Lindbergh made his famous transatlantic flight in The Spirit of St Louis leaving Long Island on the morning of May 20 and arriving at Le Bourget airport in the French Capital the next day. Met by a huge crowd, he lost his flying cap to a mechanic who later returned it to the US Ambassador.
Becoming the first solo pilot to fly nonstop between New York City and Paris, he won the Orteig Prize and pocketed the $25,000 reward.
On May 27 Lindbergh was given the go-ahead to fly over Paris using a Nieuport fighter plane. Returning to Le Bourget, he undertook a simulated aerial combat with the test pilot Michel Détroyat and, during the course of an acrobatic manoeuvre, he lost his flying helmet for the second time.
The next day a Le Bourget resident found it in her vegetable garden and decided to keep it as a treasured souvenir.
The sheepskin lined cap, fastened by a press stud to the strap and carrying a label reading V L & A Chicago Sporting Goods exclusived, was kept by the resident’s family. It reappeared and was authenticated in a television documentary devoted to Lindbergh in 1969.
It will be offered for sale at the Drouot Auction centre by the firm Drouot Estimations on November 16 with an estimate of €60,000-80,000.
