Orteig Prize

Charles Lindbergh (left) and Raymond Orteig

The Orteig Prize was a $25,000 reward ($340,067 as of 2015)[1] offered on May 22, 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.[2] The offer was made in a letter to Alan Ramsay Hawley, president of the Aero Club of America.

Gentlemen: As a stimulus to the courageous aviators, I desire to offer, through the auspices and regulations of the Aero Club of America, a prize of $25,000 to the first aviator of any Allied Country crossing the Atlantic in one flight, from Paris to New York or New York to Paris, all other details in your care.

Yours very sincerely,

Raymond Orteig[3]

The Aero Club replied on May 26 with Orteig confirming his offer three days later. His offer was accepted by the Aero Club who set up a formal structure to administer the competition. On offer for five years, it attracted no competitors. After its original term had expired Orteig reissued the prize on June 1, 1925 by depositing $25,000 in negotiable securities at the Bryant Bank with the awarding put under the control of a seven member board of trustees.[4] By then 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 heavier-than air 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; instead of using a tri-motor, as favored by most other groups, he decided on a single engined aircraft. The decision allowed him to save weight and carry extra fuel as a reserve for detours or emergencies. He also decided to fly the aircraft solo, so avoiding 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 a parachute (although he did take an inflatable raft. The final factor in 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."[5]

Advancing public interest and aviation technology, the Prize occasioned investments many times the value of the prize. In addition, lives were lost by men who were competing to win the prize. Six men died 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 during the attempts. For example, seven lives were lost in August 1927 in the Orteig Prize-inspired $25,000 Dole Air Race to fly from San Francisco to Hawaii.[6]

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 other 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 private spaceflights. Similar to the Ortieg Prize, it was announced some eight years before it was won in 2004.[7]

Timeline

1926

1927

Challengers

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

See also

References

  1. ↑ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2014. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  2. ↑ Bak. Pages 28 and 29.
  3. ↑ Bak. Page 29.
  4. ↑ Bak. Page 41.
  5. ↑ Lindbergh: Flight's Enigmatic Hero, Von Hardesty, 2002.
  6. ↑ Conant, Jane Eshelman (Oct 10, 1955). "Pioneer Pacific Fliers wrote Tragic Chapter In Air History". San Francisco Call-Bulletin. Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco. Retrieved 2011-08-20.
  7. ↑ Belfiore, Michael (2007). Rocketeers: how a visionary band of business leaders, engineers, and pilots is boldly privatizing space. New York: Smithsonian Books. pp. 15–17, 30. ISBN 978-0-06-114903-0. Retrieved 2014-12-28.
  8. ↑ "Clarence D. Chamberlin Recalls Historic Flight, Explains Why Lindbergh Beat Levine Across Atlantic". Retrieved 19 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "Lindbergh Given Check By Orteig". The Gettysburg Times (New York). Associated Press. June 17, 1927. p. 2. Retrieved 2013-09-24.
  10. ↑ Simmons, George (1965). Target: Arctic, Men in the Skies at the Top of the World. Philadelphia: Chilton Books. pp. 107–108. OCLC 486837.

Further reading

External links