In May of 1927, a young aviator made the first non-stop, solo transatlantic flight from New York to Paris aboard his Spirit of St. Louis. Overnight, Charles A. Lindbergh became the world's best-known aviator and an American hero for generations to come. The film also retraces the sometimes tragic and dishonorable highlights of this courageous man's life: the kidnapping and murder of his first child, his fascination with Hitler and his secret life with three women.