She was born to fly, and perished in the sky with no trace.
Amelia Earhart grew up a tomboy: she hunted rats with a gun, kept frogs as pets and at age 7 entertained herself by going down a home-made version of a roller-coaster ramp. As a teenager, Amelia picked her own high school: the one with the better science lab. Amelia also began gathering her inspiration folder: stories of women who excelled in traditionally male fields – film directing, law, advertising, managementand engineering.
At the age 20 at an air fair Amelia watched the flying show by a World War I ace. The pilot tried to scare the young girls by flying menacingly low directly at them. Amelia stood her ground – she would later say that plane whispered a message to her as it whooshed by. At the age of 23, Amelia got her first ride in a plane – and got hooked. Picking every local job possible – photographer, truck driver, stenographer – she saved for her flying lessons. In six months, with the help of family, Amelia bought her first, yellow plane and called it “Canary”. She chopped her hair short and slept in her new leather jacket 3 days straight to achieve the “worn” look to be taken seriously by male pilots.
Amelia started living in the air and promoting aviation, including women’s participation. In 1928, she was invited to be a first woman to fly as a passenger across the Atlantic – Amelia didn’t have the knowledge of flying “on instruments” yet. The flight made her a celebrity, giving her mass media coverage. She used it to talk about women in aviation as an assistant editor for Cosmopolitan. The same year, she attempted and became the first woman to fly solo across the North American continent.
The next year, the 32-year-old Amelia established a national organization for women pilots and became its president. She also got married, although he had to ask six times. Three years later, Amelia became the first woman to fly solo across Atlantic non-stop, winning wide recognition, including a medal from the National Geographic Society. And then she became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California. As her fame exploded, she said – look, women can do everything men can.
For her 40th birthday, Amelia wanted a challenge: to become the first woman to fly around the world. She and her navigator completed 22,000 miles when, just 7,000 miles short of the goal, the plane sent distress signals and disappeared somewhere over the Pacific, half-way between Hawaii and Australia. The US Government spent $4 million in rescue operations, but her body or the plane weren't found.
Today, 77 years after her disappearance, the life and achievements of everyone’s favorite Aviatrix continue to inspire all of us to go after our dreams.
Amelia Earhart grew up a tomboy: she hunted rats with a gun, kept frogs as pets and at age 7 entertained herself by going down a home-made version of a roller-coaster ramp. As a teenager, Amelia picked her own high school: the one with the better science lab. Amelia also began gathering her inspiration folder: stories of women who excelled in traditionally male fields – film directing, law, advertising, managementand engineering.
At the age 20 at an air fair Amelia watched the flying show by a World War I ace. The pilot tried to scare the young girls by flying menacingly low directly at them. Amelia stood her ground – she would later say that plane whispered a message to her as it whooshed by. At the age of 23, Amelia got her first ride in a plane – and got hooked. Picking every local job possible – photographer, truck driver, stenographer – she saved for her flying lessons. In six months, with the help of family, Amelia bought her first, yellow plane and called it “Canary”. She chopped her hair short and slept in her new leather jacket 3 days straight to achieve the “worn” look to be taken seriously by male pilots.
Amelia started living in the air and promoting aviation, including women’s participation. In 1928, she was invited to be a first woman to fly as a passenger across the Atlantic – Amelia didn’t have the knowledge of flying “on instruments” yet. The flight made her a celebrity, giving her mass media coverage. She used it to talk about women in aviation as an assistant editor for Cosmopolitan. The same year, she attempted and became the first woman to fly solo across the North American continent.
The next year, the 32-year-old Amelia established a national organization for women pilots and became its president. She also got married, although he had to ask six times. Three years later, Amelia became the first woman to fly solo across Atlantic non-stop, winning wide recognition, including a medal from the National Geographic Society. And then she became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California. As her fame exploded, she said – look, women can do everything men can.
For her 40th birthday, Amelia wanted a challenge: to become the first woman to fly around the world. She and her navigator completed 22,000 miles when, just 7,000 miles short of the goal, the plane sent distress signals and disappeared somewhere over the Pacific, half-way between Hawaii and Australia. The US Government spent $4 million in rescue operations, but her body or the plane weren't found.
Today, 77 years after her disappearance, the life and achievements of everyone’s favorite Aviatrix continue to inspire all of us to go after our dreams.