Vintage Charles Lindbergh France New York Paris Airplane Brass Pocket Watch Fob

Description

Parts Timepieces Craft
Art watch repairman
estates and material
house findings from
40 years travels
around and about.
Vintage
Rare French
Brass Stamping of the Charles Lindbergh New York to Paris Airplane- The Spirit of St. Louis-
The French maker did not put the wing marking or tail markings on the stamping as it was not approved through Ryan Airlines- and being French the written English markings did not mean much but the unique design of the plane could be easily recognized--
Pocket Watch Chain Fob, could be used as a keychain also. Size is 2 1/4 inch length. Very rare and seldom seen.
The
Spirit of St. Louis
(Registration: N-X-211) is the custom-built, single engine, single-seat
monoplane
that was flown solo by
Charles Lindbergh
on May 20–21, 1927, on the
first solo non-stop
transatlantic flight
from
Long Island
,
New York
, to
Paris
,
France
, for which Lindbergh won the ,000
Orteig Prize
.
Lindbergh took off in the
Spirit
from
Roosevelt Airfield
,
Garden City, New York
, and landed 33 hours, 30 minutes later at
Aéroport Le Bourget
in Paris, France, a distance of approximately 3,600 miles (5,800 km)
One of the best known aircraft in the world, the
Spirit
was built by
Ryan Airlines
in
San Diego, California
, which at the time was owned and operated by Benjamin Franklin Mahoney who had purchased it from its founder,
T. Claude Ryan
, in 1926. The
Spirit
is now on permanent display in the main entryway's
Milestones of Flight
gallery at the
Smithsonian Institution
's
National Air and Space Museum
in
Washington, D.C
.
Development of the PLANE
Officially known as the "Ryan NYP" (for
N
ew
Y
ork to
P
aris), the single engine monoplane was designed by
Donald A. Hall
of Ryan Airlines and was named the "Spirit of St. Louis" in honor of Lindbergh's supporters from the St. Louis Raquette Club in his then hometown of
St. Louis, Missouri
. To save design time, the NYP was loosely based on the company's 1926
Ryan M-2
mailplane with the main difference being the 4,000 mile range of the NYP and, as a non-standard design, the government assigned it the registration number
N-X-211
(for "experimental"). Hall documented his design in "Engineering Data on the
Spirit of St. Louis
" which he prepared for the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
(NACA) and is included as an appendix to Lindbergh's 1953
Pulitzer Prize
winning book,
The Spirit of St. Louis
.
B.F. "Frank" Mahoney and Claude Ryan had co-founded the company as an
airline
in 1925 and the latter remained with the company after Mahoney bought out his interest in 1926, although there is some dispute as to how involved Ryan may have been in its management after selling his share. It is known, however, that
Hawley Bowlus
was the factory manager who oversaw construction of the Ryan NYP, and that Mahoney was the sole owner at the time of
Donald A. Hall
's hiring.
The
Spirit
was designed and built in San Diego to compete for the ,000
Orteig Prize
for the first non-stop flight between New York and Paris which Lindbergh would win in the single engine monoplane.
[4]
Hall and Ryan Airlines staff worked closely with Lindbergh to design and build the
Spirit
in just 60 days. Although what was actually paid to Ryan Airlines for the project is not clear, Mahoney offered to do it at cost. After first approaching several major aircraft manufacturers without success, in early February 1927, Lindbergh, who as a U.S. Air Mail pilot familiar with the good record of the M-1 with
Pacific Air Transport
, wired, "Can you construct Whirlwind engine plane capable flying nonstop between New York and Paris ...?"
Mahoney was away from the factory, but Ryan answered, "Can build plane similar M-1 but larger wings... delivery about three months." Lindbergh wired back that due to competition, delivery in less than three months was essential. Many years later, Jon van der Linde, chief mechanic of Ryan Airlines, recalled, "But nothing fazed B.F. Mahoney, the young sportsman who had just bought Ryan." Mahoney telegraphed Lindbergh back the same day: "Can complete in two months."
Lindbergh arrived in San Diego on February 23 and toured the factory with Mahoney meeting factory manager, Bowlus, chief engineer Donald Hall, and sales manager A.J. Edwards. After further discussions between Mahoney, Hall and Lindbergh, Mahoney offered to build the
Spirit
for ,580, restating his commitment to deliver it in 60 days. Lindbergh himself contributed ,000 toward the cost of the
Spirit
that he had saved from his earnings as an Air Mail pilot for
Robertson Aircraft Corporation
.
Lindbergh was convinced: "I believe in Hall's ability; I like Mahoney's enthusiasm. I haveconfidence in the character of the workmen I've met.
He then went to the airfield to familiarize himself with a Ryan aircraft, either an M-1 or an M-2, then telegraphed his St. Louis backers and recommended the deal, which was quickly approved.
Mahoney lived up to his commitment. Working exclusively on the aircraft and closely with Lindbergh, the staff completed the
Spirit of St. Louis
60 days after Lindbergh arrived in San Diego. Powered by a Wright Whirlwind J-5C 223-hp radial engine, it had a 14 m (46-foot) wingspan, 3 m (10 ft) longer than the M-1, to accommodate the heavy load of 1,610 L (425 gal) of fuel. In his 1927 book
We
, Lindbergh acknowledged the achievement of the builders with a photograph captioned "The Men Who Made the Plane", identifying: "B. Franklin
Mahoney, president, Ryan Airlines", Bowlus, Hall and Edwards standing with the aviator in front of the completed aircraft..