Texan Follows Lindbergh Path To France

A Texas businessman paid tribute to aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh by successfully flying alone across the Atlantic Ocean from Long Island, N.Y., to Le Bourget Airport outside Paris.

After circling the Eiffel Tower and then landing Wednesday, Bill Signs, 44, said he flew “close to the water like Lindbergh did” in order to keep his wings from icing up, according to The Associated Press.

There were no problems with the trip, he said, but he was embarrassed by the warm reception he received.

Signs was given an emblem of the town of Le Bourget, a replica of the Eiffel Tower, and a copy of Lindbergh’s landing authorization.

While Signs was being wined and dined by the mayor of Le Bourget after retracing Lindbergh’s historic flight of 70 years ago, his bemused backers in Dallas were vicariously celebrating in a low-key manner and wondering exactly what he was up to.

“Bill and I go back a long way,” mused Alfred “Lucky” Louque of Dallas after getting word that Signs’ single-engine plane had landed in France at 11:25 a.m. “Bill and I built that engine. He and I came up with this crazy idea together,” Louque said.

Another friend, Chuck Cage of Texas, noted that Signs, an experienced international pilot, made it a little faster than planned, speculating that “he must have had a pretty good tailwind.”

Signs made the 3,610-mile journey in 21 hours and 23 minutes, about 12 hours faster than Lindbergh’s flight time of 33 hours and 29 minutes. He was flying a 1974 Cessna Centurion at an average speed of 174 mph. His Cessna was made of metal, and was heavier than Lindbergh’s Ryan, which was made of wood and fabric. Lindbergh’s “Spirit of St. Louis” got better mileage.