Career
In April 1922, at the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation, he was given his first formal flying lesson. In June, he quit Nebraska to earn money and get more flight experience.
Upon leaving Nebraska, he spent the first few months barnstorming across Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado and Wyoming. In Montana, he did wing walking and parachuting with E.G. Bahl and later H.L. Lynch.
For a brief period, he worked as an aeroplane mechanic at the Billings Municipal Airport. After winter set in, he went back to Minnesota, to his father’s home, taking a break from flying for some time.
In May 1923, he went on his first solo flight at the Souther Field in Americus, Georgia. The following year, he joined the U.S. Army and was trained as an Army Air Service Reserve pilot.
On March 5, 1925, he met with a serious flying accident, a mid-air collision, while he was practicing aerial combat manoeuvres. That year, he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Service Reserve Corps.
In October 1925, he was employed as a chief pilot for 278-mile Contract Air Mail Route #2 of Robertson Aircraft Corporation. This provided service between St. Louis and Chicago.
Since the army did not require any additional active duty pilots, he went on to pursue civilian aviation. In November 1925, after he joined the 110th Observation Squadron, 35th Division, Missouri National Guard, he did some military flying. He was later promoted as a 1st Lieutenant.
In 1926, he took an Oath of Mail Messengers to the Post Office Department and was formally declared responsible for 'care, custody and conveyance' of U.S. Mails.
Until the mid-month of February 1927, he continued to serve as the chief pilot of CAM-2, after which he travelled to San Diego, California, to supervise the construction of the 'Spirit of St. Louis', a monoplane.
On May 20, 1927, he took off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, on the 'Spirit of St. Louis'. On May 21, after a journey of 33 hours, 30 minutes he landed at Aéroport Le Bourget in Paris, France. He was welcomed by more than 150,000 spectators. This was the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris.
Later in 1927, he came out with his book titled, ‘WE’, which was published by G.P. Putnam's Sons. The book became a bestseller and was translated into most of the major foreign languages.
From July 1927, he went on a U.S tour, on behalf of the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics’. The tour required him to travel 82 cities and deliver speeches.
From December 1927 to February 1928, he went on his second tour, called ‘Good Will Tour' to 16 Latin American countries. Among many others, he visited Mexico, where he met his future wife.
After he moved to England, he worked with Nobel Prize-winning French surgeon Dr. Alexis Carrel on creating an artificial heart. In a book in 1938, ‘The Culture of Organs’, they described an artificial heart.
From 1936 to 1938, he travelled many times to Germany and reported about the German aviation and the German Air Force to the U. S. army.
He believed that Germany’s air power was incredible and unbeatable, thus he suggested that the U.S should not get involved with the war in Europe. This earned him negative reputation.
After the Pearl Harbour, he changed his stand on war and became involved in the war effort. He also worked with Henry Ford on bomber and with the United Aircraft, as an adviser and test pilot.
After the World War II, he became the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He also worked with Pan American World Airways. In 1968, he met with the crew members of Apollo 8, the first spacecraft to travel to the moon.