Paul Redfern

Paul Redfern (13 February 1902 - 25 August 1927[1] (approximate)) was an American musician and a pilot from Columbia, South Carolina. He became known during the summer of 1927 for attempting to fly from Brunswick, Georgia to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a distance of more than 4600 miles and at that time longer than anyone else had ever flown in one flight.

He was spotted by the Norwegian freighter Christian Krogh a few hours later, after dropping a message asking for the ship to be turned in the direction of the nearest land, and when nearing Venezuela he was spotted by a fisherman just off the coast. He failed to arrive in Rio de Janeiro, and over the years more than a dozen search parties were organized. Missionaries and people visiting tribes living in the jungle reported on a white man living among the Indians, but he was never found and no credible evidence documenting that he somehow survived the flight exists.[2][3]

References

  1. Redfern, Frederick C. (1929). "Life Story of Paul Redfern, Aviator". Rochester Alumni Review. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  2. Piercy, Alan (21 October 2013). "Lost legend – Paul Redfern and the birth of aviation in Columbia, S.C.". Retrieved 19 April 2015.
  3. Bryson, Bill (2013). One Summer in America - 1927. Black Swan. pp. 419–420. ISBN 978-0-552-77256-3.