They talked about how, before his 1927 flight, Lindbergh had used a piece of string to measure the distance from New York City to Paris on a globe and from that calculated the fuel needed for the flight.
ðeɪ tˈɔːkt ɐbˌaʊt hˈaʊ, bᵻfˌoːɹ hɪz nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd twˈɛnti sˈɛvən flˈaɪt, lˈɪndbɚɡ hæd jˈuːzd ɐ pˈiːs ʌv stɹˈɪŋ tə mˈɛʒɚ ðə dˈɪstəns fɹʌm nˈuː jˈɔːɹk sˈɪɾi tə pˈæɹɪs ˌɔn ɐ ɡlˈoʊb ænd fɹʌm ðæt kˈælkjʊlˌeɪɾᵻd ðə fjˈuːəl nˈiːdᵻd fɚðə flˈaɪt.