At 1:27 p.m. Dallas businessman and pilot Bill Signs lifted off from Love Field in his Cessna 210 on the start of a 13,972 nautical mile flight to commemorate the historic flight by aviator Charles Lindbergh from San Diego to St. Louis to New York and finally to Paris, France.

With blue skies and a hearty wind out of the south Signs spent the morning visiting with school children from as far away as Burkburnett, Texas, and explaining the significance of the Lindbergh flight. "Exactly 70 years ago today Charles Lindbergh was in San Diego test flying the Spirit of St. Louis in preparation for his departure from San Diego," said Signs. The children were eager to hear about the Lindbergh flight andquestioned Signs about every facet of his flight including the problem moving around in the cramped cockpit during the 21 hour non-stop flight to Paris.

"If I need to, I can put my feet on top of the life raft here to the right or even put them above the instrument panel so that my feet and legs don't go to sleep and to keep the blood from collecting in my feet," said Signs. Although Signs will have access to advanced GPS navigational systems throughout his flight, he will be hand-flying the entire flight without the aid of an autopilot...just like Lindbergh.

Joining Signs on his flight will be the traveling bear duo of Floyd and Bennett Bear from the Floyd Bennett School, in Brooklyn, New York. Floyd and Bennett have traveled with many visitors from their home in Brooklyn to England, Iceland, Norway, the Arctic Circle, as well as various historic sites across the U.S.

As the departure time approached, Signs coordinated and confirmed the loading of the fuel and took the last few minutes to spend with friends, family, visitors, and sponsors. With the fueling done and the interviews with the media completed, Signs grabbed a sandwich, made one last pit stop and boarded N90MB for the seven hour non-stop flight to San Diego.

For the next five days, Signs will visit with children from all over the San Diego area as well as take part in the activities surrounding the San Diego Aerospace Museum.