Joseph Worth; Designed Engine for Lindbergh’s Plane

Joseph Worth, 98, the engineer who designed the engine that powered the Spirit of St. Louis in Charles Lindbergh’s first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic. Worth achieved modest fame within the aviation industry for developing the radial, air-cooled engine used in Lindbergh’s plane for the 1927 flight. But his work went largely unrecognized at the time because he had designed the engine for the Lawrance Aero Co. in New York, and by the time Lindbergh completed the historic flight, the company had merged with another and Worth was no longer working there. Phil Edwards, a technical information specialist with the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, several years ago called Worth “one of the great unknowns in the history of aviation.” In West Palm Beach, Fla. on Friday.