The Spirit of St. Louis

Lindbergh waits in a hotel near Roosevelt Field on Long Island, unable to sleep as reporters press outside. His friend Frank Mahoney stands guard at the door while he stares into the window, reflecting on his years as an airmail pilot. The looming transatlantic attempt casts a long shadow over the night.

In a vivid flashback, Lindbergh lands his old DH-4 at a small Midwest airfield to refuel, and bad weather forces him to push on. He runs out of fuel and bails out in a storm, enduring a harrowing escape before continuing to Chicago by train. A suspender salesman later notes that two airmen died chasing the Orteig Prize.

From a diner at Lambert Field in St. Louis, Lindbergh calls Columbia Aircraft to pitch his transatlantic plan. Columbia quotes $15,000 for a Bellanca high-wing monoplane, and the backers in St. Louis dub the venture Spirit of St. Louis.

Lindbergh visits Ryan Airlines in San Diego, where Frank Mahoney promises to build a suitable monoplane in 90 days. With chief engineer Donald Hall, they design a stripped-down craft that omits a radio and a parachute to save weight, relying on dead reckoning for navigation. The team accepts a 62-day build deadline, even as competitors near the Orteig Prize loom.

The Ryan team works around the clock and delivers the Spirit of St. Louis in 62 days. The Orteig Prize keeps other aviators in motion, including Nungesser and Coli who have begun their own attempt elsewhere, heightening the race to be first nonstop NYC to Paris.

Before departure, the Spirit of St. Louis is readied for flight at Roosevelt Field, with a stop at Lambert Field to show it to investors. The plane carries 450 gallons of fuel, and the cramped cockpit forces the magnetic compass above Lindbergh’s head. Mahoney secretly slips a Saint Christopher medal into a bag of sandwiches aboard the plane.

The Spirit of St. Louis tears down the muddy runway and barely clears power lines and trees. A newspaper proclaims 'Lindy Is Off!' as the flight begins toward the Atlantic. Lindbergh switches fuel tanks hourly to maintain balance while battling extreme exhaustion, having not slept for 28 hours by Cape Cod.

Eighteen hours in, ice forms on the wings and engine, causing the plane to lose altitude until the ice breaks free in warmer air and the engine restarts. With compasses malfunctioning, Lindbergh must navigate by the stars and sun. A moment of salvation arrives when sunlight reflects off a compact mirror, waking him to regain control.

A seabird sighting signals proximity to land, and Lindbergh spots land near Dingle Bay, Ireland. He discovers the hidden Saint Christopher medal on a paper bag and hangs it on the instrument panel for luck.

He crosses the English Channel and follows the Seine into Paris as night falls. The final leg tightens as lights and crowds blur the runway, intensifying the sense of reaching the destination.

Lindbergh reaches Le Bourget Airport and is overwhelmed by spotlights and crowds, seeing movement below as the runway descends. He whispers 'Oh, God, help me!' as he fights to land in the dark. The Spirit of St. Louis lands safely, greeted by a swelling roar from the gathered spectators.

Exhausted, Lindbergh is rushed by cheering crowds as photographers flood the scene with flash powder. He is carried toward a hangar amid the throng, finally grasping the magnitude of his achievement as the crowd roars around him.

Returning to New York City as a national hero, Lindbergh is honored with a colossal ticker-tape parade. Four million people line the parade route, celebrating the historic solo flight that captured the world’s imagination.