# Lindbergh's navigating to Paris **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325 "2011-06-21T18:48:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/41 "2025-08-12T12:49:02Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > If he landed in Paris at 10 pm on May 21 - assuming time zones (and DST) were the same as today, sunset in Paris would have been at 9:33 pm. He would have had sufficient twilight to see objects on the ground. The time zones were not the same. France was then one hour behind what it now is. (The over-simple explanation is that the Nazis changed them.) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/42 "2025-08-12T16:29:21Z")
Yeah, I’ve always thought it was well dark when Lindberg landed, but I don’t remember if I got that impression from the Stewart movie or something I read. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/43 "2025-08-12T21:33:56Z")
[https://youtu.be/8AZvQ0TM1AM?si=7YzhEbvVbtzmSig-](https://youtu.be/8AZvQ0TM1AM?si=7YzhEbvVbtzmSig-) here’s the Pathe newsreel link with footage from 1927 The title card at 3:00 says "As darkness approaches French aviators go out in search for the plucky flyer from America ". The actual landing seems to happen around twilight with the crowds behind fences, and when they mob the plane it’s gotten dark. I can understand, looking at the videos, why Lindbergh became a sensation - he’s photogenic, handsome and seems modest. Too bad he became a Nazi sympathizer. To say nothing about the mistresses and kids. ---
**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2025, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/44 "2025-08-12T23:30:07Z")
Lindbergh landed at 9:22 Greenwich Time, so dark at Le Bourget – sun was 13 degrees below the celestial horizon.. No lights on his plane, so presumably no film of the landing. Maybe he did one next day, to oblige the newsreelers? ---
**Author:** ![Humbagger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Humbagger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humbagger)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2025, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/45 "2025-08-13T19:32:59Z")
He sometimes went low, but spent a considerable time at much higher altitudes. I also don’t remember him mentioning seeing ships until shortly before Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/46 "2025-08-13T19:52:47Z")
It seems like part of the answer is “a shitload of pure dumb luck”. ---
**Author:** ![Sky\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Sky\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sky_King)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/47 "2025-08-13T23:09:12Z")
I have read that he plotted his course in ‘takes’ of 100 miles, following a Great Circle route. He would fly a certain compass heading for 100 miles, estimated by indicated airspeed, adjusted by estimates of wind by watching the waves on the ocean. He’d then turn to the next compass heading. A lot of guesswork! He had previously been an airmail pilot, so was probably better equipped at guesswork navigation than most. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/48 "2025-08-14T02:23:24Z")
I presume compass was fairly reliable, and airspeed. So how badly would he have to mis-guess wind speed to completely miss Britain through Spain? (And I assume they had rudimentary wind reports from ships at sea?) I assume he’d picked the great circle route New York to Paris, so hitting southern Ireland was pretty accurate if Google Maps is telling me the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/49 "2025-08-14T16:34:52Z")
He wasn’t worried about ending up in Morocco. His only problem was finding Paris, in the dark, from an unknown position on the coast. As it turned out, his position on the coast was obvious. Wind reports from ships wouldn’t help – he had no radio. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/50 "2025-08-14T21:51:25Z")
Is there a reason Lindberg scheduled his flight the way he did? If he had taken off earlier, he could have arrived in Paris while it was still light enough see the ground. Probably some combination of… Didn’t want to tale off in darkness, in a heavily loaded airplane. Flight took longer than he planned. Didn’t expect the throngs of spectators that showed up. Didn’t want to take off at dusk and fly through night-day-night. I guess I shouldn’t second guess Lindy; he did succeed, after all. Has anyone here ever heard or read anything about how Lindberg planned that aspect of the flight? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2025, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/51 "2025-08-14T22:25:34Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Is there a reason Lindberg scheduled his flight the way he did? Mostly current weather conditions. Weather in New York was pretty overcast in the predawn hours of the day he took off. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/52 "2025-08-15T10:16:45Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Has anyone here ever heard or read anything about how Lindberg planned that aspect of the flight? There are books and books about the flight and the planning and the luck and … IIRC from reading decades ago … They had planned to take off earlier in the day. Weather in NYC made that impractical. They were also squeezed by weather over a span of days. Weather was slowly getting better day by day in NYC but was expected to get worse day by day along the route in the eastern Atlantic. On the fateful morning it was sort of “Now or never” (more realistically “Now or reschedule for a couple weeks from now”) and, in modern parlance, they violated mission rules by launching in less-than-acceptable conditions. But no o-rings blew out and he sloooowly climbed away from the ground and staggered out to sea OK. The rest, as they say, is History. ---
**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/53 "2025-08-15T20:47:39Z")
Dunno how much Lindbergh cared about the $25000 prize, but he definitely cared about being the first to make the trip, and he thought his competitors were just about ready to go. He couldn’t sit around waiting for perfect weather. When he heard a halfway-optimistic forecast for the Atlantic weather, he tentatively set his departure for the following daybreak, and when the time came, he decided to go, despite the mud on Roosevelt Field. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/54 "2025-08-15T21:55:56Z")
Maybe a hijack … why was Lindbergh’s accomplishment so huge? Probably the most celebrated accomplishment until Armstrong walking on the Moon. Brown and Alcock already flew across the Atlantic so what about doing it solo made it as celebrated as it was? ---
**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/55 "2025-08-15T22:13:11Z")
You mean, why did Orteig offer his $25000 prize? Guess he figured NY-Paris was worth more than Ireland-Newfoundland. Or did he offer the prize before the Vickers did its trip? ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2025, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/56 "2025-08-15T22:21:31Z")
Ireland to Newfoundland isn’t continent to continent. (I guess Long Island qualifies because there was a bridge.) And doing it solo is also a lot more impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Timz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Timz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/57 "2025-08-16T17:37:58Z")
My mistake – Alcock and Brown flew the Vimy Newfoundland to Ireland in June 1919, which was apparently enough to win the _Daily Mail_ 10000-pound prize. Orteig offered his 25000-dollar prize in May 1919, specifying nonstop either way NY-Paris. ---
**Author:** ![gkster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gkster/32/14107_2.png) [@gkster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gkster)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2025, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/58 "2025-08-17T22:15:01Z")
Long Island is classified as a continental island, or, in a Supreme Court decision, as a peninsula: > **[The Reason Long Island Isn't Considered an Island](https://www.google.com/share.google?q=sNMHUnRls8Rau2cTI)** > > The peninsula just happens to have a little water between it and the mainland. At the time of Lindbergh’s flight, the island was connected to Manhattan Island by several bridges; a bridge to the mainland (the Bronx) wasn’t built until 1929. I live a mile from Roosevelt Field and drive by it on my way to work 3 miles away; I work near the site of the former Mitchel Air Force Base overlooking the back of the Cradle of Aviation museum. The site of Roosevelt Field is now a mall; there used to be a plaque commemorating the flight, but Wikipedia says that it was taken down during a 2010 renovation and not replaced. There’s a Charles Lindbergh Boulevard in the area, and as a history buff I think about the flight frequently. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2025, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/59 "2025-08-18T00:44:38Z")
I recall reading that flying non-stop from New York to Paris was supposed to convince the public that air travel would soon be available to the average person, and spark the consumer aviation industry. As opposed to the incredibly difficult conditions faced by Brown and Alcock, and the huge resources required for the U.S. Navy NC-4 flight. Two books that I may have read that in: - _Lindbergh, the Last Hero_, by Walter Ross; and - [Lindbergh (book) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindbergh_(book)) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2025, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325/60 "2025-08-18T01:11:02Z")
That was certainly a big part of it. Leaving “impossible”, passing through “daredevil”, and soon to be “routine”. They were ahead of reality, but not so much. Kinda like self-driving cars today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindberghs-navigating-to-paris/586325.md?page=4)