“We” · Chapter
VIII: Two Emergency Jumps explained
Lindbergh recounts the challenges of early air mail service, including night flying, fog, and ice hazards.
What happens
Lindbergh recounts the challenges of early air mail service, including night flying, fog, and ice hazards. He describes two emergency parachute jumps caused by fuel exhaustion and fog, highlighting the dangers faced by mail pilots. The chapter also includes reflections on the future of commercial aviation and the need for government support versus private enterprise.
Themes in this chapter
Risk, Sacrifice, and Perseverance
Lindbergh's two emergency jumps and the constant hazards of fog, ice, and fuel shortages illustrate the risks and perseverance required in early air mail service.
Technological Progress and the Future
Lindbergh discusses the need for improved navigation, blind flying instruments, and the eventual development of transatlantic service, emphasizing technological advancement.
Individual Achievement and Collective Support
Lindbergh's solo actions during emergencies are supported by farmers, sheriff, and postal workers, highlighting the collective effort behind mail delivery.
Characters to notice
- Charles Lindbergh
Narrator and pilot; describes his emergency jumps and air mail experiences.
Key passages
“I took off from Lambert- St. Louis Field at 4:25 p.m., September 16, 1926, and after an uneventful trip arrived at Springfield, IL, at 5:10 p.m.”
Lindbergh departed St. Louis at 4:25 p.m. on September 16, 1926, and reached Springfield, Illinois, at 5:10 p.m. without incident.
Sets the time and place for the first emergency jump described.
“The plane was wound up in a ball-shaped mass. It had narrowly missed one farmhouse and had hooked its left wing in a grain shock a quarter mile beyond.”
The aircraft was crumpled into a ball, barely missing a farmhouse and catching its left wing on a grain shock a quarter mile away.
Describes the wreckage after the first crash.
“Undoubtedly in a few years the United States will be covered with a network of passenger, mail and express lines. Transatlantic service is still in the future.”
Lindbergh predicts that within a few years, the U.S. will have extensive passenger, mail, and express air routes, though transatlantic service remains a future goal.
Reflects Lindbergh's vision for commercial aviation expansion.