Charts donated to the American Geographical Society

The charts referenced in the above account were donated to the American Geographical Society by Mr. Lindbergh in about 1939. The donated charts are as follows:

Reprinted with permission of AGS Library

• Great Circle Sailing Chart of the North Atlantic Ocean, 1920. (Handwritten annotation: Used in laying out great circle course for New York to Paris flight. San Diego Calif., 1927 C.A.L.) This is the gnomonic chart alluded to above. On such a chart, a great circle route is drawn as a straight line, hence, Lindbergh drew a straight line from New York to Paris and then scaled it with hundred mile increments.
  
  
• The Variation of the Compass for the Year 1925, 1925. (Handwritten annotation: Used in laying out route for flight from San Diego to St. Louis to New York to Paris, 1927. C.A. Lindbergh.) One of two Mercator charts to which Lindbergh’s great circle course was approximated as a series of 500 mile-long loxodromes (line segments of constant compass bearing). Unless traveling due north or south or along the equator, following a great circle is difficult because of the constantly changing compass bearing. Since straight lines on a Mercator chart are lines of constant compass bearing, such a chart is typically used for actual navigation. Using this particular chart, Lindbergh would have been able to record the direction and amount of compass declination (its deviation from true north) along his route. Since compass declination is constantly changing, he would have needed as current a chart as possible.
  
  
• Time Zone Chart of the World, 1927. (Handwritten annotation: Used for laying out route for New York to Paris flight. San Diego California, 1927 C.A.L.) This is the second Mercator chart showing Lindbergh’s route as a series of 500 mile-long loxodromes approximating the great circle route from New York to Paris. On this chart Lindbergh numbered the hours lost as he traveled east through a total of five time zones.
  
  
• North Atlantic Ocean, Northeastern Sheet, [undated map fragment. 43 by 10 in.] (Handwritten annotation: Unused portion of sheet for New York-Paris flight-1927 C.A.L. ) Lindbergh finally copied his course onto two larger scale charts of the North Atlantic. Presumably to make their use more convenient, Lindbergh cut away the unneeded portions of those charts. This is one of those portions.
  
  
• Great Circle Sailing Chart of the North Pacific Ocean, 1922. (Handwritten annotation: Chart for alternate flight over Pacific, San Diego-1927 C.A.L.) A gnomonic chart of the Pacific. There were no flight lines plotted.
  
  

Reprinted with permission of AGS Library

Access to the AGS Library

The AGS Library is open Mondays through Fridays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It is located on the third floor of the east wing of the Golda Meir Library on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus, at 2311 E. Hartford Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Parking is usually available in the UWM Union parking structure which is entered on Kenwood Blvd at Prospect Ave.

The Library is open to the general public; however, most materials are non-circulating. A large format photo copier is available for public use. Staff members are available to discuss other photographic and scanning options should they be required. Requests for information may be made by telephone or fax, or by mail or e-mail to the addresses below. Please note that the use of rare material is governed by special procedures.

Contact:

AGS Library
UW Milwaukee Libraries
P.O. Box 399
Milwaukee, WI 53201-0399

(414) 229-6282
(800) 558-8993
FAX: (414) 229-3624


E-mail: agsl@uwm.edu
Web: http://www.uwm.edu/Library/AGSC/

* Lindbergh, Charles A. "We," by Charles A. Lindbergh; the famous flier's own story of his life and his transatlantic flight, together with his views on the future of aviation, with a foreword by Myron T. Herrick. New York, London: G. P. Putnam's sons, 1927. p. 201-202.