The Flight: Charles Lindbergh's Daring and Immortal 1927 Transatlantic Crossing

by Dan Hampton

Overview

"GRIPPING. ... AN HOUR-BY-HOUR ACCOUNT." — WALL STREET JOURNAL   • From one of the most decorated pilots in Air Force history comes a masterful account of Lindbergh’s death-defying nonstop transatlantic flight in Spirit of St. Louis

On the rainy morning of May 20, 1927, a little-known American pilot named Charles A. Lindbergh climbed into his single-engine monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis, and prepared to take off from a small airfield on Long Island, New York. Despite his inexperience—the twenty-five-year-old Lindbergh had never before flown over open water—he was determined to win the $25,000 Orteig Prize promised since 1919 to the first pilot to fly nonstop between New York and Paris, a terrifying adventure that had already claimed six men’s lives. Ahead of him lay a 3,600-mile solo journey across the vast north Atlantic and into the unknown; his survival rested on his skill, courage, and an unassuming little aircraft with no front window.

Only 500 people showed up to see him off. Thirty-three and a half hours later, a crowd of more than 100,000 mobbed Spirit as the audacious young American touched down in Paris, having acheived the seemingly impossible. Overnight, as he navigated by the stars through storms across the featureless ocean, news of his attempt had circled the globe, making him an international celebrity by the time he reached Europe. He returned to the United States a national hero, feted with ticker-tape parades that drew millions, bestowed every possible award from the Medal of Honor to Time’s "Man of the Year" (the first to be so named), commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp within months, and celebrated as the embodiment of the twentieth century and America’s place in it.

Acclaimed aviation historian Dan Hampton’s The Flight is a long-overdue, flyer’s-eye narrative of Lindbergh’s legendary journey. A decorated fighter pilot who flew more than 150 combat missions in an F-16 and made numerous transatlantic crossings, Hampton draws on his unique perspective to bring alive the danger, uncertainty, and heroic accomplishment of Lindbergh’s crossing. Hampton’s deeply researched telling also incorporates a trove of primary sources, including Lindbergh’s own personal diary and writings, as well as family letters and untapped aviation archives that fill out this legendary story as never before.

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062644039
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/16/2017
Edition description:	Large Print
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Dan Hampton flew 151 combat missions during his twenty years (1986–2006) in the United States Air Force. For his service in the Iraq War, Kosovo conflict, and first Gulf War, Col. Hampton received four Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor, a Purple Heart, eight Air Medals with Valor, five Meritorious Service medals, and numerous other citations. He is a graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School, USN Top Gun School (TOGS), and USAF Special Operations School. A frequent guest analyst on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC discussing foreign affairs, military, aviation, and intelligence issues, he has published in Aviation History, the Journal of Electronic Defense, Air Force Magazine, Vietnam magazine, and Airpower magazine, and written several classified tactical works for the USAF Weapons Review. He is the author of the national bestsellers Viper Pilot and Lords of the Sky, as well as a novel, The Mercenary.

Table of Contents

Author's Note ix

Prologue 1

Part 1

1 The First Hours 11

2 Hope 34

3 Hour Five 60

4 Doorway to the Atlantic 81

Part 2

5 Innocence Lost: Snapshots of a Decade 101

6 The Empire of the Night 126

7 Phantoms in the Mist 147

Part 3

8 Crossing the Bridge 171

9 Dreams 193

10 A New Reality 226

Epilogue 253

Acknowledgments 273

Glossary 277

Selected Bibliography 281

Notes and Sources 289

Index 299

Editorial Reviews

Hampton’s soaring Flight goes in the cockpit with Lindbergh. ... An engrossing account. ... Hampton is a voice of expertise in the air. ... [A] well-crafted tale of adventure.

USA Today

Often referred to as the deadliest F-16 pilot, outspoken bestselling author Dan Hampton is back ... with his upcoming book about Charles Lindbergh’s historic voyage—aptly titled The Flight. ... Hampton wrote one of the best air-combat memoirs of all time, Viper Pilot.

Tyler Rogoway

Gripping. ... An hour-by-hour account of the Lone Eagle’s grueling passage through the thunderstorms and ice clouds of the North Atlantic. ... Hampton is just the talent to rescue Lindbergh from neglect.

Rinker Buck

For those wanting to read about the legendary journey in the style of an expertly crafted modern suspense thriller, Hampton’s book delivers.

Aviation History

Delivers an ‘in-the-cockpit’ account of Charles Lindbergh’s first transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Hampton’s soaring Flight goes in the cockpit with Lindbergh. ... An engrossing account. ... Hampton is a voice of expertise in the air. ... [A] well-crafted tale of adventure.” — USA Today

“Outstanding. ... Riveting. ... Recommended. ... A painstaking account [that] succeeds in placing readers in the cockpit of the Spirit of St. Louis. .” — Library Journal (starred review)

“Often referred to as the deadliest F-16 pilot, outspoken bestselling author Dan Hampton is back ... with his upcoming book about Charles Lindbergh’s historic voyage—aptly titled The Flight. ... Hampton wrote one of the best air-combat memoirs of all time, Viper Pilot.” — Tyler Rogoway, TheDrive.com

“Gripping. ... An hour-by-hour account of the Lone Eagle’s grueling passage through the thunderstorms and ice clouds of the North Atlantic. ... Hampton is just the talent to rescue Lindbergh from neglect.” — Rinker Buck, Wall Street Journal

“Vivid. … Offer[s] a cockpit’s-eye view of the flight. This you-are-there perspective effectively evokes the tension, risk, and skill involved, from the moment Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field, crosses the coast of Newfoundland, and soars alone into the night above the roiling sea.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Delivers an ‘in-the-cockpit’ account of Charles Lindbergh’s first transatlantic flight from New York to Paris.” — Fort Worth Star-Telegram

“For those wanting to read about the legendary journey in the style of an expertly crafted modern suspense thriller, Hampton’s book delivers.” — Aviation History

From the Publisher

Hampton’s soaring Flight goes in the cockpit with Lindbergh. ... An engrossing account. ... Hampton is a voice of expertise in the air. ... [A] well-crafted tale of adventure.

USA Today

★ 05/01/2017
Hampton (The Hunter Killers) writes a painstaking account of Charles Lindbergh's remarkable 1927 flight from Long Island, NY, to Paris. Significant aspects of the aviator's early years, character, and adulthood are defined, but Hampton does not intend to provide a detailed assessment of Lindbergh's life. Instead, he succeeds in placing readers in the cockpit of the Spirit of St. Louis during Lindbergh's more than 33-hour aerial sojourn on May 20–21, 1927. This notable voyage ended with victory celebrations in Paris, Brussels, London, and the United States. Also addressed is Lindbergh's prewar isolationist involvement in the America First Committee, voluntary exile in Europe, later feud with Franklin D. Roosevelt, and World War II years as a technical advisor and combat pilot. The aviator's main contribution to history came in the late 1920s, insists Hampton, when "America realized that innocence was not totally lost nor honor dead, and through Charles Lindbergh they [its citizens] finally had something, and someone, to believe in again." VERDICT An outstanding treatment of some of the most riveting hours of Lindbergh's life. Recommended for aviation historians and enthusiasts, social and intellectual academics, devotees of the 1920s, and all readers.—John Carver Edwards, formerly with Univ. of Georgia Libs.

Library Journal

2017-03-28
A historic flight recounted in vivid detail.Fighter pilot and aviation historian Hampton (The Hunter Killers: The Extraordinary Story of the First Wild Weasels, the Band of Maverick Aviators Who Flew the Most Dangerous Missions of the Vietnam War, 2015, etc.) follows Charles Lindbergh's (1902-1974) thrilling 33-hour flight from New York to Paris, the first solo trip across the Atlantic. When he took off on May 20, 1927, he knew that past efforts had failed, but the young man, who had been a mail delivery pilot, was undaunted. Lindbergh had aspired to become a pilot since childhood: in 1912, accompanying his parents to the Army Aeronautical Trials, he felt "electrified" by flight displays. "I used to imagine myself with wings," he said, "on which I could swoop down off our roof into the valley, soaring through the air from one river bank to the other." Hampton portrays Lindbergh as a mediocre student with little interest in world, or even family, affairs: he ignored his father's career failings, his parents' estrangement, and political turmoil in the U.S. and abroad. He focused instead on flying, which is the author's focus, as well. Although he sets the trans-Atlantic feat in the context of post-World War I America, the strongest parts of the book offer a cockpit's-eye view of the flight. This you-are-there perspective effectively evokes the tension, risk, and skill involved, from the moment Lindbergh settles into his wicker seat, takes off from Roosevelt Field, crosses the coast of Newfoundland, and soars alone into the night above the roiling sea. Storms, fog, wind, clouds, and ice threaten him; he is beset by fatigue and roused by extreme cold and fear. Hampton's use of technical terms, explained in a glossary, does not detract from his brisk narrative. Overwhelmed by cheering crowds in Paris and the U.S., the shy Lindbergh was disconcerted to find that he had become a hero. Hampton only briefly summarizes his later career and controversial political views, including some accusations of anti-Semitism. A celebration of a heroic feat sure to interest fans of aviation history.

Kirkus Reviews