
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11:52am - Four hundred miles from New York. Altitude: 200 ft. Nova Scotia
appears ahead. After flying over the Gulf of Maine, the Spirit of St. Louis is
only six miles, or 2 degrees, off course. |
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12:52pm - Wind velocity has increased to 30 mph. Lindbergh flies over a
mountain range. Clouds soon appear and thicken as the Spirit of St. Louis
approaches a storm front. |
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2:52pm - Altitude: 600 ft. Air speed: 96 mph. Lindbergh's course takes him
away from the edge of the storm. Wind velocity has dropped to 15 mph. |
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3:52pm - The eastern edge of Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island lies below. In
minutes Lindbergh will be over water again. Although it's only the afternoon of
the first day, Lindbergh struggles to stay awake. |
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5:52pm - Flying along the southern coast of Newfoundland. Altitude: 300 ft.
Air speed: 92 mph. Wind velocity: 20 mph. |
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7:52pm - Stars begin to appear in the sky as night falls. The sea below is
completely obscured by fog. Lindbergh climbs from an altitude of 800 ft to 7500
ft to stay above the quickly-rising cloud. |
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8:52pm - Altitude: 10,000 ft. The cloud that first appeared as fog is still
below. A thunderhead looms ahead. Lindbergh files into the towering cloud, then
turns back after noticing ice forming on the plane. |
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10:52pm - Lindbergh's fight to keep his eyelids open continues. To keep warm,
Lindbergh considers closing the plane's windows, but then decides that he needs
the cold, fresh air to help stay awake. |
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11:52pm - Altitude: 10,000 ft. Air speed: 90 mph. Five hundred miles from
Newfoundland. The air has warmed -- there's no ice remaining on the plane. |
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1:52am - Halfway to Paris. Eighteen hours into the flight. Instead of feeling
as though he should celebrate (as he had planned), Lindbergh feels only dread:
eighteen long hours to go. |
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2:52am - Daylight! Because Lindbergh has travelled through several time zones,
dawn comes earlier. The light revives the pilot for a while, but then
drowsiness returns. He even falls asleep, but only for a moment. |
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4:52am - Flying in the fog. Lindbergh continually falls asleep with his eyes
open, then awakens seconds, possibly minutes, later. The pilot also begins to
hallucinate. Finally, after flying for hours in or above the fog, the skies
begin to clear. |
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7:52am - Twenty-four hours have elapsed since taking off from New York.
Lindbergh does not feel as tired. |
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9:52am - Several small fishing boats spotted. Lindbergh circles and flies by
closely, hoping to yell for directions, but no fishermen appear on the boats'
decks. |
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10:52am - Local time: 3:00pm. Lindbergh spots land to his left and veers
toward it. Refering to his charts, he identifies the land to be the southern
tip of Ireland. The Spirit of St. Louis is 2.5 hours ahead of schedule and less
than three miles off course. |
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12:52pm - Wanting to reach the French coast in daylight, Lindbergh increases
air speed to 110 mph. The English coast appears ahead. The pilot is now wide
awake. |
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2:52pm - The sun sets as the Spirit of St. Louis flies over the coastal French
town of Cherbourg. Only two hundred miles to Paris. |
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4:22pm - The Spirit of St. Louis touches down at the Le Bourget Aerodrome,
Paris, France. Local time: 10:22pm. Total flight time: 30 hrs, 30 min. Charles
Lindbergh had not slept in 55 hours. |
