Wowing the Crowds as a Stunt Pilot
Before being known as the pilot who flew across the Atlantic Ocean alone, Lindbergh was a barnstormer in the mid-1920s. Barnstormers were what they called stunt pilots. After earning his pilot’s license, Lindbergh spent two years as an itinerant stuntman and aerial daredevil. During his daredevil excursions through the American heartland, the young pilot wowed the audiences below with his daring displays of wing-walking, parachuting, and even mid-air plane changes.
Charles Lindbergh, adjusting parachute before testing an experimental plane, c. 1925. Photo By Everett Collection/Shutterstock
After buying his own plane, Lindbergh became one of America’s top stunt pilots, known for twisting into complicated loops or killing the engine at 3,000 feet and gliding to the ground. Despite the dangers of stunt flying, Lindbergh, who came to be known as “Lucky Lindy,” would only really face death during his days as a U.S. Army flier, test pilot, and airmail pilot.