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The Spirit of St. Louis

(Replica)

Spirit of St. Louis
Manufactured by Ryan Airlines

The Spirit of St. Louis was designed by Ryan specifically with one goal in mind, to capture the Orteig Prize. Yet this small relatively unknown aircraft manufacturer from San Diego was at first not even considered by Lindbergh. He had initially thought a Bellanca monoplane was the most suitable, and as an alternate choice had even toyed with the idea of a Fokker Trimotor. Yet ultimately Lindbergh went with Ryan, not only because the company offered him the most affordable price, $10,000 to build the plane, but also because they were the only company willing to design it to Lindbergh's exact specifications.

The Ryan Company began in 1922 in San Diego as a Flying School founded by T. Claude Ryan, a former Army and Forest Patrol pilot. In 1924 a local businessman, Benjamin F. Mahoney, became a partner in the company, and Ryan expanded into commercial aviation with regularly scheduled flights from San Diego to Los Angeles. By 1925 the company began manufacturing its own aircraft. Its first design was the M-1 (M for monoplane). The first six were purchased by Pacific Air Transport and used to carry mail between Seattle and Los Angeles. Later the M-1 was modified with a Northrop engineered I-beam spar wing and became the M-2.

By 1926 the two partners began to grow at odds with one another over the future direction of the company, and Ryan sold his share to Mahoney. Ryan was still working as temporary plant manager when in February of 1927 Lindbergh accepted the company's offer to build the aircraft. A month earlier Mahoney had hired a young bright engineer from Douglas named Donald Hall. Together Hall and Lindbergh would design the Spirit of St. Louis. The aircraft took only two months to design and build.

The Spirit of St. Louis was primarily based on the design of the Ryan M-2, yet also included design elements from an aircraft that was still under development at the time, the B-1 Brougham. The modifications took into account nearly every detail thought by Lindbergh necessary to successfully complete the non-stop trans-Atlantic flight.

Modifications

Lengthening and widening the wing for more lift.

Adding extra fuel tanks in the fuselage and wing for much longer range, and placing them all in front of the pilot for safety in the event of a crash landing. (This obstructed the front view, requiring the addition of a periscope on the left side of the cockpit).

Installing a Wright Whirlwind J-5-C Engine for reliability and more power during takeoffs.

Widening the landing gear similar to the B-1 Brougham configuration for more stability on landings.

Lengthening the fuselage in order to balance the weight of the aircraft.

Incorporating a small vertical stabilizer to make the aircraft ihherently unstable ane require the pilot's constant attention during the long trans-oceanic flight.

Enclosing the cockpit for protection from the cold North Atlanic weather.

Installing a wicker seat for less weight.

Installing all the latest instruments of the day in the cockpit, including an Earth inductor compass, an altimeter, a tachometer, a turn-and-bank indicator, an air speed indicator, a clock, oil temperature, oil pressure and fuel pressure gauges, and an inclinometer.

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