BRIEFING
10 AH march 2016
E
ver since Charles
A. Lindbergh
made it famous in
1927, there have
been numerous
reproductions and
replicas made of his
Ryan NYP Spirit of St.
Louis. Less numerous
have been Spirits that
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his death in 1993, Cole
Palen had strived to build
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Rhinebeck Aerodrome
in Rhinebeck, N.Y., and
three years ago Ken
Cassens, the aerodrome’s
director of aircraft
maintenance, resumed
work on the project.
This included consulting
the Ryan Aero nauticalArchives and access-
ing the cockpit of the
original hanging in the
National Air and Space
Museum by means of a
cherry picker. In 2000
NASM curator Peter
Jakab provided three rare
instruments to lend an
element of authenticity
to the replica.
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faithful reproduction was
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and taxi test. Cassens
reported very positive
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completing this latest
Spirit, expecting to take it
into the air in time for the
2016 season.Spirit to Soar
MILESTONESFirst Space
Shuttle Launch
Thirty-five years ago Columbia, the first space shuttle to go
into earth orbit, launched for the first time on April 12, 1981,
with a crew of two—John Young and Bob Crippen. In its 22
years in service, Columbia would complete 27 missions,
spending a total of 300 days in space. The shuttle circled the
earth 4,808 times, traveling 125,204,911 miles. One hundred
sixty astronauts spent time aboard it. Columbia’s career came
to a tragic end at the conclusion of its 28th trip to space,
when it disintegrated during reentry on February 1, 2003,
killing crew members Rick Husband, William McCool, Michael
Anderson, Ilan Ramon, Kalpana Chowla, David Brown and
Laurel Blair Salton Clark. The accident was later traced to a
debris strike during the launch. TOP AND RIGHT: ROYAL RICCI; ABOVE LEFT: NASAready for its closeup Old Rhinebeck’s
re-creation of Lindbergh’s NYP, parked in
front of a hangar advertising its maker.
Below right: A view of the replica’s cockpit.