Amelia Earhart

Amelia Earhart was America's most famous female pilot. She was born on July 24, 1897 in Atchinson, Kansas. Her parent's names were Amy and Edwin Earhart. Amelia's father was a lawyer in Kansas City. Muriel, Amelia Earhart's sister was two years younger. Since their grandparent's were of wealth, the two girls attended private schools and enjoyed many comforts of life. After high school, Amelia trained as a nursing assistant in Toronto and then worked at a military hospital until the end of World War l.

In 1920 Amelia Earhart went with her father to an air show in California and took her first plane ride. She quoted "As soon as we left the ground, I knew I myself had to fly." She began her lessons at the Curtiss School of Aviation with an instructor by the name of Anita Snook, and made her first solo flight one year later. Amelia purchased her first plane a prototype of the Kinner airplane and named it "The Canary." Amelia began her lessons with Anita. Since Amelia had so many accidents, Anita had her doubts that Amelia would ever become a pilot. But with a lot of practice Anita's mind was changed.

In 1922, she set a women's altitude record of 14,000 feet. Amelia Earhart soon had many articles written in newspapers and the media. One newspaper company, the Boston Globe called her "one of the best women pilots in the United States."

In 1928, Amelia Earhart set another record. She was the first women ever to make a transatlantic flight across the Atlantic Ocean. During this time, Amelia Earhart become very close to one of her supporters of her flight, George Putman. Soon after, they were married. She traveled in a Fokker Triplane named "Friendship" that flew from Nova Scotia, Canada to Wales with the help of Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon piloting and Amelia the "commander" of the journey. Then in 1932 Amelia Earhart again set another record, by crossing the Atlantic Ocean on her own. Today it takes about 7 hours to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It took her almost 20 hours to cross the Atlantic Ocean. In time, she was the first women to fly the Atlantic Ocean alone.

Later, Amelia Earhart's mystery began. She attempted to make a trans Pacific flight from Hawaii to California with navigator Fred Noonan. They left on June 1, 1937 and were never seen again.

Many people think that Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan were spies for the Japanese. Some people think that they ran out of fuel and crashed in the ocean. Several U.S. Navy groups searched the ocean, but could not find any signs of her plane.

Amelia Earhart received a tremendous amount of attention throughout her life as an aviator. She had very high standards as a person. She was a very loyal and honest person. Amelia Earhart has inspired generations of women to do things that had never been done by women before. There weren't many female pilots back then, and her actions inspired other women to follow their dreams. Amelia Earhart was last seen when she was at the age of 40 years old.

Look at Amelia Earhart's accomplishments:
1. Set a woman's altitude record of 14,000 feet
2. First woman passenger to fly across the Atlantic Ocean
3. First woman pilot to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a solo flight
4. Longest nonstop distance flown by a woman
5. First person to fly from Hawaii to California

Written by George Bonvillain