# A Century After the Spirit of St. Louis, the Flight That Connected Two Continents Gets a Global Celebration 2026-10-30 · United States · Reported Feature From St. Louis to Long Island, Paris and Oshkosh, a packed 2027 calendar will revisit Charles Lindbergh’s nonstop solo Atlantic crossing—and ask what the next century of aviation might bring. From St. Louis to Long Island, Paris and Oshkosh, a packed 2027 calendar will revisit Charles Lindbergh’s nonstop solo Atlantic crossing—and ask what the next century of aviation might bring. --- On May 20, 1927, a 25-year-old airmail pilot climbed into a narrow silver airplane at Roosevelt Field on Long Island. There was no second pilot, no modern navigation screen and no certainty he would reach the other shore. Charles A. Lindbergh took off for Paris and, after 33 hours and 30 minutes, landed the Spirit of St. Louis at Le Bourget on May 21 before an enormous crowd. The 2027 Lindbergh Centennial Event Calendar Announced dates and locations, checked against the event organizers’ current schedules. Some individual ceremony programs and admission arrangements have not yet been posted. DATEEVENTLOCATION / FOCUSApril 6–11SUN ’n FUN Aerospace ExpoLakeland, Florida · Foundation centennial programmingMay 15100th Anniversary GalaUnion Station, St. Louis · Historic MidwayMay 15–21The Journey ContinuesWashington, D.C., and New York · museum/institution commemorationsMay 18–22Centennial Charter FlightWashington → New York → Paris · limited private charterMay 21100 Years to the MomentLe Bourget, France · landing anniversary ceremony and celebrationsJune 14–20Paris Air ShowParis–Le Bourget · 100 years of transatlantic flightJuly 26–Aug. 1EAA AirVenture OshkoshOshkosh, Wisconsin · centennial participationDates pendingTraveling Centennial ExhibitionPlanned for museums, airports and public spaces nationwide A century later, the cities connected by that flight are preparing to tell the story again. The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation has mapped out a centennial season of aviation expos, a St. Louis gala, events at museums and historic institutions, a commemorative private charter crossing, a landing-day observance in France, the Paris Air Show and a return to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. An exhibition intended for museums and other public spaces is also in development. The heart of the anniversary is May 21, 2027. But this is more than one date on a calendar: it is a sequence of events that takes the story from the original airplane to the aircraft, technology and young aviators who will define the next hundred years. The Events: From Florida to the French Runway APRIL 6–11 | SUN ’n FUN AEROSPACE EXPO | LAKELAND, FLORIDA One of the country’s major aviation gatherings will provide an early stage for the centennial. The Lindbergh Foundation says it will bring the Spirit of St. Louis story to the 2027 SUN ’n FUN Aerospace Expo. Its events page also raises the possibility of seeing a flying replica of the historic aircraft, but does not confirm a particular replica appearance or performance time. The expo itself offers airshows, aircraft displays, educational forums, workshops and family programming; the daily 2027 lineup is still being assembled. MAY 15 | 100TH ANNIVERSARY GALA | ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI St. Louis, whose backers financed the airplane and gave it its name, will open the Foundation’s principal centennial week with a gala at Union Station. The Historic Midway is slated for a 1920s-inspired setting, bringing together aerospace executives, astronauts, innovators and descendants of the St. Louis supporters who took a chance on Lindbergh. Organizers describe this as their largest gathering yet; the gala should not be mistaken for a drop-in public festival, and attendance details are subject to the Foundation’s event information. MAY 15–21 | “THE JOURNEY CONTINUES” | WASHINGTON, D.C., AND NEW YORK The Foundation is planning commemorative activity at four institutions tied to the flight and its legacy: the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the French Embassy, New York’s Explorers Club and the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island. Taken together, these locations trace the airplane’s history, the international relationship the flight dramatized and the place from which Lindbergh departed. Individual appearances, public-access arrangements and exact dates within the week have not been fully detailed; some programming connected to the charter itinerary is invitation-only. MAY 18–22 | SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS 100 CENTENNIAL CHARTER FLIGHT A limited-capacity, privately chartered Boeing 757 journey is scheduled to begin in Washington, continue through New York and cross the Atlantic to Paris. The advertised itinerary includes the Smithsonian, Explorers Club and Cradle of Aviation Museum, with a planned arrival at Le Bourget on May 21, exactly 100 years after the original landing. Erik Lindbergh, the aviator’s grandson, is listed among the participants. This is a modern group charter and fundraising journey—not an attempt to repeat the 1927 solo flight in the original aircraft or a publicly available flyover. MAY 20–21 | THE ACTUAL FLIGHT ANNIVERSARY | NEW YORK AND PARIS May 20 marks the date Lindbergh departed Roosevelt Field; May 21 marks his landing at Paris–Le Bourget. The Foundation’s events listing identifies an exact-hour commemoration on May 21 by French government and airport authorities. Its charter itinerary also advertises the Foundation’s International Awards and a Spirit of St. Louis-themed drone show in France. These are announced anniversary features, though specific public viewing and admission information has not yet been provided. JUNE 14–20 | PARIS AIR SHOW | LE BOURGET, FRANCE The aviation industry will convene at the very airfield where the Spirit of St. Louis landed. The 2027 Paris Air Show is marking the flight’s 100th anniversary, and the Lindbergh Foundation plans to participate. The show’s first portion is oriented to trade visitors, with the general-public opening over the weekend, June 19–20. It offers a way for families and enthusiasts to experience the centennial in a setting filled with aircraft, demonstrations and the technologies that may shape the next century of flight. The organizers have yet to publish a full daily program. JULY 26–AUGUST 1 | EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH | WISCONSIN The year’s major U.S. aviation gathering will bring the centennial to Wittman Regional Airport. At AirVenture in 2026, Erik Lindbergh introduced the charter plan beside a full-scale flying replica of the Spirit of St. Louis and the Lancair Columbia 300 he flew solo to Paris in 2002. The Foundation plans to return in 2027, with specific anniversary programming still developing. EAA confirms the convention itself runs July 26–August 1; that is the authoritative schedule even though the Foundation’s anniversary page currently begins its range on July 21. DATES AND HOST VENUES TO BE ANNOUNCED | TRAVELING CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION Beyond the large gatherings, the Foundation says it is developing a multi-site exhibition for museums, airports and other public spaces. The goal is to connect the engineering and ambition of 1927 with innovation, exploration and aviation today. No full host-site list or exhibition tour dates were published on the reviewed centennial calendar, so this is an announced initiative rather than a collection of confirmed stops. What Happened in 1927—and Why the Distinction Matters Lindbergh did not make the first nonstop crossing of the Atlantic. John Alcock and Arthur Brown had done that together in 1919. What Lindbergh achieved was the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight, and he linked the heavily watched New York–Paris route in a journey that seized international attention. His flight covered roughly 3,610 miles and won the $25,000 Orteig Prize, with St. Louis investors helping finance the Ryan-built aircraft. That distinction does nothing to diminish the challenge. The Spirit of St. Louis was built around range and fuel, leaving its pilot to navigate without a conventional forward-facing windshield. Long before jetliners made oceans seem ordinary, a single-person crossing demonstrated how dramatically aviation’s reach had changed. The surge in attention helped expand public confidence and investment in flying. The original Spirit of St. Louis survives in the Smithsonian’s collection in Washington, giving 2027 visitors something unusually tangible: the actual machine whose journey the centennial remembers. Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s work deserves attention as well. An accomplished aviator, navigator and author, she later helped survey long-distance air routes and contributed substantially to the development of flight. The Foundation’s wider anniversary mission places that history beside the ambitions of today’s engineers and young pilots. The pilot’s later record is more complicated than a single triumph. His isolationist activism before American entry into World War II, including a 1941 speech criticized as antisemitic, remains part of the historical account. Remembering the remarkable flight and examining the person who made it are not mutually exclusive tasks. A serious centennial can make room for both. How to Follow the Centennial For people planning a trip, the clearest public-facing aviation opportunities are SUN ’n FUN in Florida, the public weekend of the Paris Air Show and EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. The St. Louis gala and the private charter are different experiences, while several museum and landing-day observances need additional attendance information. Travelers should use the organizers’ individual event pages for tickets, credentials and updated programs before making plans. The century between Lindbergh’s arrival in France and the 2027 celebrations has transformed flight from an extraordinary gamble into a global network. What gives the anniversary its power is the contrast: one pilot fighting fatigue over a dark ocean, and crowds gathering a hundred years later to look at what comes next. The route has become routine. The feeling that something seemingly impossible might become possible again has not. Official Sources and Planning Links Foundation calendar • Foundation events • Charter flight itinerary • SUN ’n FUN • Paris Air Show EAA confirmed dates • Smithsonian aircraft • Smithsonian flight milestones • Anne Morrow Lindbergh • Lindbergh and 1941 speech --- ProbleMattic is written and maintained by Matthew Kulcsar, a software engineer, project manager, technologist, platform builder, emergency-services-trained helper, grandfather, and lifelong collector of broken systems, odd behaviors, and useful nonsense.