Flying Over The Oceans
In 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic in an aircraft. For her transatlantic flight, she was part of a three-member crew with pilot Wilmer Stultz and her only function was to maintain the plane’s log. However, this flight led to her fame, as Americans were impressed by her actions. In 1932, she completed a solo transatlantic flight in her Vega, for which Congress awarded her with the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Amelia Earhart with her Lockeed Vega, circa 1934, in a photo colorized by Klimbim. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/22155693@N04/
In this picture, colorized by Klimbim, Earhart is pictured with her Lockheed Vega, the plane she would use to fly from Hawaii to Los Angeles. Enticed by a $10,000 award which Hawaiian commercial interests offered to the first person who could complete the first flight from Hawaii to the continental U.S., Earhart left from Wheeler Field in Hawaii on January 11, 1935. Before she could begin the flight, she had to get to Hawaii with her plane. To do so, she traveled on the S.S. Lurline, with her plane secured on the deck, from December 22-27, 1934. The photo is dated December 21, 1934, before it was transported to Hawaii.
She Marked The Path Into The Future
After take-off from Hawaii, she flew 2,400 miles to the Oakland Airport in Oakland, California. Some claimed the flight a publicity stunt for the aviator and Hawaiian sugar plantation promoters, but the flight had been attempted in the past; it was a dangerous flight claiming ten lives before her. It took her 19 hours to complete, and the flight was 600 miles more over water than Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic flight. As she explained, “I wanted the flight just to contribute. I could only hope one more passage across that part of the Pacific would mark a little more clearly the pathway over which an air service of the future will inevitably ply.”
Details Of Her Trip
A Lockheed Vega, built in 1931. Source: (Wikipedia).
When she landed, she provided some details from the flight to reporters. She revealed what she consumed: water and tomato juice as well as a hard-boiled egg. She compared her flight to the earlier flight over the Atlantic; despite the good weather for this flight from Hawaii, the flight was more difficult. She also explained that during the flight, she listened to radio programs, including music. When she landed, she said she had about 2 hours of fuel left. Although she could have completed the flight faster, she had to throttle down because, as she said “I was not sure of my course for a while and wanted to conserve gas." This added about 2 hours onto her flight time.
When She First Took Off
With Neta Hook in front of the Airster. Source: (Wikipedia).
Earhart began flying on December 28, 1920, when she visited an airfield in Long Beach with her father. There, Frank Hawkes, who would become a famed air racer, took her for a 10-minute ride which cost $10, and once they were a couple hundred feet off the ground, she knew she had to fly. She worked a variety of jobs to save $1000 for flying lessons. Her lessons then began on January 3, 1921, at Kinner Field near Long Beach. To get to the field, Earhart had to take a bus to the end of the line and walk four miles. Her teacher, Anita Snook, used a surplus Curtiss JN-4 for training. At this point, she also started to craft her image, buying a leather jacket which she slept in for three nights so it would look worn. She cut her hair short, and six months after starting her lessons, she bought a secondhand Kinner Airster biplane. She nicknamed the plane “The Canary” because of its bright yellow color. By October 22, 1922, less that two years after she had been a passenger, she had set a world record for female pilots, flying the Canary to an altitude of 14,000 feet.
From The Vega To The Electra
With an Electra. Source: (Pinterest).
In 1930, Earhart bought the Vega. The plane was designed by Jack Northrop and introduced in 1927. It was designed to increase strength, while reducing weight. Other design elements reduced drag and created the plane’s streamline style. That same year she crashed the plane in a nose-over accident, which led to some redesign. The fuselage was strengthened and replaced so that the plane could carry extra fuel tanks. At the same time, three different types of compasses, and a drift indicator were installed. Additionally, the plane was equipped with a more powerful engine. In 1933, she sold the plane to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. She used another Vega to cross the Pacific. Her record flight from Hawaii was followed by more record flights later that year: from Los Angeles to Mexico City and from Mexico City to Newark, New Jersey.
Two years after the flight from Hawaii to California, she attempted a flight around the world with Frederick J. Noonan, a navigator. Recognizing the limitations of the Vega, she had a Lockheed Electra built to her specifications to make the flight. She departed Miami on June 1, 1937, flying east so the last leg of the journey would be over the Pacific Ocean. On July 2, 1937, radio operators picked up a signal that her plane was low on fuel. The plane disappeared somewhere between New Guinea and Howland Island, and her fate remains unknown.
The photo at the top of this story was colorized by Olga Shirnina, aka Klimbim; you can see more of her work at her Flickr page.
