At a luncheon given by the Air Council, Lindbergh was presented with the Daily Mail’s gold aviation cup, which was instituted many years ago by the late Lord Northcliffe. Here Sir Samuel Hoare was the principal speaker. After complimenting Lindbergh on his flight he continued:
“There are some foolish people—I am glad to think there are very few of them—who are asking you the question: ‘Of what use to the world are these efforts and sacrifices? Of what use to the world is a flight like Captain Lindbergh’s?’ If I had time I should prove to them that from a technical point of view these long distant flights are of great value. They stimulate progress; they test reliability.
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NEW YORK CITY’S WELCOME
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NEW YORK CITY—A JUNE SNOWSTORM
“Is it not of value to the technical progress of aviation that a single air-cooled engine of 220 H. P., consuming only 10 gallons of petrol an hour, should have travelled over 3600 miles and been fit for another lap at the end of this?
“Is not a long distance flight of this kind of great value as a test of aerial navigation? Flying through fogs and storms, Captain Lindbergh never seems to have deflected from his course. Surely this experience is not only a testimony of his great skill as a navigator but also a lesson in the study of navigation. But I set aside these technical justifications, for upon a flight of this kind the world at large rightly reaches its verdict upon broader grounds. The peoples of many countries are today applauding Captain Lindbergh’s achievement not so much because some material gain will be obtained in this or that way, but because it is a fine example of nerve and endurance, of skill, courage, enterprise and adventure.