In the course of an exciting and at times turbulent career, Amelia Earhart advanced the cause of female aviators more than any other woman. At the apex of a groundbreaking career her star was extinguished and when the end came it was a situation of déjà vu, as Amelia had once said,' When I go out I should like to go quickly and in my own plane.' The chances are that she did.
Early Years
Amelia Mary Earhart was born 24 July 1897 at Atcheson Kansas into a family situation that offered privilege and wealth through her maternal grandparents. Private schools and many of the comforts of life were a feature of Amelia and her younger sister Muriel's early years. However her father Edwin's faltering law practice saw a change in their circumstances. The family moved to Des Moines Iowa and for a time their living standards improved. This was merely a prelude to a disintegration of the family unit with Edwin's alcohol dependence, until finally in 1914 Amy Earhart and the girls went to live in Chicago. Having some income from a trust fund Amy was able to send them to private schools prior to entering college.
First Flight
In 1917 following a visit to her sister Muriel's preparatory school in Canada, Amelia made the decision to train as a nurse's aid at a Toronto military hospital. It proved to be a sobering episode to witness at first hand the result of four years of desperate conflict; men without limbs, blinded or paralysed; veterans facing a lifetime legacy of pain and disability. Nevertheless the experience inspired Amelia to enrol at Columbia University as a pre-med student. This was in late 1919 and although doing well in her studies, in 1920 she abandoned the course and joined her parents in California following a recent family reunion. It proved to be a propitious move for Amelia in respect of an aviation career, for shortly after her arrival she and her father attended an 'aerial meet' at Dougherty Field in Long Beach. The following day she went aloft for the first time in a ten-minute flight over Los Angeles. Exhilarated by the new experience Amelia was convinced that she was destined to be a pilot.
Atlantic Project
Shortly after she began lessons with a pioneer aviatrix Anita Snook at Kinner Field near Long Beach although her tutor had reservations about Amelia's natural piloting skills, a feeling later shared by many of Amelia's contemporaries. In July 1921 Amelia began an association with the fledgling Kinner Aircraft Company and although hampered by a shortage of funds she purchased a prototype of one of their earliest designs. She was involved in a number of accidents some of which could be attributed to unreliable engines and generally poor design. Over the following years Amelia was appointed to various aviation associations which gave her the opportunity to advance women's involvement in the field of aeronautics. These were still difficult years for Amelia in financial terms although she flew whenever possible. But in 1928 her situation improved markedly with the offer of becoming the first woman to fly the Atlantic.
This project was the brainchild of wealthy American socialite Amy Guest who had purchased a Fokker FVII tri-motor from Arctic explorer Commander Richard Byrd in which to make the attempt. Mrs. Guest's family objected vigorously to her involvement but later relented, provided the 'right sort' of woman could be found to make the flight. In their opinion she would need to be photogenic, well-educated and not a publicity-seeker. This was a challenging profile for any woman and on 27 April 1928 Amelia received a phone call from a Captain H.H. Railly, one that would change her life forever. Railly had been asked by New York publisher George Palmer Putnam to find such a person and Railly had been so impressed by Amelia's strong resemblance to Charles Lindbergh that the name 'Lady Lindy' was coined. A week later Putnam and Amelia met in New York and the publisher had no hesitation in making her a crew member although her role would merely be as a passenger.
Friendship Flight
An experienced duo, Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon would pilot the Fokker tri-motor, named 'Friendship' and now fitted with floats for the occasion. After several days of waiting for clearing weather conditions 'Friendship' departed Halifax, Nova Scotia on 18 June. Dense fog was encountered for most of the journey until a landfall was made in South Wales and not Ireland as planned, in a time of 20 hours 40 minutes. In true press fashion Amelia was besieged by reporters while for the most part Stultz and Gordon were ignored, a factor that deeply distressed Amelia. Even President Coolidge cabled personal congratulations to Amelia. From then on she was in great demand on the lecture circuit while behind the scenes George Putnam kept Amelia's name in the forefront of everyone's focus. Their close relationship had not gone unnoticed, particularly by Mrs. Dorothy Putnam who filed for divorce. This was was granted in Reno, Nevada in December 1929. In February 1931 after a series of endurance and speed flights by Amelia and numerous proposals from George Putnam the couple eventually married.
Atlantic Solo
It could be assumed that this was a marriage of convenience, giving Amelia the opportunity to purchase a state-of-the-art aircraft, an iconic Lockheed Vega. Determined to be the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic she made plans accordingly, departing Harbour Grace Newfoundland on 21 May 1932. Significantly it was five years to the day since Lindbergh's New York-Paris flight and if successful Amelia would be just the second person to make a solo Atlantic crossing. Her journey lasted almost 15 hours when she landed slightly off-course in a meadow in Londonderry Northern Ireland. Once again Amelia became the focus of intense media attention, culminating in a ticker-tape parade in New York. Her Atlantic triumph was a precursor to a series of record-breaking flights, notably in August 1932 as the first woman to make a transcontinental U.S. flight and in January 1935 as the first person to achieve a solo flight from Hawaii to California.
Global Flight One
In 1937 Amelia began planning an around-the-world flight, following closely to the equator route. Having gone into honourable retirement the faithful Vega had been replaced by a custom-built Lockheed 10E Electra fitted with extra-large fuel tanks. With its all-metal construction and powered by two Pratt and Whitney radials here was a far more appropriate machine for such a venture. Significantly this would not be a solo effort, as Amelia had enlisted Paul Mantz as co-pilot and Harry Manning as navigator. Mantz was a legendary figure in U.S commercial aviation and sadly he was killed while performing the flying sequences in the 1980s movie version of 'Flight of the Phoenix' A west-bound route was chosen, departing Oakland 17 March and a first let-down at Hawaii. However on take-off from Luke Field Hawaii with Amelia at the controls she over-compensated for a dropped left wing and the plane swung out of control. At that point the undercarriage collapsed and the fuel-laden Electra slid along the runway on its belly. Miraculously there was no fire but the aircraft had suffered a considerable amount of damage, leaving Amelia no alternative than to ship the plane back to the Lockheed plant at Burbank California where it became the subject of a major re-build. Meanwhile the Electra crew made a leisurely return to the mainland aboard one of the Matson liners that plied the route between Hawaii and California.
Global Flight 2
The venture had proved to be a disappointing and expensive outcome for Amelia but later in 1937 she embarked on a second round-the-world flight, this time in an easterly direction with Captain Fred Noonan as navigator and with no co-pilot. They departed Oakland 21 May, crossing the southern United States to Miami where the re-built Electra underwent a final service prior to a South Atlantic crossing to West Africa via Puerto Rico and Brazil. Karachi was reached on 16 June, making it the first non-stop flight from the Red Sea to India. Monsoonal conditions were experienced during the next stage from Calcutta through Rangoon, Singapore and Bandung, a time when Amelia was reported to be ill with an attack of dysentery that lasted several days. At Port Darwin Noonan carried out repairs to the direction finder and from Darwin they proceeded to Lae on the north-east coast of New Guinea, having covered 22,000 miles during their odyssey. Their next goal was Howland Island, an ocean crossing of 2,550 miles and little more than a sandbar in a featureless expanse of water. A runway had only recently been constructed and thus far no plane had ever landed there.. This stage of the flight would never have been contemplated without the presence of the U.S Coastguard cutter Itaska standing offshore to give radio assistance. Nevertheless it was still a demanding exercise for the Electra's crew.
They departed Lae at 10 am local time and with an anticipated headwind the flight was expected to take between 17 and 20 hours, they had fuel for 24 hours. Throughout the night the Itaska endeavoured to make contact with the Electra but static interference blotted out their signals. At 6.15am Howland time Amelia's voice at last penetrated the static. She informed Itaska that they were about a hundred miles out and requested a bearing on the Electra. The operators swung their aerials but at that point the static closed in and there was no further contact until at 7.42 Amelia's voice came through with the graphic statement: We must be right on top of you but we can't see you. Our gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at an altitude of a thousand feet. Please take a bearing.
An Appreciation
But this brief interlude of improved reception ended, suffocated by the relentless static, until 45 minutes later Amelia's voice broke through. She stated their line of position and that only 30 minutes of fuel remained. It proved to be her final transmission. One hour passed, then two and then three, with the harsh reality that the Electra could no longer be airborne. An immediate air and sea search began but the aviators were in an unknown position in a remote area and despite a most comprehensive search by U.S Navy ships and aircraft no trace was ever found. Amelia had unwittingly achieved more fame in death than in life and her disappearance became the subject of a host of theories. Most of these were fanciful while others bordered on preposterous; that she was on a spy mission ordered by President Roosevelt or she was captured by the Japanese and forced to broadcast to American GIs as 'Tokyo Rose' during World War II. In a post war world researchers have maintained their investigations into her disappearance, with vague and unsubstantiated assertions as to her fate. A far better outcome would be to let her rest in peace beneath the pristine waters bordering that elusive Howland Island.
Murray McLeod - Murray has maintained an involvement in the arts for many years and for a time he operated his own gallery at Mt., Tamborine overlooking ...
