Amelia Earhart: Aviator Extraordinaire

“Adventure is worthwhile in itself.” -Amelia Earhavart

             August 19th is a day dedicated to all those inspired and motivated by aviation. This day was set as National Aviation Day in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in honor of Orville Wright’s birthday. Orville, and his brother Wilbur, are recognized as inventors of the first real airplane. They created and flew their inaugural aircraft, named the Wright Flyer, in 1903. The aviation industry took off during the first World War, and in 1939, just 36 years after their incredible achievement, President Roosevelt marked this as a day for all aviation enthusiasts. Among the many incredible pilots there have been since the Wright brothers, the one that paved the way for female pilots is none other than Amelia Earhart.

            Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchison, Kansas. From an early age, Amelia defied the traditional gender roles that were current in the early 1900s. She played basketball and took auto repair courses, and even enrolled in college at Columbia University for a short period of time. When World War I began, she became a Red Cross nurse aid in Toronto, Canada. After the war, she started working on a pre-med degree at Columbia University.

Her plans for her life quickly changed, however, in December 1920. This was when she took her first ever plane ride. From that first ride, she was hooked on the excitement of flying. She began taking flying lessons that next year, and purchased her own airplane as well. Her plane was secondhand and yellow, which she named “The Canary”. In December 1921, only a year after she found her passion in flying, Amelia passed her flight test and earned the National Aeronautics Association license. Wasting no time, she participated in her first flight exhibition just two days later.

Amelia set many flight records in her 16 years as a pilot, some as the first female to accomplish the feat, others as the first person ever! In 1922, she became the first woman to fly solo over 14,000 feet in the air. In 1932, she became the first woman, and second person ever, to fly solo across the entire Atlantic Ocean. She embarked on this day-long flight from Newfoundland, Canada and landed in Londonderry, northern Ireland. That same year, she became the first woman to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. This award is given for “heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight (www.history.com)”. She also became the first woman to fly solo across the entire US in 1932, taking off in Los Angeles and arriving in Newark, New Jersey 19 hours later. In 1935, she became the first person to ever fly solo from Hawaii to the US mainland!

In addition to setting groundbreaking records in flight, Amelia had a passion for helping get more women involved in aviation. She helped create the organization Ninety-Nines in 1929. This organization was created for the advancement of female pilots. This organization is still active today, and has representation from 44 countries all over the world!

Amelia Earhart’s final flight was in 1937. She was making her second attempt to become the first pilot to ever circumnavigate (sail or travel all the way around) the globe. She, with her navigator Fred Noonan, took off from Oakland, California on June 1. The last time they were heard from was on July 2, when they were heading to the fueling station on Howland island. Sadly, they lost radio contact with the US coast guard out there, and were never seen or heard from again. President Roosevelt authorized a two-week search for them, but nothing was found in those weeks. On July 19, 1937, the two were declared lost at sea. Many have gone searching for wreckage around the area where they lost contact, but nothing has been found.

Amelia Earhart never gave up on her dream of becoming a pilot, and pursued her passion to the very end. She believed that women should be involved in the world of aviation, and made sure to grow the industry as much as she could. She paved the way for future female pilots to come, and showed that you can accomplish anything you set your mind to!

References

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