Louis banking in flight showing damascened cowl and wingspan. Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis in Flight Over San Diego (May 1927)

Air-to-air photograph of the Spirit of St. — Louis banking in flight showing damascened cowl and wingspan. Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis in Flight Over San Diego (May 1927) · Donald A. Hall Estate Collection

An iconic air-to-air historical photograph capturing the Ryan NYP Spirit of St. Louis in cruising flight over San Diego during pre-transatlantic calibration trials. Viewed from an elevated port three-quarter angle, the image highlights the streamlined nose with its engine-turned damascened cowl, the Wright J-5C Whirlwind radial engine, the high-lift 46-foot Clark Y wing, and empennage markings. Preserved in the Donald A. Hall Estate Collection, this negative documents the completed aircraft operating at cruising speed over the California coast.