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Amelia Earhart
Aviatrix
1897 - 1937
Adventure is worthwhile in itself.
—Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. As a young woman, working in a Toronto hospital for Canadian servicemen, Amelia would go to the airport to watch the planes take off. World War I was being fought and there was considerable military traffic. She vowed she would learn to fly some day.
In 1928, after earning her pilot's license, Amelia was asked to join Wilmer Stultz (pilot) and Lou Gordon (flight mechanic) on a trans-Atlantic flight. Twenty-one hours after take off they landed safely in Europe, making Amelia the first woman to ride in a plane across the Atlantic Ocean.
On May 20, 1932, the anniversary of the first Atlantic crossing by Charles Lindbergh, Amelia began her attempt to be the first woman pilot to cross the Atlantic alone in her Lockheed 5B Vega. The crossing was difficult and dangerous. She flew through a lightning storm, and once almost crashed into the ocean. Her plane began to leak fuel, and Amelia was forced to make an emergency landing in an Irish cow pasture. But, she had completed the Atlantic crossing, and in the process set a new record of thirteen hours and thirty minutes. In 1935, Amelia became the first woman to fly the Pacific Ocean, when she made the crossing from Hawaii to California.
Next, Amelia began to plan her next great adventure. She would fly around the Earth at the equator, something no one had ever attempted. For this trip, she asked Fred Noonan to join her as navigator. They studied charts and learned about weather patterns along their flight-plan. In June of 1937 they set out on an eastward heading in a Lockheed 10A Electra. After 30 days, Amelia and Fred had nearly completed their circumnavigation of the Earth. With only 2 days of travel remaining, they missed a scheduled refueling stop at tiny Howland Island in the Pacific. Ships and planes from all over the area began an exhaustive search, but no trace was ever found. Their disappearance remains a mystery.
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Resources
• Other Aviation Pioneers in the Lucidcafé Library
• Books About Amelia Earhart
• DVD/VHS Videos About Amelia Earhart
• Amelia Earhart Images
• Related Websites
Other Aviation Pioneers in the Lucidcafé Library
Books About Amelia Earhart
- Finding Amelia: The True Story of the Earhart Disappearanc - Author: Ric Gillespie
Author Ric Gillespie, drawing on more than five thousand documents relating to the Earhart case, speculates that Earhart and Noonan died as castaways on a remote Pacific atoll. But his book doesn't argue for a particular theory. Rather, it presents all of the authenticated historical references and leaves it to the reader to draw their own conclusions. In addition to details about the Earhart's career and final flight, the book examines her relationship with the U.S. government and the massive search undertaken by the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy. An accompanying DVD reproduces the documents, reports, and technical studies cited in the text, allowing instant review and verification of the sources.
CLICK HERE to purchase this Hardcover edition of "Finding Amelia" - The Sound Of Wings: The Life Of Amelia Earhart - Author: Mary S. Lovell
This biography explores the relationship between Earhart and her publicist husband George P. Putnam. The author examines the promotional machinery which publicized her feats when she was alive and gave rise to years of fantastic speculation and false hope about her fate after her disappearance in 1937. The book examines another dimension to the Earhart story by focusing on the flamboyant Putnam.
CLICK HERE to purchase this Hardcover edition of "The Sound Of Wings" - East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart - Author: Susan Butler
Butler combines faultless research with first-rate writing to bring Amelia Earhart into sharp, realistic focus. One of the best books available about Earhart's life.
CLICK HERE to purchase this Hardcover edition of "East to the Dawn" - Amelia: The Centennial Biography of an Aviation Pioneer - Author: Donald M. Goldstein, Katherine V. Dillon (Contributor)
Published on the 100th anniversary of her birth, "Amelia" offers new insights into the mystery that has confounded searchers for 60 years. What happened to Amelia Earhart? This work reveals the personality behind the celebrity and includes 30 photographs, some never before published.
CLICK HERE to purchase this Hardcover edition of "Amelia" - Sky Pioneer: A Photobiography of Amelia Earhart - Author: Corrine Szabo
Illustrated with archival photographs and featuring excerpts from Earhart's books and journals, this biography traces Earhart's life, the history of her time, and the technology of aviation.
CLICK HERE to purchase this Hardcover edition of "Sky Pioneer" - 20 Hours, 40 Min: Our Flight in the Friendship - Author: Amelia Earhart
Using expanded entries from her flight book, Earhart relates the story of how she became connected with the Friendship flight and what she wanted to accomplish. Includes a new National Geographic flight map and historic photos from the crossing.
CLICK HERE to purchase this Paperback edition of "20 Hours, 40 Min" - Last Flight - Author: Amelia Earhart, George Palmer Putnam
"Last Flight" is compiled from dispatches, letters, diary entries and charts she sent to her husband at each stage of her last flight around the world, begun in 1937.
CLICK HERE to purchase this Paperback edition of "Last Flight"
DVD/VHS Videos About Amelia Earhart
- Biography - Amelia Earhart (2005) - Producer: A&E Entertainment
Hear Amelia's final radio broadcast and trace her life in this profile featuring interviews with family members, including her sister.
CLICK HERE to purchase this DVD edition of "Amelia Earhart" - Following Amelia Earhart: Heroines of the Sky (2002) - Producer: Varied Directions
Top female pilot Linda Finch, who made the Amelia's final flight in an exact replica of her aircraft, gives a woman aviator's perspective of Amelia, her life and times. Includes interviews with sojme of Amelia's colleagues and relatives.
CLICK HERE to purchase this DVD edition of "Following Amelia Earhart" - Price of Courage (1993) - Producer: Koch Vision/Shanachie Video
Kathy Bates narrates this video. Some great original footage and photography. Includes interviews with people who knew Earhart.
CLICK HERE to purchase this Video edition of "Price of Courage"
Related Websites
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Copyright © 1995-2008 Robin Chew
Article written by Robin Chew - July 1996
