FUN WITH MAPS ISSUE 2026-085

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (May 21, 2026) – This edition of Fun with Maps starts us off in Long Island but lands us across the Atlantic in Paris just one day later.

Aviator

Charles Lindbergh was born at the right time – 1902 – as aviation was rapidly growing by his teen years. 

He was fascinated by planes and flying.  He quit his engineering studies and in 1922 he started to barnstorm through the Midwest and South.  He didn’t fly much, rather in this daredevil pursuit he was a wing-walker and parachuter.

Next came work for the Post Office as pilot delivering Airmail letters and packages.

He had bigger dreams and after raising money he and the chief engineer of Ryan Air of San Diego designed and built the Spirit of St. Louis.

After a few test flights he flew to St. Louis then onto New York.  Lindbergh took off from Long Island, and landed the next day, on May 21, 1927 in Paris.  This was the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic.

Now a few trivia points.  First, Lindberg wasn’t the first to fly across the Atlantic – a duo, so not solo, British pilots flew first across nonstop in 1919.  Second, the name of the plane honors the St. Louis businessmen who lent money to Lindberg to build and fly the plane.

This map by Clegg from 1928 traces the most important flights of Lindbergh.  Lindbergh flew much more later on and managed to be active in many other activities, including writing 14 books.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps. Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.