Save the Spirit of St Louis papers!

"Donald Albert Hall was one of the century’s great aeronautical engineers. Yet you probably have never heard of him.  But I guarantee you have heard of the plane he designed: the Spirit of St. Louis." ~ Hunt for Amazing Treasures, The Learning Channel, Sept. 2001

In 2001, the world first learned the untold history behind one of the most spectacular public events of the twentieth-century, Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 trans-Atlantic flight. TLC’s The Hunt for Amazing Treasures aired in September and profiled Donald A. Hall, the engineer who designed the Spirit of St. Louis in 60 days—the famous plane that made Charles Lindbergh’s flight possible.

Currently, the Spirit of St. Louis and Charles Lindbergh’s story is displayed in the milestones of flight at the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Yet Donald Hall’s story is nowhere to be seen, and we’re working to change that.

Your help is critically needed today, so that Donald Hall’s collection and contributions will never be forgotten. We need your help to save the historic collection from the auction block so that it can finally be displayed and digitized for the world to see.

The Smithsonian and other museums have expressed interest in 'eventually' displaying the story of the man Lindbergh described as the “primary” reason why he selected the foul-smelling fish cannery that was converted into an airplane factory to build his aircraft. Yet, for most, Donald Hall is relegated into the shadows of history while Lindbergh is a household name.

Lindbergh’s own accounts tell a different story…

Donald Hall never desired fame and fortune. Lindbergh was cursed by never-ending fame. It was a bond they held well past 1927 when they collaborated on the Spirit of St. Louis.

Since 2010, Donald Sr.’s grandson Nova Hall, an Arizona-based artist, speaker, and author who was featured prominently in the 2001 TLC episode, has built the nonprofit Flying Over Time, uncovering and sharing his grandfather’s expanding role in aviation history. Through lively and original artwork, public and private exhibitions, K-12 curricular materials, and publications, the secret history of Donald A. Hall has become known among those that have heard him speak.

But there is far more to reveal.

Happily, Nova is working on a brand new book: City of Wings. The new project chronicles Donald A. Hall’s career in the aviation industry, including the successful attempts by rivals to write him out of history, both during his life and after his death. Nova answers important questions, such as why this talented engineer would want to take a huge risk working with the young unknown pilot and why Lindbergh and their large team of workers was able to move so quickly to design and manufacture a capable aircraft in 60 days.

Nova Hall, Chief Creative Officer, along with the Board of Directors and Honorary Board members, invite your financial contributions to Flying Over Time. If you care about history, technology, art, education, aviation, and storytelling, then please join us in telling fresh stories while preserving a significant moment in American and indeed world history. 

Your contribution will enable history to come to life by paying the mounting financial burden in protecting/digitizing the collection. Our goal is to raise enough money to safeguard the collection for four more months in its current facility, at which time the precious materials will be moved into permanent cold storage and digitized in a dynamic new website.

Please note that we are on a very tight and critical deadline. It is imperative that we not lose access to this priceless collection—the world cannot afford to forever lose a rare piece of aviation history. We are currently negotiating with an educational institution that would make the Donald A. Hall negatives, film, blue prints, and collection available to researchers and aviation aficionados the world over, for all time. 

In 1967, a year before he passed away, Donald A. Hall was quoted as saying, “The truth will come out, eventually.” And here at Flying Over Time, we intend that it does, and sooner rather than later.

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All donations through gofundme.com are not released until the 25th of each month to the PayPal Giving Fund, delaying funds for approx. 30 days.

Flying Over Time is a 501c3 educational charity and traveling exhibition based on Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis and designer – Chief Engineer Donald A. Hall Sr. Our organization has done free/fundraising STEM/STEAM aviation workshops and gallery events including museum exhibitions. www.flyingovertime.org

We teach Art and science through the lens of history. Developed at Arizona State University, granted 501-C3 educational charity status May 20th, 2013.