Lindbergh with his airplane. US aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974) on tour in 1928 with the airplane, Spirit of St Louis, in which he made the first solo transatlantic flight. This flight, also the first non-stop transatlantic flight in an airplane, took place in May 1927. Lindbergh took off near New York, USA, and flew for over 33 hours to reach Paris, France, over 5700 kilometres away. Spirit of St Louis was a monoplane (a single wing mounted above a fuselage) built by Ryan Airlines, San Diego, California. It was built from steel and was 8.5 metres long with a wingspan of 14 metres. Photographed on 13 January 1928, after a tour to Cuba.