Spirit of St. Louis Departs for Paris (1927)

An air-to-air photograph showing the fully completed Spirit of St. Louis banking away over the California landscape. — Spirit of St. Louis Departs for Paris (1927) · Donald A. Hall Estate Collection

The final photograph in the legendary departure sequence. This is Charles Lindbergh in the fully completed Spirit of St. Louis, having just departed Rockwell Field on North Island to begin his first leg eastward toward Paris. Chief Engineer Donald A. Hall Sr. and B.F. Mahoney captured this image from their chase plane before turning back, watching their creation fly off into aviation immortality.