Lindbergh Bust by Paul Fjelde

Artist: Paul Fjelde - New York, New York

Beneath the wings of the "Spirit of St. Louis" reproduction, which is suspended in perpetual flight over the vast baggage claim area of Terminal 2, there proudly resides this life size bronze bust of the airport's namesake, Charles A. Lindbergh. The bust was originally installed at the opening of the "new" Lindbergh Field terminal in 1967 to remind travelers of San Diego's historic connection with Lindbergh and the building of his famous airplane.

Plaque inscription...

Lindbergh Field was built by the people of San Diego following the historic New York-to-Paris flight of Charles A. Lindbergh May 20-21, 1927. This airport was named in his honor with pride that his "Spirit of St. Louis" monoplane was built near this location by Ryan Airlines, Inc.

History of the bust...

The Lindbergh bust by internationally-known sculptor Paul Fjelde was purchased by Ryan Aeronautical Company and presented to the citizens of San Diego in 1967 for permanent display at the Lindbergh Field airline terminal. This was seen as a visible and appropriate way to perpetuate the association of the name "Lindbergh" with the airport, which at that time was first being referred to as San Diego International Airport. The idea for prominently displaying a bust for this purpose was editorialized at that time by newspaper publisher James S. Copley.

T. Claude Ryan, then Board Chairman of Ryan Aeronautical Company and earlier founder of Ryan Airlines, Inc., the company that built the "Spirit of St. Louis" in 1927, initiated a search for a suitable bust to fulfill Copley's suggestion. The search eventually lead to the New York studio of sculptor Paul Fjelde, who in 1939 had been commissioned by the Minnesota Historical Society to do a bust of Lindbergh's father, Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr., a former congressman representing the 6th District of Minnesota. When Lindbergh saw the bust of his father, he was sufficiently pleased with Fjelde's work to allow him to do a bust of himself. Lindbergh secretly visited Fjelde's studio eighteen times during the winter and spring of 1940 to pose for this bust, which is now in the Missouri Historical Society. Fjelde made a second casting of the bust for his own private collection, and it is this bust that Ryan purchased 27 years later and donated for display at Lindbergh Field.

The bronze bust is 26 inches tall from its base and depicts Lindbergh in his favorite leather flight jacket.