The Spirit of St. Louis (1957) Icestorm

The ice scene from the Spirit of St.Louis
CREDITS:
TM & © Warner Bros. (1957)

[@phmwu7368]

Actor James Stewart served for 27 years as an officer pilot, officially retiring from the Air Force on May 31, 1968 with the rank of Brigadier-General !!!

[@deepseadirt1]

2:20 mechanics in New York had installed a Carburetor-Heater on the real Spirit's engine. I don't recall Lindbergh saying in his book that he had ice-in-carb problems. Only that ice dangerously covered the wings and unless he found warm air he would stall-out and drop into the sea, as is shown here in the movie.

[@delavalmilker]

At :55 Lindbergh reaches down to his left and flips a lever, that seems to be labeled "heat". Which I assume is the carburetor heater you mention. So the producers did include it in the movie replica of the plane. The "backfire" that Lindy uses to clear the carburetor may have been necessary, because he didn't move the lever soon enough. And ice had already formed in the carburetor.

[@user-ul3lx2sl1q]

It’s too bad people know more about the kidnapping than about the flight. I, for one, am more interested in airplanes than in children.

[@eyestoenvy]

Wait, he had no glass windows on that journey?

[@toddswartz3510]

Not sure , but I know he did everything to lessen weight , even ditched the seat & replaced with a wicker one.

[@daytonasixty-eight1354]

This is actually not a bad instructional aid lol

[@delavalmilker]

It looks like the Spirit's gauges were illuminated. Curious if they were lit by light bulbs. Or were they radium dials, like watches had at the time?

[@fastmail55]

They were indeed radium dials. So, The Spirit of St. Louis was slightly radioactive.

[@Not1Edit]

Radium

[@MarkedMoneyTech]

Glad I chose not to go anywhere last night. Black ice should be called invisible ice because sometimes you can't see the glaze.