Found photos capture Charles Lindbergh before famous flight

SAN DIEGO – Photos tucked away for 90 years in a California newspaper’s archives portray Charles Lindbergh just weeks before he made the first-ever nonstop solo airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean.

The San Diego Union-Tribune on Sunday (http://bit.ly/2pdP8ny ) released never-before-published shots of Lindbergh from April 28, 1927.

Harry Bishop, chief photographer for what was then the Union and Evening Tribune, shot the 25-year-old as he climbed for the first time into the cockpit of the Spirit of St. Louis, the plane custom-built in San Diego by Ryan Airlines.

The newspaper published a few photos from the test flight. The rest were archived for nearly a century.

Three weeks after they were taken, Lindbergh and his aircraft made history by flying from New York to Paris, 3,610 miles (5809 kilometres) in 33 hours.

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Information from: The San Diego Union-Tribune, http://www.utsandiego.com