Charles Lindbergh (1902 - 74), the first man to fly the Atlanticsolo. This flight was a result of an offer of $25,000 for the first man to fly the New York - Paris route alone nonstop, and on the morning of May 20, 1927 Lindbergh took off in a modified monoplane (a plane with just one pair of wings) called the Spirit of St. Louis. The flight itself was treacherous and lasted 33 1/2 hours, and Lindbergh had gone without sleep the 24 hours before he started. After covering 3,610 miles, Lindbergh touched down at Le Bouget airfield in Paris. He was greeted by 20,000 enthusiastic fans who were there ready to mob him. Lindbergh called the experience with the crowd the most dangerous part of his flight. —Class VIII №3, Approved November 1990