Airmail envelope with a picture of American pilot Charles Lindbergh, 1928

Airmail envelope with a picture of American pilot Charles Lindbergh, 1928. Photograph of Lindbergh (1902-1974) with the slogan 'Lindbergh Again Flies the Airmail'. Lindbergh was an airmail pilot and later made the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight on May 21 1927, in 'The Spirit of St Louis', a Ryan monoplane, landing in Paris after flying from New York. Returning to the United States he received an unprecedented welcome, was promoted to colonel, and toured the nation to popularise aviation. After the kidnapping and death of their son in 1932, he and his wife moved to England. Lindbergh worked with Alexis Carrel on the invention of a pump to maintain organs outside the body. At the outbreak of World War Two Lindbergh made anti-war speeches but later flew combat missions in the Pacific. In later life he championed conservation issues. ©SSPL/Science Museum