Celebrating aviation
Since the Wright Brothers had a huge presence in Moraine, the City of Moraine’s newest housing subdivision Pinnacle Ridge has streets named after aviation celebrities. Streets have been named for Amelia Earhart, Bessie Coleman and Charles Court, which was named in honor of both Charles Lindbergh & Charles Yeager.
Charles Lindbergh (Feb. 4, 1902 – Aug. 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor and explorer. At age 25 in 1927, he went from obscurity as a U.S. Air Mail pilot to instantaneous world fame by winning the Orteig Prize: making a nonstop flight from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France. Lindbergh covered the 33 1⁄2-hour, 3,600 mile flight alone in a single-engine purpose-built Ryan monoplane, named the Spirit of St. Louis. Lindbergh’s flight was the first solo, non-stop transatlantic flight. Lindbergh received the United States’ highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor, for the feat and numerous other awards and recognition from many countries. Lindbergh’s achievement spurred interest in both commercial aviation and air mail.
Charles “Chuck” Yeager (born Feb. 13, 1923) is a former United States Air Force officer, flying ace, and record-setting test pilot. In 1947, he became the first pilot confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight. Yeager’s career began in World War II in the United States Air Force beginning as an aircraft mechanic and working up to become a P-51 fighter pilot. After the war, Yeager became a test pilot of many types of aircraft, including experimental rocket-powered aircraft. As the first human to officially break the sound barrier, on Oct. 14, 1947, he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 feet. He then went on to break several other speed and altitude records.
Yeager later commanded fighter squadrons and wings in Germany and in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War and was eventually promoted to brigadier general. Yeager’s flying career spans more than 70 years, including flying in and out of the Moraine Airpark. CONTRIBUTED