The Spirit of St. Louis, the plane that carried Charles Lindbergh on his historic 1927 solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic, is one of the most famous planes in the world. Build by the Ryan Aeronautical Company for a price of $10,500, the Spirit has a wingspan of 46 feet, a length of 28 feet, and a single, nine-cylinder, air-cooled, 220-horsepower Wright Whirlwind engine. This amazing plane is housed at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.

To keep weight down Lindbergh had the plane equipped with the bare minimum of flight instruments and no radio. the front windshield was removed so that an extra fuel tank could be installed. On the famous flight Lindbergh sat surrounded by fuel tanks containing 153 gallons of gasoline and had to use a periscope to see out of the front of the plane. For sustinenance he carried five sandwiches - one egg, two ham, two roast beef - that he purchased at a "to go" corner store.

The 3,600-mile flight from New York to Paris took 33.5 hours and made the 25-year-old Lindbergh a world hero. He won a Congressional Medal of Honor, $25,000 prize and the nickname "Lucky Lindy".

Your own scale model of this plane will look great mounted on a pedestal, suspended from the ceiling in your child's room or above your desk.