Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis

Human aviation began with Orville and Wilbur Wright, two bicycle mechanics who had a knack for engineering. On December 17, 1903 in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright Brothers made humankind's first flight, traveling ten feet above the ground in a homemade airplane over a distance of 120 feet.

Lindbergh's own first flight took place on April 9, 1922, at Ray Page's Flying School. It was as thrilling as he had dreamed. But lessons were few and far between at the school - the instructor saw a friend die in a plane crash and was reluctant to go back up - so in May of 1922, Lindbergh took on an apprenticeship of sorts with a man named Erold Bahl. Bahl was a barnstormer, a pilot who would fly to various communities to offer plane rides to the citizens for five or ten dollars a trip. Lindbergh who...