Lindbergh also had a drift sight - a tube pointing down at the waves with a reticle on it. Twist the tube until the reticle aligns with the waves, and it indicates the relative direction of the wind to the aircraft bearing. So, even if the crosswind hadn’t been negligible, he still could have done the math - it was fortunate he wasn’t even more fatigued, then.
An excerptfrom his quickie autobiography Spirit of St. Louis, penned on the ship back to the US, describes it.
I remember a presentation about motivation and success, where the presenter mentioned Lindbergh and said “nobody remembers the second person to fly across the Atlantic solo”.
So I looked it up.
Check out this explanation:
And it was?
Heck, airliners as late as the first-series 747 (1969) had sextant ports (in currently flying planes, instrument removed, fitting repurposed as an emergency smoke/fumes purge vent).
You amaze me, Sir. 
Ah, it’s nothin’, one of those bits o’ trivia that occupies brain storage that would otherwise record stuff I need like where I left my other set of keys.
Now I heard that the US Navy stationed ships every 100 miles to help keep him on course.
I wonder if anyone found the answer…
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Amelia Earhart.
Certainly by no means “unknown”. Apparently after Lindbergh, there was no great attraction for a solo crossing, especially as aircraft became bigger and more reliable enough to take the sense of wonder out of it. Amelia did it as part of a solo around the world attempt 5 years later.
It depends on what you mean by the Atlantic Ocean. If it includes the South Atlantic, between South America and Africa, then the second solo flight was by Bert Hinkler.
Well, you do know Alcott and Brown weren’t the first either- it was Lt. Commander Read, Walter Hinton, Elmer Fowler Stone, James L. Breese, Eugene Rhodes, and Herbert C Rodd,all Americans. And about a month before Alcott and Brown.
But yeah- it’s us *Americans *who are the only ones who push their own achievements into the limelight. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
A&B were the first to do it non-stop.
But not solo.
Again, I’ve never, ever heard anyone claim Lindbergh was the first to cross the Atlantic nonstop. Just solo. The “first nonstop” part seems to be some fantasy passed around from Brit to Aussie to Kiwi in various pubs so they can have one more reason to pile on the Americans and never mind that it’s not true.
And Lindberg the first to do it solo. Not to mention the first to go nonstop New York City- Paris.
So, there’s several “firsts”:
American Crew of NC4- Lt. Commander Read, Walter Hinton, Elmer Fowler Stone, James L. Breese, Eugene Rhodes, and Herbert C Rodd: First to fly across the Atlantic. (New York to Lisbon)
Alcott and Brown: First to do it non-stop. (Flew Newfoundland to Ireland)
Lindbergh: first to do it solo, first to fly nonstop New York City- Paris.
So, it’s hardly American jingoism to say that Americans flew across the Atlantic first. Not to denigrate Alcott and Brown’s accomplishments. All of these men were pioneering heroes of aviation.
The “solo” part, however, was not a requirement for the Orteig Prize, which is what Lingbergh was competing for. The only requirement was a non-stop flight from New York to Paris in either direction. Other competing teams included multiple pilots. Lindbergh initially became famous mainly for winning this prize.
It wasn’t a requirement for the prize, but the fact that Lindbergh flew alone was a big reason that he became more famous than other aviators, both at the time and afterward.
It made too good of a story–famous aviators (Admiral Byrd and various European WWI air aces) were competing for the prize, as teams, with well-heeled backers. And here out of nowhere came this American that nobody had heard of, in his twenties and looking even younger, a frigging airmail pilot, backed only by a handful of St. Louis businessmen, flying alone and in a tiny airplane and carrying off the prize.
The fact that Lindbergh was young, handsome, and single didn’t hurt.
And lest we forget, it wasn’t just Americans who were smitten–Europe went apeshit over Lindbergh.