Our fuels expert Ben Visser sent along a link to a really cool look back at a pivotal moment in aviation’s history. Win Perkins, a real estate appraiser who specializes in airport properties, has posted on his website a video he created of Charles Lindbergh’s famous and risky takeoff in the Spirit of St. Louis. According to Perkins, this is unlike any other presentation of the takeoff footage. Perkins said he “painstakingly assembled news footage from five cameras that filmed Lindbergh’s takeoff from Roosevelt Field, Long Island” and “mixed it with enhanced audio from the same newsreel sources.”
There are four parts to the video: “Dead Men Flying,” “A Sudden Change,” “Well, Then, I Might As Well Go,” and “I’m Not Lindbergh!“
This is simply wonderful…awe inspiring…a turning point for all of mankind in the achievement of one person’s determination, superb pilotage, the design, preparation, and reliability of machine, and the personal triumph of applied skill rather abject daring. It is too bad his name began with L and the inappropriate adjective “Lucky” was attached to Lindy. This accomplishment was not the result of luck but the good fortune of the right person with the skills, discipline and pluck to plan and execute brilliantly…
Thanks Mr. Perkins for assembling this informative tribute….