The White Bird - Background

Background

In 1919, New York hotel owner Raymond Orteig offered a USD $25,000 prize, the Orteig Prize, to the first aviators to make a non-stop transatlantic flight between New York and Paris during the next five years. With no takers, he renewed the offer in 1924, when aviation technology had advanced enough at that point that many people tried for the prize. Most were attempting to fly from New York to Paris, but a number of French aviators planned an attempt to fly in the opposite direction, from Paris to New York.

François Coli, age 45, a World War I veteran from the French Legion of Honor, had been making record-breaking flights across and around the Mediterranean, and had been planning a transatlantic flight since 1923. His original plans were to fly with his wartime comrade Paul Tarascon, a flying ace with 12 victories from the war. They became interested in the Orteig Prize in 1925, but in late 1926 an accident destroyed their Potez 25 biplane. Tarascon was badly burned, and relinquished his place as pilot to 35-year-old Charles Nungesser, another Legion of Honor veteran and highly experienced flying ace with over 40 victories, third highest among the French.

Nungesser had been planning an independent attempt at a solo crossing to win the Orteig Prize, but initial discussions with designer Pierre Levasseur had led to the company owner insisting that Coli be considered as his navigator in a new two-place variant of the production Levasseur PL.4.