Lindbergh Flies Again Program PR - 03/08/2002

THE HISTORY CHANNEL TO FOLLOW ERIK LINDBERGH’S QUEST TO REPLICATE HIS GRANDFATHER’S REMARKABLE 1927 SOLO TRANSATLANTIC FLIGHT

LINDBERGH FLIES AGAIN

World Premiere airs Monday, May 20, 9-11 pm ET/PT
The 75th Anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s takeoff from New York to Paris


New York, NY., Spring, 2002: “For millions of people around the world the ‘Lone Eagle’ represented
all that was best in our country. Honesty, courage and the will to greatness…the daring of his feat will never
be forgotten” (President Gerald Ford—the day Charles Lindbergh died).

MAY 1927: Charles Lindbergh, an unknown airmail pilot with a dream, faced the greatest challenge of his life and made history when he flew non-stop from New York to Paris.
MAY 2002: 75 years later, pilot Erik Lindbergh, the 36-year-old grandson of Charles Lindbergh, will attempt the same perilous flight as he and The History Channel recreate one of the most daring and momentous adventures the world has ever known.

Premiering May 20 from 9pm-11pm ET/PT, LINDBERGH FLIES AGAIN will include historic footage of Charles Lindbergh and his mythic accomplishment alongside the present day mission of his grandson, Erik. After Charles’ flight made history, everything changed for both the pilot and the planet. Our program will celebrate that remarkable accomplishment and be a heart-felt tribute from a grandson to his grandfather. The History Channel will follow the 2002 flight of the New Spirit of St. Louis, from the building of the aircraft, to Erik’s training for the flight, to the drama of the flight itself to his landing in Le Bourget.

“Our mission at The History Channel is to ‘make the past come alive’ for our viewers by presenting compelling stories of personal triumph while providing a historical context,” said Abbe Raven, Exec VP and GM for The History Channel. “What better way to fulfill our mission then to bring Erik’s historic tribute to the American public on the 75th Anniversary of his grandfather’s flight.”

Scheduled for April 14th, Erik Lindbergh will depart San Diego’s Lindbergh Field and follow the "Lone Eagle's" 1927 flight plan from San Diego to St. Louis to New York. During the first week of May, 75 years after his grandfather took off from Roosevelt Field, NY, Erik will lift off from Republic Field, flying non-stop across the Atlantic to Le Bourget Airport, outside Paris. He will fly solo, in a single-engine, composite Lancair Columbia 300.

The 1927 flights of the Spirit of St. Louis marked the beginning of the modern age of air travel. Seventy-five years later, a solo transatlantic flight in a small plane is still considered the Mount Everest climb of flying. Erik’s story is not only one of recreating history, but also one of courage, tenacity and perseverance. Fifteen years ago, Erik Lindbergh was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a debilitating and often disabling disease, making it difficult for him to perform simple, everyday tasks and pursue his love of flying. Today, with the help of a breakthrough biotech drug, Erik is able to again live his life and pursue his passion and grandfather’s legacy.

“I am making these flights for three reasons,” said Lindbergh: “to promote the X PRIZE competition and the future of space travel; to support the development and access to new treatments for rheumatoid arthritis; and to honor the legacy of innovation made famous by my grandfather.” The New Spirit of St. Louis flights will benefit the X PRIZE Foundation, the Arthritis Foundation, and the Lindbergh Foundation.

The Lindbergh Legacy and the X PRIZE.
Erik Lindbergh serves as a Trustee and Vice President of the X PRIZE Foundation (www.xprize.org), an organization offering a $10 million prize for the first private team to fly to space in a privately-built spacecraft, return to Earth and fly again within two weeks. The X PRIZE is modeled after the “Orteig Prize,” the $25,000 prize that Charles Lindbergh won for his 1927 transatlantic flight.

Mission Control at the St. Louis Science Center
Mission Control for the flights will be located in an underground facility at the St. Louis Science Center’s historic James S. McDonnell Planetarium. The Mission Control team will utilize state-of-the-art technology to track and support Erik Lindbergh’s flights from beginning to end. Mission Control will be set up to provide a unique educational opportunity for young people and adults, aviation enthusiasts and historians around the world. The Mission Control Center will be open to credentialed media.

Executive Producer for LINDBERGH FLIES AGAIN is Nancy Dubuc. The program is produced for The History Channel by New Wave Entertainment. Christen Harty is the producer and director at New Wave.

Now reaching more than 80 million Nielsen subscribers, The History Channel reveals the power and passion of history as an inviting place where people experience history personally and connect their own lives to the great lives and events of the past. The History Channel is the only place “Where the Past Comes Alive.” The History Channel received the prestigious Governor’s Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network’s “Save Our History” campaign dedicated to historic preservation. The History Channel web site is located at www.HistoryChannel.com.