AERONAUTICS: A New Spirit

Eighty thousand miles under her wings, the Spirit of St. Louis is soon to be retired. But the famed "We" partnership is not to be dissolved.

Col. Charles Augustus Lindbergh is to have a new plane, built like the Spirit of St. Louis by the same painstaking builder, B. F. Mahoney, at the same place, San Diego, Calif. And, likewise, Hero Lindbergh is to be her only pilot.

In general, the new plane duplicates the old. It will have slight changes in design: larger fin, larger rudder, larger stabilizer, to insure improved control. Special lights will ease night flying. Like modern automobiles, it will have class as well as comfort: silk mohair upholstery with deep-cushioned chairs.

Statistics: wing span, 46 feet; overall length, 27 feet 9 inches; weight empty, 1,870 pounds; wing area, including ailerons, 319 sq. feet; maximum speed, 126 miles per hour; landing speed, 49 miles per hour; overall height, 9 feet 10 inches; useful load, 1,550 pounds; pay load, four passengers or baggage, 800 pounds; climb with full load from sea level, 900 to 1,200 feet per minute.

Said Builder Mahoney: "Col. Lindbergh did not desire a racing plane. He wanted a close, cabin-type plane with a longer cruising radius than is ordinarily available." (The new plane carries two tanks to hold, in toto, 115 gallons of gasoline, enough for 920 miles.)

The new ship still needs a name.