Amelia ehrhardt biography

Earhart passed her flight test in Decemberearning a National Aeronautics Association license. Two days later, she participated in her first flight exhibition at the Sierra Airdrome in Pasadena, California. Earhart set a number of aviation records in her short career. Her first record came in when she became the first woman to fly solo above 14, feet.

InEarhart became the first woman and second person after Charles Lindbergh to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Later that year, Earhart made the first solo, nonstop flight across the United States by a woman. She also became the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to the United States mainland in She became the first president of the organization of licensed pilots, which still exists today and represents women flyers from 44 countries.

On June 1,Amelia Earhart took off from Oakland, California, on an eastbound flight around the world. It was her second attempt to become the first pilot ever to circumnavigate the globe. She flew a twin-engine Lockheed 10E Electra and was accompanied on the flight by navigator Fred Noonan. The pair reached Lae, New Guinea, on June Putnam", she laughed it off.

Putnam also learned he would be called "Mr. On May 20,year-old Earhart set off from Harbour GraceNewfoundlandwith a copy of the Telegraph-Journalgiven to her by journalist Stuart Trueman [ ] to confirm the date of the flight. The landing was witnessed by Cecil King and T. When a farm hand asked, "Have you flown far? As her fame grew, Earhart developed friendships with many people in high offices, most notably First Lady Eleanor Rooseveltwho shared many of Earhart's interests, especially women's causes.

After flying with Earhart, Roosevelt obtained a student permit but did not further pursue her plans to learn to fly. Earhart and Roosevelt frequently communicated with each other. In her final hours, she relaxed and listened to "the broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera from New York". Earhart's next record attempt was a nonstop flight from Mexico City to New York.

After she set off on May 8, her flight was uneventful, although large crowds that greeted her at Newark, New Jerseywere a concern, [ ] because she had to be careful not to taxi into them. In addition, "blinding fog" [ ] and violent thunderstorms plagued the race. Between andEarhart set seven women's speed-and-distance aviation records in a variety of aircraft, including the Kinner Airster, Lockheed Vega, and Pitcairn Autogiro.

Byrecognizing the limitations of her "lovely red Vega" in long, transoceanic flights, Earhart contemplated a new "prize In late Novemberwhile Earhart was away on a speaking tour, a fire broke out at the Putnam residence in Rye, destroying many family treasures and Earhart's personal mementos. Following the fire, the couple decided to move to the west coast, where Putnam took up his new position as head of the editorial board of Paramount Pictures in North Hollywood.

At Earhart's urging, in JunePutnam purchased a small house in Toluca Lakea San Fernando Valley celebrity enclave community between the Warner Brothers and Universal Pictures studio complexes, where they had earlier rented a temporary residence. In SeptemberEarhart and Paul Mantz established a business partnership they had been considering since lateand established the short-lived Earhart-Mantz Flying School, which Mantz controlled and operated through his aviation company United Air Services, which was based at Burbank Airport.

Putnam handled publicity for the school, which primarily taught instrument flying using Link Trainers. Early inEarhart started planning to fly around the world; if she succeeded, she would become the first woman to do so. Although others had flown around the world, Earhart's flight would be the longest at 29, miles 47, km because it followed a roughly equatorial route.

Earhart planned to court publicity along the route to increase interest in a planned book about the expedition. The plane was built at Lockheed's plant in Burbank, Californiaand after delivery, it was hangared at the nearby Mantz's United Air Services. Earhart chose Harry Manning as her navigator; he had been the amelia ehrhardt biography of the President Rooseveltthe ship that had transported Earhart from Europe in The original plan was a two-person crew: Earhart would fly and Manning would navigate.

During a flight across the US that included Earhart, Manning, and Putnam, Earhart flew using landmarks; she and Putnam knew where they were. Manning did a navigation fix that alarmed Putnam, because Manning made a minor navigational error that put them in the wrong state; they were flying close to the state line, but Putnam was still concerned.

Elgen M. Long considered Manning's performance reasonable, because it was amelia ehrhardt biography an acceptable error of 30 miles 48 kmbut Mantz and Putnam wanted a better navigator. Through contacts in the Los Angeles aviation community, Fred Noonan was chosen as a second navigator, because there were significant additional factors that had to be dealt with while using celestial navigation for aircraft.

Noonan had also been responsible for training Pan American's navigators to fly the route between San Francisco and Manila. On March 17,Earhart and her crew set out on the first leg of her round-the-world flight, but they abandoned this attempt after a non-fatal crash that damaged the aircraft. The first leg of this attempt was between Oakland, California, and Honolulu, Hawaii.

Due to problems with the propeller hubs' variable pitch mechanisms, the aircraft needed servicing and was taken to the United States Navy's Luke Field facility at Pearl Harbor. The next destination was Howland Islanda small island in the Pacific. Manning, the radio operator, had made arrangements to use radio direction finding to home in to the island.

The flight never left Luke Field; during the takeoff run, there was an uncontrolled ground-loopthe forward landing gear collapsed, both propellers hit the ground, and the plane skidded on its belly. The cause of the crash is not known; some witnesses at Luke Field, including an Associated Press journalist, said they saw a tire blow. Some sources, including Mantz, cited an error by Earhart.

While the Electra was being repaired, Earhart and Putnam secured additional funds and prepared for a second attempt, in which they would fly west to east. The second attempt began with an unpublicized flight from Oakland to MiamiFlorida, and after arriving there, Earhart announced her plans to circumnavigate the globe. The flight's opposite direction was partly the result of changes in global wind-and-weather patterns along the planned route since the earlier attempt.

Manning, the only skilled radio operator, had left the crew, which now consisted of Noonan and Earhart. At this stage, about 22, miles 35, km of the journey had been completed. The remaining 7, miles 11, km would be over the Pacific. The aircraft departed Lae with about 1, U. In preparation for the trip to Howland Island, the U. Around 3 pm Lae timeEarhart reported her altitude as 10, ft 3, mbut that they would reduce altitude due to thick clouds.

The first calls received from Earhart were routine reports stating the weather was cloudy and overcast at am and just before 5 am on July 2. These calls were broken up by static, but at this point, the aircraft was a long distance from Howland. Earhart began whistling into the microphone to provide a continuous signal for the ship's crew to use.

An Itasca radio log at — am states the aircraft had only a half hour of fuel remaining. A further radio log states they thought they were near Itasca but could not locate it and were flying at 1, ft m. Itasca reported this amelia ehrhardt biography as the loudest possible signal, indicating Earhart and Noonan were in the immediate area.

The ship could not send voice at the frequency she asked for so they sent Morse code signals instead. Earhart acknowledged receiving these but said she was unable to determine their direction. The last voice transmission received on Howland Island from Earhart indicated she and Noonan were flying along a line of position running north-to-south on — degrees, which Noonan would have calculated and drawn on a chart as passing through Howland.

Operators across the Pacific and in the United States may have heard signals from the Electra but these were weak or unintelligible. A series of misunderstandings, errors or mechanical failures are likely to have occurred on the final approach to Howland Island. Noonan had earlier written about problems affecting the accuracy of RDF in navigation.

Another cited cause of possible confusion was that Itasca and Earhart planned their communication schedule using time systems set a half-hour apart; Earhart was using Greenwich Civil Time GCT and Itasca was using a Naval time-zone designation system. Sources have noted Earhart's apparent lack of understanding of her direction-finding system, which had been fitted to the aircraft just prior to the flight.

The system was equipped with a new receiver from Bendix Corporation. Earhart's only training on the system was a brief introduction by Joe Gurr at the Lockheed factory. A card displaying the antenna's band settings was mounted so it was not visible. In theory, the plane could listen for the signal while rotating its loop antenna ; a sharp minimum indicates the direction of the RDF beacon.

The Electra's RDF equipment had failed due to a blown fuse during an earlier leg flying to Darwin; the fuse was replaced. Earhart was also unable to determine a minimum during an RDF test at Lae. The U. His research included the intricate radio-transmission documentation. Safford concluded the flight had suffered from poor planning and worse execution.

Many researchers believe Earhart and Noonan died during or shortly after the crash. Black, who was in administrative charge of the Howland Island airstrip and was present in the radio room on Itascasaid: "the Electra went into the sea about 10 am, July 2,not far from Howland. British aviation historian Roy Nesbit interpreted evidence in contemporary accounts and Putnam's correspondence and concluded Earhart's Electra was not fully fueled at Lae.

Polhemous, the navigator on Ann Pellegreno 's flight that followed Earhart and Noonan's original flight path, studied navigational tables for July 2,and thought Noonan may have miscalculated the "single line approach" to Howland. Beginning approximately one hour after Earhart's last recorded message, Itasca undertook an unsuccessful search north and west of Howland Island based on initial assumptions about transmissions from the aircraft.

Navy joined the search and over about three days sent available resources to the search area near Howland Island. Navy and Coast Guard was the costliest and most-intensive in U. Despite the unprecedented search, no physical evidence of Earhart, Noonan, or the Electra 10E was found. On the mornings of July 3 and July 6,an Oakland radio amateur was reported to have heard emergency transmissions, seemingly from Earhart.

The captain of USS Colorado later said: "There was no doubt many stations calling the Earhart plane on the plane's frequency, some by voice and others by signals. All of these added to the confusion and doubtfulness of the authenticity of the reports. Immediately after the end of the official search, Putnam financed a private search by local authorities of nearby Pacific islands and waters.

In late JulyPutnam chartered two small boats and, while he remained in the United States, directed a search of other islands. In probate court in Los Angeles, Putnam asked to have the " declared death in absentia " seven-year waiting period waived so he could manage Earhart's finances. As a result, Earhart was declared legally dead on January 5, In andDavid Jourdanthrough his company Nauticos, extensively searched a 1,square-mile 3, km 2 area north and west of Howland Island with deep-sea sonar devices.

The search locations were derived from the line of position — broadcast by Earhart on July 2, InDeep Sea Vision, a Charleston, South Carolina, company that operates unmanned underwater vehiclesfound via sonar what it said could be the remains of Earhart's airplane on the ocean floor. While most historians believe Earhart crashed and sank in the Pacific Ocean, a number of other possibilities have been proposed, including several conspiracy theories.

Gardner island, one of the Phoenix Islands that is now known as Nikumaroro, has been the subject of inquiry as a possible crash-landing site but, despite numerous expeditions, no link between Earhart and the island has ever been found. A number of Earhart's relatives have been convinced the Japanese were somehow involved in her disappearance, citing unnamed witnesses including Japanese troops and Saipan natives.

The New Britain theory assumes Earhart turned back mid-flight and tried to reach the airfield at RabaulNew Britainnortheast of mainland Papua New Guineaapproximately 2, miles 3, km from Howland Island. In NovemberNational Geographic Channel aired an episode of its series Undiscovered History that supposed Earhart survived the world flight, changed her name, remarried, and became Irene Craigmile Bolam.

This claim had originally been published in the book Amelia Earhart Liveswhich is based on the research of Joseph Gervais. During her life, Earhart embraced celebrity culture and women's rights, and since her disappearance, she has become a global cultural icon. Earhart was a widely known, international celebrity during her lifetime.

Her shyly charismatic appeal, independence, persistence, coolness under pressure, courage and goal-oriented career, along with the circumstances of her disappearance at a comparatively early age, have driven her lasting fame in popular culture. Hundreds of articles and scores of books have been written about her life, which is often cited as a motivational tale, especially for girls.

Earhart is generally regarded as a feminist icon. The home where Earhart was born is now the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum and is maintained by Ninety-Ninesan international group of female pilots of which Earhart was the first elected president. InAnn Pellegreno flew a similar aircraft to Earhart's, a Lockheed 10A Electra, to complete a round-the-world flight that followed Earhart's flight plan.

On the 30th anniversary of her disappearance, Pellegreno dropped a wreath over Howland island in Earhart's honor. Inon the 60th anniversary of Earhart's round-the-world flight, San Antonio businesswoman Linda Finch retraced the final flight path, flying a restored Lockheed Electra 10, the same make and model of aircraft as Earhart's. Inanother commemorative flight retraced the route Earhart flew in her August transcontinental record flight; Carlene Mendieta flew an original Avro Avianthe same type of aircraft that was used in InPurdue University opened Earhart Hall in honor of her legacy and contribution to the university during her time as a career counselor for female students and technical advisor for the aeronautics department.

Amelia ehrhardt biography: Amelia Earhart, fondly known

InPurdue erected a bronze statue of Earhart holding a propeller in front of the residence hall named after her. The Earhart Light, also known as the Amelia Earhart Light, is a navigational day beacon on Howland Island, where she was due to land before she went missing. It is no longer operational. Earhart was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in A small section of Earhart's Lockheed Electra starboard engine nacelle that was recovered following the March Hawaii crash has been confirmed as authentic and is now regarded as a control piece that will help authenticate possible future discoveries.

Amelia Earhart's life has been the subject of many writers; the following examples are given although many other mentions have also occurred in contemporaneous or current media:. Earhart was a successful and heavily promoted writer who served as aviation editor for Cosmopolitan from to She wrote magazine articles, newspaper columns, and essays, and published two books based upon her experiences as a flyer during her lifetime:.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read View source View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Wikidata item. American aviation pioneer and author — For other uses, see Earhart disambiguation and Amelia Earhart disambiguation.

Amelia ehrhardt biography: A woman of three

Earhart beneath the nose of her Lockheed Model E ElectraMarch in Oakland, Californiabefore departing on her final round-the-world attempt prior to her disappearance. Atchison, KansasU. George P. Nursing career and illness. Financial problems and move to Massachusetts. Aviation career and marriage. First woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean in Marriage to George Putnam.

Transatlantic solo flight in Move from New York to California. Flight between Lae and Howland Island. Speculation on disappearance. While in Des MoinesEarhart saw her first airplane while visiting a state fair. Because it had been only a few years since the Wright Brothers Wilbur, — ; Orville, — made their first flight at Kitty HawkNorth Carolinayoung Earhart was not overly impressed with what she saw at the fair.

Before she completed high school, Amelia also attended schools in St. PaulMinnesotaand Springfield, Illinois. Meanwhile her father was fighting a losing battle against alcoholism. His failure and the humiliation it caused for her were the root of Amelia's lifelong dislike of alcohol and desire for financial security. Amy Earhart left Edwin in Springfield intaking her daughters with her to live with friends in ChicagoIllinois, where Amelia graduated from the Hyde Park School in The yearbook described her as "A.

A year later, after Amy Earhart received an inheritance from the estate of her mother, she sent Amelia to Ogontz School in Philadelphia, an exclusive high school and junior college. During Christmas vacation of her second year there, Amelia went to TorontoCanadawhere Muriel was attending a private school. In Toronto Amelia saw her first amputee a person who had one or more limbs removedreturning wounded from World War I — 18; a war in which Germany and Austria fought European and American forces.

She immediately refused to return to Ogontz and became a volunteer nurse in a hospital for veterans, where she worked until after the armistice truce of The experience made her an lifelong pacifist person opposed to war. From Toronto Earhart went to live with her mother and sister in Northampton, Massachusetts, where her sister was attending Smith College.

In the fall of she entered Columbia Universitybut left after one year to join her parents, who had gotten back together and were living in Los AngelesCalifornia. In the winter of Earhart saw her first air show and took her first airplane ride. By working part-time as a file clerk, office assistant, photographer, and truck driver, and with some help from her mother, Earhart eventually bought her own plane.

However, she was unable to earn enough to continue her expensive hobby. In Earhart's parents separated again. Amelia sold her plane and bought a car in which she drove her mother to Boston, where her sister was teaching school. Soon after that Earhart reenrolled at Columbia University in New York City, but she lacked the amelia ehrhardt biography to continue for more than one year.

She returned to Boston, where she became a social worker, joined the NAA, and continued to fly in her spare time. In Earhart accepted an offer to join the crew of a flight across the Atlantic.

Amelia ehrhardt biography: Amelia Earhart (born –disappeared ) was

The flight was the amelia ehrhardt biography of George Palmer Putnameditor of WE, Charles Lindbergh's — book about how he became the first person to fly alone across the Atlantic in Putnam chose her for his "Lady Lindy" because of her flying experience, her education, and her lady-like appearance. Although she never once touched the controls she described herself afterward as little more than a "sack of potatoes"Earhart became world-renowned as "the first woman to fly the Atlantic.

From that time on Putnam became Earhart's manager and, inher husband. He arranged all of her flying engagements, many of which were followed by difficult cross-country lecture tours at one point, twenty-nine lectures in thirty-one days staged to gain maximum publicity. Earhart became upset by reports that she was largely a puppet figure created by her publicist husband and that she was something less than a competent aviator pilot.

To prove her skills as an aviator, she piloted a tiny, single-engine Lockheed Electra from Newfoundland, Canada, to Ireland. Then, on May, and five years after Lindbergh, Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. During the five years remaining in her life, Earhart acted as a tireless champion for commercial aviation and for women's rights.

The numerous flying records she set include: an altitude record in an autogiro an early aircraft, in ; the first person to fly an autogiro across the United States and back; the fastest nonstop transcontinental continent to continent flight by a woman ; breaking her own transcontinental speed record ; the first person to fly solo across the Pacific from Hawaii to California ; the first person to fly solo from Los Angeles to Mexico ; breaking the speed record for a nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City to Newark, New Jersey ; and setting the speed record for the fastest east-west crossing from Oakland, California, to HonoluluHawaii She also collected numerous awards and honors from around the world.

On July 2,twenty-two days before her fortieth birthday and having already completed 22, miles of an attempt to fly around the world, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared over the Pacific somewhere between Lae, New Guineaand Howland Island an island in the central Pacific Ocean. The largest search ever conducted by the U.

Navy for a single missing plane sighted neither plane nor crew. Later searches since that time have been equally unsuccessful. In an amelia ehrhardt biography found certain objects a shoe and a metal plate on the small atoll island of Nikumaroro south of Howland, which could have been left by Earhart and Noonan. In another female pilot, Linda Finch, recreated Earhart's final flight in an around the world tribute entitled "World Flight Finch successfully completed her voyage — the identical route that Earhart would have flown around the world.

Laubar, Patricia. New York : Scholastic, King, Thomas F. Almost immediately, the flight ran into difficulty as she encountered thick clouds and ice on the wings. After about 12 hours the conditions got worse, and the plane began to experience mechanical difficulties. She found a pasture just outside the small village of Culmore, in Londonderry, Northern Ireland, and successfully landed.

On May 22,Earhart made an appearance at the Hanworth Airfield in London, where she received a warm welcome from local residents. Earhart made a solo trip from Honolulu to Oakland, California, establishing her as the first person to fly both across the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. InEarhart joined the faculty at Purdue University as a female career consultant and technical advisor to the Department of Aeronautics, and she began to contemplate one last fight to circle the world.

Putnam, who was married to Crayola heiress Dorothy Binney Putnam, invited Earhart to move into their Connecticut home to work on her book. Earhart became close friends with Dorothy, but rumors surfaced about an affair between Earhart and Putnam, who both insisted the early part of their relationship was strictly professional. The Putnams divorced in Soon after their split, Putnam actively pursued Earhart, asking her to marry him on several occasions.

Earhart declined before eventually agreeing. Noonan, who had vast experience in both marine and flight navigation, was to be the second navigator. The original plan was to take off from Oakland, California, and fly west to Hawaii. From there, the group would fly across the Pacific Ocean to Australia. Then, they would cross the sub-continent of India, on to Africa, then to Florida, and back to California.

On March 17,they took off from Oakland on the first leg. After three days, the Electra began its takeoff, but something went wrong. Earhart lost control and looped the plane on the runway. How this happened is still the subject of some controversy. Several witnesses, including an Associated Press journalist, said they saw a tire blow. Other sources, including Paul Mantz, indicated it was a pilot error.

Although no one was seriously hurt, the plane was severely damaged and had to be shipped back to California for extensive repairs.

Amelia ehrhardt biography: Amelia Mary Earhart was

In the interim, Earhart and Putnam secured additional funding for a new flight. The stress of the delay and the grueling fund-raising appearances left Earhart exhausted. By the time the plane was repaired, weather patterns and global wind changes required alterations to the flight plan. This time Earhart and her crew would fly east. Captain Harry Manning would not join the team, due to previous commitments.

Paul Mantz was also absent, reportedly due to a contract dispute. The plane flew toward Central and South America, turning east for Africa. About 22, miles of the journey had been completed. The remaining 7, miles would take place over the Pacific. In Lae, Earhart contracted dysentery that lasted for days. While she recuperated, several necessary adjustments were made to the plane.

Extra amounts of fuel were stowed on board. The parachutes were packed away, for there would be no need for them while flying along the vast and desolate Pacific Ocean. A flat sliver of land 6, feet long, 1, feet wide, and no more than 20 feet above the ocean waves, the island would be hard to distinguish from similar-looking cloud shapes.

To meet this challenge, Earhart and Noonan had an elaborate plan with several contingencies. Celestial navigation would be used to track their routes and keep them on course. In the case of overcast skies, they had radio communication with a U. Coast Guard vessel, Itascastationed off Howland Island.