Aviation magazine traces its origins to Lindbergh's 1927 US tour

Charles Lindbergh had already flown solo and non-stop from New York to Paris that May, and by the summer of 1927 the country was caught up in the possibilities of aviation.

That year he flew a celebratory and promotional tour of the United States, visiting 48 states to promote flying. He arrived in Chicago on August 15, 1927. The account describes that event as the origin of FLYING magazine.

William Ziff was a World War I aviator who ran an advertising agency for African American newspapers from Chicago after the war. By the time Lindbergh reached the city, Ziff had recently moved into publishing with a magazine called American Humor. Following the momentum around Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis, Ziff released the first issue of Popular Aviation that same month. The publication is now FLYING Magazine.

The account says the magazine became the most widely read aviation publication. Its coverage took in the rise of Cessna, developments during World War II, the period described as the golden age of aviation, the space race, and many aircraft makes and models since.

Its editors over the years included military aviator and poet Gill Robb Wilson, J. Mac McClellan and Richard Collins, according to the piece. The article presents the magazine as having grown into more than a dozen recognized aviation brands, among them marketplaces, reference resources and an aircraft finance brokerage.