Charles A. Lindbergh was one of them. As a youth, Lindbergh studied with fascination the World War I flying exploits of French ace Rene Fonck who had shot down 75 German planes in the war.

With two people, you need a much larger airplane. One advantage is that one person could rest while the other was flying. Lindbergh felt confident he could do it solo. I wasn’t worried a bit.

When Charles Lindbergh returned to the United States after making his historic solo flight from New York to Paris, he was both a hero and the biggest celebrity in the world. In the weeks and ...