Aviation History

Shortly after aviation took off, so did a new form of entertainment. Entertainers—many of them women—ventured onto the wings of flying planes to dazzle audiences with daring acrobatic feats. Daredevils continue to keep the tradition alive today.

The Spirit of St. Louis is completed, and Charles Lindbergh takes it for a test flight. Although this flight happened in San Diego, there was significant attention paid to this flight in Missouri. The revolutionary monoplane that was destined to make the first transatlantic flight had been paid for mostly by families from St. Louis.

This date in Missouri history: Airmail pilot Charles "Lucky Lindy" Lindbergh survived his fourth parachute jump. His plane ran out of fuel over Bloomington, Illinois. 

Having arrived in town in the Spirit of St. Louis, Charles Lindbergh dedicated the new Municipal Airport in Kansas City. A crowd of 25,000 was on hand. 

Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd dedicated the St. Louis Flying Field as the Lambert- St. Louis Municipal Airport. With him were two St. Louisans, Captain Ashley McKiley and Ensign Thomas Mulrony, who had been with Byrd as he explored the polar regions. 

King George awarded Charles Lindbergh England's Distinguished Flying Cross on this day. This and many other Lindbergh items are on display for free at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.

A new advertising strategy involving planes spelling out words with smoke had been developed, and for the first time a skywriter was seen over St. Louis spelling out "Lucky Strike."

Alan Shepard became the first American to go into space. His Mercury capsule is one of twenty spaceships to be built in St. Louis by McDonnell-Douglas.  

Monett expected to be "flying high" according to the Monett Times. They were pinning their hopes on the new airplane industry and the Monett Aeroplane Company.