On this day in aviation history, an American airmail pilot registered himself to participate in the Raymond Orteig challenge.
Raymond Orteig announced the challenge in a letter to Aero Club of America stating: "Gentlemen, as a stimulus to courageous aviators, I desire to offer, through the auspices and regulations of the Aero Club of America, a prize of $25,000 to the first aviator of any Allied Country crossing the Atlantic in one flight from Paris to New York or New York to Paris, all other details in your care." This airmail pilot was Charles Lindbergh, who would complete his more than 33-hour nonstop flight across the Atlantic on the 20th and 21st of May 1927 in his "Ryan NYP" high-wing monoplane.
