“We” · Chapter
III: Barnstorming Experiences explained
Lindbergh recounts his early barnstorming days, including flying with his father and mother, the challenges of making a living as a barnstormer, and his decision to apply for Army Air Service training.
What happens
Lindbergh recounts his early barnstorming days, including flying with his father and mother, the challenges of making a living as a barnstormer, and his decision to apply for Army Air Service training. He describes various flights, a moonlight flight with a skeptical host, a minor crash in Kansas, and a test of Bud Gurney's homemade parachute. The chapter highlights the risks, perseverance, and modest profits of early aviation.
Themes in this chapter
Risk, Sacrifice, and Perseverance
Lindbergh faces multiple crashes, forced landings, and dangerous weather, yet continues flying and barnstorming to earn a living.
Pioneering Spirit and Aviation
The chapter captures the early, unregulated days of flight, including moonlight flights, homemade parachutes, and the constant innovation required to survive.
Individual Achievement and Collective Support
Lindbergh's solo barnstorming is supported by his father, mother, and friends like Bud Gurney, highlighting the blend of personal drive and community help.
Characters to notice
- Charles Lindbergh
Narrator and protagonist; barnstorms through Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and other states; applies for Army cadet training.
- Bud Gurney
Lindbergh's friend who builds and tests his own parachute; accompanies Lindbergh on a barnstorming trip in Nebraska.
- Mrs. Evangeline Lindbergh
Lindbergh's mother; flies with him enthusiastically after her first flight at Janesville, Minnesota, and joins him on a ten-day barnstorming tour.
Key passages
“crashed near Savage, Minnesota, this morning. He was flying in his plane three hundred feet above the ground when it suddenly went into a nose dive and landed on its propeller in a swamp. Lindbergh says he will be flying again in three days.”
A newspaper report describes Lindbergh's crash near Savage, Minnesota, where his plane nosedived into a swamp; he vows to fly again in three days.
Illustrates the frequent minor accidents and public perception of flying as dangerous.
“My father had been opposed to my flying from the first and had never flown himself. However, he had agreed to go up with me at the first opportunity, and one afternoon he climbed into the cockpit and we flew over Redwood Falls together. From that day on I never heard a word against my flying and he never missed a chance to ride in the plane.”
Lindbergh's father, initially against flying, took a flight with him and became a supporter, never again opposing his son's aviation career.
Shows the transformative power of personal experience in overcoming fear and opposition.
“My mother had never objected to my flying, and after her first flight at Janesville, Minnesota, she became an enthusiast herself.”
Lindbergh's mother was always supportive and became an avid flyer after her first flight.
Highlights the family's embrace of aviation.
“I had always conformed to the rule in use among most pilots at that time, of giving a good ride for five dollars but not carrying anyone for less.”
Lindbergh followed the standard barnstorming practice of charging five dollars per passenger ride.
Reflects the economic norms of early aviation.
“I decided to see what the country looked like from the air at night and jokingly asked my host to accompany me. To my surprise he willingly agreed. For some reason he had no fear of a night flight although I had been unable to persuade him to go up with me in the daytime.”
Lindbergh's host, who refused daytime flights, eagerly joined him for a moonlight flight, despite Lindbergh's own lack of night flying experience.
Demonstrates the allure and novelty of night flying.
“Bud Gurney had made a parachute for himself and was intending to test it by the simple method of going up to an altitude of fifteen hundred or two thousand feet and cutting loose from the plane. If the chute opened it was successful.”
Bud Gurney planned to test his homemade parachute by jumping from a plane at 1,500-2,000 feet.
Illustrates the experimental and risky nature of early aviation technology.
