Another Lindberg to cross Atlantic

Associated Press

SAN DIEGO — Standing before a replica of the plane his grandfather used on the first solo flight across the Atlantic, Erik Lindbergh himself seemed a near replica of the historic aviator Friday as he outlined plans to repeat the adventure with wide-eyed enthusiasm.

The 36-year-old pilot bears resemblance to the cut-out figure of Charles Lindbergh displayed next to the Spirit of St. Louis replica at the San Diego Aerospace Museum. The edges of his eyes have the same downward slant; his wholesome smile is similar to that which endeared the elder Lindbergh to the nation’s heart.

On Sunday, the young Lindbergh intends to take off from San Diego’s Lindbergh Field for a nine-hour flight to St. Louis. He plans to fly on April 20 to Farmingdale, N.Y., where he will begin the 17- to 21-hour crossing of the Atlantic on May 1.

Lindbergh, a commercial pilot and artist who lives in the Seattle area, will fly a state-of-the-art Lancair Columbia 300, made of a glass and carbon composite. The $289,000 aircraft, built in Bend, Ore., carries modern communications technology and safety equipment, including a life raft.

It’s average cruise speed is 184 mph, compared to the 108 mph of the original Spirit of St. Louis which was built in San Diego for $10,580.

The risks of crossing the Atlantic now are less than what the elder Lindbergh faced in 1927, event organizers acknowledge, but the challenge is still considerable. To pilots, the crossing is equivalent to a climber’s ascent of Mount Everest.

"It’s been done before. But each time one person does it, it’s a personal challenge and inherently risky," said Gregg Maryniak, flight director for the New Spirit of St. Louis.

The young Lindbergh said his flight is partly a celebration of the 75th anniversary of the historic crossing, which "truly changed the world."

"This flight is all about celebration of the past and hope for the future," he said.

The adventure also is intended to raise awareness of rheumatoid arthritis, which disabled Erik Lindbergh for 15 years before use of the drug Enbrel restored his mobility.

Organizers also hope the journey will promote the X Prize Foundation, a nonprofit group based in St. Louis that is offering $10 million to the first private group that can build and launch a manned spacecraft into space and then repeat the feat within two weeks.

The competition is modeled after the Orteig Prize, the $25,000 bounty won by Charles Lindbergh for making the New York-to-Paris flight.

"The effect of that prize … created a $300 billion industry and changed the way everybody views airplane flight. We dream of opening up space flight in much the same way," said Peter Diamandis, chairman and president of X Prize Foundation.

Erik Lindbergh said the prize is in line with his grandfather’s philosophy. Charles Lindbergh, he said, believed "wings and propellers could only carry us so far."

As he witnessed the development of modern space flight in the 1960s, he saw the potential for a shift in how mankind views the Earth.

"Grandfather had this overview perspective that the astronauts tell us about," he said. "They go up and see our planet from space and — boom — it creates a shift in their perspective."

Lindbergh said he would like everyone to have the same experience "so that we see everything we know and love and depend upon to survive, so that we take care of it for our kids and our grandchildren."

Associated Press