Spirit of St. Louis Parts Auctioned

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Original parts of Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, in which the famed pilot flew non-stop in 1927 alone across the Atlantic, will be auctioned at Bonhams New York auction house Dec. 15. Parts removed by Lindbergh engineer Kenneth Lane include shock absorber bungee cords, spark plugs and a rocker arm from the Wright J5-C Whirlwind that powered the flight. The auction house estimates the “lot” at $80,000-120,000, but that’s not all. Two other lots include a historic hand-signed typed letter from Lindbergh to historian Ev Cassagneres, and a testimonial from Irvin Air Chutes in which then Cadet Lindbergh’s March 6, 1925, midair is described. Those items are estimated to fetch less than $5,000 each. The items are considered to be “the only pieces of the plane, from her trans-Atlantic flight, ever to be auctioned,” according to Bonhams.

The bungees, spark plugs and rocker are thoroughly described and pictured online by Bonhams, here. The Lindbergh to Cassagneres letter is both pictured and described, here. The parachute-company testimonial pictures Lindbergh and others and is pictured and described, here.

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