A Brief History
On May 8, 1927, two weeks before Charles Lindbergh and his Spirit of St. Louis flew into history, two Frenchmen made the first attempt at a Paris to New York (or New York to Paris) flight and disappeared somewhere over the Atlantic.
Digging Deeper
The world of aviation progressed to the point where the idea of a non-stop trans-Atlantic flight began to seem possible.
Two British aviators, John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown, made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919 when they flew a modified World War I Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Clifden, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland.
Around the same time (May 1919), New York hotelier Raymond Orteig wrote the following in a letter to the president of the Aero Club of America: “As a stimulus to the courageous aviators, I desire to offer, through the auspices and regulations of the Aero Club of America, a prize of $25,000 to the first aviator of any Allied Country crossing the Atlantic in one flight, from Paris to New York or New York to Paris, all other details in your care.”
Two French World War I aviation veterans and national heroes teamed up with their PL-8 bi-plane to make the attempt. The plane, named L’Oiseau Blanc (White Bird) took off and was never seen again, sparking mystery and debate that would not be matched until the disappearance of Amelia Earhart.
Modern investigators believe the plane may have reached North America, perhaps Newfoundland in Canada or Maine in the US. Although no trace of wreckage was ever found, reports of people in Newfoundland and Maine claiming to hear an airplane overhead in thick fog and clouds gave rise to the theory that the bi-plane had gotten that far. Searchers in airplanes and boats searched over the planned route of the PL-8, but without results.
Theories about this mystery abounded, with some offering the idea that boot-leggers may have shot the Frenchmen down with Tommy Guns. Land searches for any sign of the crashed airplane came to nothing, and even underwater searches near areas where the airplane was allegedly heard likewise proved futile. A few reports of possible pieces of The White Bird have been found, but never proven to actually be part of the plane.
Various sources have referred to the mystery of The White Bird as the greatest of aviation mysteries, calling it “the Everest of aviation mysteries” and calling the PL-8 “History’s most important missing airplane.” Numerous memorials of various types to this mysterious flight exist as do museum exhibits. Canadian lakes are named after the lost aviators and Canada produced a made for television movie about the event. The 2005 movie Sahara referenced the fictional finding of the wreckage.
The PL-8 had been specially constructed by the Pierre Lavasseur Company, and was painted white so as to be easier to find if it went down in the ocean. Only 32 feet long and with a wingspan of 49 feet, the PL-8 sported only one engine and propeller, with only 460 horsepower. Weighing about 11,000 pounds fully loaded, the top speed was 120 mph, but it only cruised at 102 mph for an estimated 40 hours. No radio was included in the equipment in order to save weight, especially considering the unreliable radio sets of the day.
Question for students (and subscribers): So what happened to our brave French aviators? If you know, let the rest of us know in the comments section below this article. If not for this mystery Charles Lindbergh would not be known as “Lucky Lindy” and would be just one more aviation pioneer. Meanwhile, at the time of this writing (April 10, 2014) the month long search for the missing Malaysian airliner, Flight 370, continues without success!
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Kessner, Thomas. The Flight of the Century: Charles Lindbergh and the Rise of American Aviation (Pivotal Moments in American History). Oxford University Press, 2010.
Lynch, Brendan. Yesterday We Were in America: Alcock and Brown – First to Fly the Atlantic Non-Stop. Haynes Publishing UK, 2009.
