Amelia Earhart Lady Aviator

Amelia Mary Earhart was born in 1897 to Samuel Stanton Earhart and Amelia Mary Earhart. She was named after her two grandmothers as was the custom at the time. She and her sister were raised in an unconventional way back in the early 1900's and Amelia was known for her free spirit and her love of adventure. She often played outside climbing trees and sledding, leading to her being called a tomboy. But as adventurous as Amelia was, she also enjoyed reading and developed an early interest in flight having said that going downhill fast on a sled was almost like flying!

Amelia attended college briefly, but quit to continue her interest in flying. She cut her hair short like the other female pilots and wore particular clothes to try and fit in. Because she was so committed to flying Amelia trained hard, purchased a bright yellow plane she called the Canary and applied for her pilot's license.

After Charles Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic, Amelia decided that she wanted to undertake the task of becoming the first women to do the same, after Amy Guest, another female pilot decided the journey too risky. Amelia and pilot Wilbur Stultz undertook the task and flew from Newfoundland to Wales in a little over 20 hours. Upon their return to the US, the couple had a ticket tape parade in their honor.

Amelia's instant celebrity status helped to fund further journeys. Amelia also began to represent Transcontinental Air Transport, and invested her money to set up a shuttle between New York and Washington DC. She soon became Vice President of National Airways, which in turn became Northeast Airlines.

In 1932 at the age of 34 Amelia left Newfoundland and landed in Northern Ireland after being plagued with high winds and icy wings. After making this trip, Earhart received the Congressional Distinguished Flying Cross.

In 1935 Amelia became the first person to fly solo from Honolulu Hawaii to Oakland California. Later that year she soloed from Los Angeles to Mexico City. Between 1930 and 1935 Amelia set seven women's speed and distance aviation records.

On St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1937, Amelia and her crew (which included Fred Noonan) flew the first leg from Oakland, California to Honolulu, Hawaii. However, problems with the plane grounded this first attempt to reach Honolulu. A second attempt was made after problems were solved and Amelia and Noonan attempted the flight again, this time flying from Miami to South America, Africa and Southeast Asia before landing in New Guinea. At this time, Amelia expressed the desire to circumnavigate the world.

Later in 1937, Amelia and Noonan left Lae headed for the Howland Island. They were last heard from about 800 miles into their flight. They were to keep in contact with the US Coast Guard stationed on the island. It is thought that radio antennae were either cut off or sheared off and clear transmissions were not available with the Coast Guard who were supposed to help direct Amelia in her flight.

Weak signals between Amelia and the coastguard seemed to place the plane near Howland Island in the vicinity of Gardner Island. There were a lot of mixed up signals and interference and attempts were made to contact the plane by signals and Morse code. The search for Amelia by boat and by plane lasted 17 days before the search and rescue ceased.