Orteig Prize

The Orteig Prize was a $25,000 reward offered on May 19, 1919, by New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig to the first allied aviator(s) to fly non-stop from New York City to Paris or vice-versa. On offer for five years, it attracted no competitors. Orteig renewed the offer for another five years in 1924 when the state of aviation technology had advanced to the point that numerous competitors vied for the prize.

Several famous aviators made unsuccessful attempts at the New York–Paris flight before relatively unknown American Charles Lindbergh won the prize in 1927 in his aircraft Spirit of St. Louis. Lindbergh chose to fly solo, although this was not a requirement of the prize and required him to be at the controls for more than 30 hours. Lindbergh was the first American ever to cross the Atlantic non-stop in a fixed-wing aircraft (rather than an airship), and he promptly became a national hero. His flight was followed by the "Lindbergh boom", as public interest in air travel bloomed and aviation stocks skyrocketed.

Lindbergh pursued a risky strategy for the competition, depending on a single engined plane, instead of the tri-motors most other groups favored. He also developed a plan to fly the plane solo which allowed him to avoid the personality conflicts that helped delay at least one group. To save weight which had contributed to the crashes of other contributors, Lindbergh also dispensed with non-essential equipment like radios, sextant and parachute (although he brought an inflatable raft). The final key to his success was his decision to fly into weather conditions that were clearing but not clear enough for others to consider safe. Lindbergh was quoted as saying "What kind of man would live where there is no danger? I don't believe in taking foolish chances. But nothing can be accomplished by not taking a chance at all."[1]

Although advancing public interest and aviation technology, the Prize occasioned expenses many times the value of the prize. Moreover, lives were lost by men who were competing to win the prize. Six men lost their lives in three separate crashes. Another three men were injured in a fourth crash. During the spring and summer of 1927, 40 pilots would attempt various long-distance over-ocean flights, leading to 21 deaths. For example, ten lives were lost in August 1927 in the Orteig Prize-inspired $25,000 Dole Air Race to fly from San Francisco to Hawaii.

1927 saw a number of aviation first and new records. The record for longest time in the air, longest flight distance, and longest overwater flight would be set and all would exceed Lindbergh's effort. However, no flyer gained the fame that Lindbergh did for winning the Orteig Prize.

The Orteig Prize inspired the $10 million Ansari X Prize for repeated suborbital commercial spaceflights.

Contents

Timeline

1926

1927

Challengers

Date Picture Pilot Aircraft Flight time Results
1927 Charles Lindbergh Spirit of Saint Louis 30 hours Winner
1926 René Fonck Sikorsky S-35 - Gear collapse from excess weight
1927 Floyd Bennett Ford America - Ground loop on take-off

See also

References

  1. ^ Lindbergh: Flight's Enigmatic Hero, Von Hardesty, 2002.
  2. ^ "Clarence D. Chamberlin Recalls Historic Flight, Explains Why Lindbergh Beat Levine Across Atlantic". http://yiddishradioproject.org/exhibits/levine/chamberlin.php3?pg=1. Retrieved 19 September 2011. 

External links