Paul Redfern
Paul Redfern (24 February 1902 – August 1927?) was an American
musician and
pilot. In August 1927, Redfern became the first person to fly solo across the
Caribbean Sea and the first to fly nonstop from North to
South America He has never been found or heard from since he was observed flying inland over
Venezuela. Redfern's flight was twelve weeks after
Charles Lindbergh made his historic flight from
New York to
Paris. In 1929, Lindbergh came close to skimming the sands of the
Sea Island, Georgia, beach Redfern took off from and dropped carnations in his fellow flyer's honor. If Redfern had reached his final destination,
Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, his flight would have outdistanced Lindbergh. Redfern had an alternative landing site (Recife) planned if his fuel ran too low, but it is unknown whether he pursued that alternative or decided to continue on to Rio, where thousands awaited his arrival, including the
President of Brazil and movie star
Clara Bow.
Provided by Wikipedia