Charles flew from Americus and then flew to Montgomery, Alabama. According to the pilots in Americus, Charles had learned his planned route took him through some of the worst flying conditions in the South. This was a challenge for Charles, and he wanted to experience the worst. He arrived in Montgomery, where he landed at an army field and gased up his Jenny. In arriving at Meridian, Charles faced his first experience picking a field to land in. Charles was understandably nervous; he knew that choosing the proper field was tantamount to success in barnstorming. Charles to land knew the hundreds of variables it took to land his plane. So many things could go wrong with the old Jennies with the OX-5 engine. He knew that if his engine quit at 5000 feet, he would have 5 miles to glide and spot a likely place to land. Trees surrounded many fields, so he knew to land over the treetops, he had to approach the field at full speed and cut the throttle at the edge of the field.
Lindbergh's first hard landing in a field,
It had been raining in Meridian, and the ground was soft. In landing, as the plane settled into the soft dirt, it had a short taxi to the corner of the field, where he blocked the wheels and tied the wings to fence posts. Upon landing, he turned off the gas and let the engine run out of gas. Running out of gas was a safety feature for the person who wiggles the propeller up and down not to be beheaded by the propeller. Please don't ask me why they wiggle it up and down. I think it was to get x number of pistons to the top of the cylinder head, making it easier to start. I'll research that!
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