10 May 1927: At 3:55 p.m., PST, Charles A. Lindbergh and his Spirit of St. Louis lifted off from Rockwell Field on North Island, San Diego, California, for their record-setting overnight flight to St. Louis, Missouri. The new Ryan NYP, N-X-211, had been ready and all the flight tests complete since 4 May. Lindbergh had completed the navigational planning for both the transcontinental flight to New York City, and then, the transoceanic flight to Paris. He had been in daily consultation with Dean Blake, chief of the Weather Bureau in San Diego. A system over the Rockies had been holding up his departure for days, but now everything was ready. Lindbergh wrote:
At 3:40 I crawl into my flying suit. It’s uncomfortably hot in the California sun. . . It’s a few minutes early, but why wait any longer in this heat? I wave good-by, taxi into position, and ease the throttle open. As I pick up speed, I hold the tail low to put as much load as possible on the wings and reduce strain on the landing gear.
The Spirit of St. Louis is in the air soon after its wheels start clattering over the hummocky portion of the field. The take-off wasn’t as difficult as I expected. It’s 3:55 Pacific. I make a mental note of the time, check instruments, pull the throttle back slightly, and begin a wide climbing turn to the left. Two army observation planes and a Ryan monoplane have taken off with me as an escort. Colonel Graham, the Commanding Officer at Rockwell Field, is in one of the observation planes. Hall, Bowlus, Harrigan, and A.J. Edwards are in the Ryan. We circle North Island, the factory, and the city of San Diego. Then, leaving the ocean and the bay behind, I set my compass heading for St. Louis.
— The Spirit of St. Louis, by Charles A. Lindbergh, Charles Scribners’ Sons, 1953, at Page 134.
© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes
The photo of the supposed XB-70 roll-out in the 11 May entry is actually of the No. 2 XB-70.
Only the No. 2 XB-70 has the black underside on it’s radome. A check of XB-70 photos will confirm this.
As usual, great work and thanks for showing the best aviation photos on the web.
Ah, hah! You are correct! The number on the fin does read “20207.” Hmmmmmm. . . Now I have to find a correct photo. Thanks for the catch, Mike.
You can see the Silver Strand, the big square of land where the Naval Amphibious Base is located and the faint outline of the Hotel Del Coronado above the city of Coronado. The Bay under the aircraft is no longer there, being filled with dredgings right after WWII. The bridge at the bottom is what connected the city to North Island and after you’re on base, you can see the elevation rise as you drive towards the flight line. Great picture.
Thanks, Peter. Mrs. TDiA and I have often stayed at The Del.