The Lindbergh Boom (1927–1929) is a period of rapid interest in aviation following the awarding of the Orteig Prize to Charles Lindbergh for his 1927 non-stop solo transatlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis. The Lindbergh Boom occurred during the interwar period between World War I and World War II, where aviation development was fueled by commercial interests rather than wartime necessity. During this period, dozens of companies were formed to create airlines, and aircraft for a new age in aviation. Many of the fledgling companies funded by stock went under as quick as they started as the stock that capitalized them plummeted in value following the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The Great Depression dried up the market for new aircraft, causing many aircraft companies to go into bankruptcy or get consolidated by larger entities. Air racing, record attempts, and barnstorming remained popular, as aviators tried to recapture the prizes and publicity of Lindbergh's Transatlantic flight. The Lindbergh Boom Publicity surrounding Lindbergh and his flight boosted the aviation industry and made a skeptical public take air travel seriously. Within a year of his flight, a quarter of Americans (an estimated thirty million) personally saw Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis. Over the remainder of 1927 applications for pilot's licenses in the U.S. tripled, the number of licensed aircraft quadrupled, and U.S. Airline passengers grew between 1926 and 1929 by 3,000% from 5,782 to 173,405. Contributing factors Lindbergh's flight was the peak of several other factors that lead to the boom. This included: movie reels and newspaper-funded record attempts for publicity the introduction of reliable, high-power-to-weight engines, such as the Wright Whirlwind the exhaustion of World War I-vintage aircraft engines and airframes the start of contract air mail routes in the United States, which subsidized new airline service the introduction of all-metal airliners like the Ford Trimotor that could carry enough revenue passengers to be profitable the completion of the lighted airway publicity events such as the National Air Races, and the nationwide Ford National Reliability Air Tour airplane service and cargo flights to the Caribbean to skirt the Volstead Act an influx of capital from a booming stock market. The Boom companies Ace Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation 1929–1930 American Aeronautical Corporation - founded to license build Savoia-Marchetti seaplanes in 1928. The company folded after 1933. Associated Aircraft Corporation 1929–1929 Air Capital Manufacturing Company 1929–1929 Beach Aviation Company 1927–1928