America's famous aviatrix Amelia Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 at her
grandparents' home in Atchison, Kansas. Her grandfather, Alfred Otis was
one of the leading citizens of Atchison. Amy Earhart, having suffered a miscarriage
in an earlier pregnancy, returned to her parents home to await the
birth of Amelia. Her father, Edwin Earhart remained with his law practice in Kansas City
during this period. A sister, Muriel would be born 2 1/2 years later.
Amelia (Millie) and her sister Muriel (Pidge) were to know privilege and wealth through their
grandparents....attending private schools and enjoying many of the comforts of life.
In the fall of 1919 Amelia enrolled as a pre-med student at Columbia University. Although doing well
in her studies, in 1920 she decided to join her mother and father in California. The had recently reunited
and were encouraging the sisters to join them. Several months after her arrival in California Amelia
and her father went to an "aerial meet" at Daugherty Field in Long Beach. She had become
very interested in flying. The next day, given a helmet and goggles, she boarded the open-cockpit
biplane for a 10 minute flight over Los Angeles. Amelia had heard of a woman pilot who gave flying
instructions and shortly afterwards began lessons with pioneer aviatrix Anita "Neta" Snook at Kinner
Field near Long Beach. In July Amelia purchased a prototype of the Kinner airplane...naming it "The Canary".
By October 1922, Amelia began participating in record breaking attempts and set a women's altitude
record of 14,000 feet...broken a few weeks later by Ruth Nichols. On April 27, 1926 her life was to change
forever...a phone call from Captain H.H. Railey asked.."how would you like to be the first woman to fly across
the Atlantic?" On June 1, 1937 Amelia and her navigator Fred Noonan departed Miami, Florida bound for California
by traveling around the world. The first destination was San Juan, Puerto Rico...from there skirting the
northeast edge of South America and then on to Africa and the Red Sea. The flight to Karachi was another
first...no one had previously flown non-stop from the Red Sea to India before. From Karachi the Electra flew
to Calcutta on June 17... from there, on to Rangoon, Bangkok, Singapore and Bandoeng. It was June 27 before
Amelia and Noonan were able to leave Bandoeng for Port Darwin, Australia. Amelia reached Lae in New Guinea
on June 29. At this point they had flown 22,000 mls and there were 7,000 more to go...all over the Pacific.
Amelia left Lae at 00:00 hours Greenwich Mean Time on July 2. It is believed the Electra was loaded with
1,000 gallons of fuel, allowing for 20-21 hours of flying. At 07:20 hours GMT Amelia provided a positon report
placing the Electra on course at 20 miles southwest of the Nukumanu Islands. At 08:00 GMT Amelia made her last
radio contact with Lae. She reported being on course for Howland Island at 12,000 feet.
At 19:30 GMT the following transmission was received from the Electra
at maximum strength.. "KHAQQ calling Itasca. We must be on you but cannot see you...gas
is running low..." It has been determined that the plane went down some 35-100 miles
off the coast of Howland Island.
Despite extensive searches Amelia or the plane was never found.
In a letter she once wrote.."Please know I am quite aware of
the hazards...I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must"
try to do things as men have tried. When they fail their failure
must be but a challenge to others."
The "Earhart Project" is an investigation launched in 1988 by The
International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) to
conclusively solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart's disappearance.
Four archaeological expeditions to a remote, uninhabited Pacific
atoll of Nikumaroro (formerly Gardner Island) have recovered physical
evidence that the Earhart flight landed there on July 2, 1937 after
failing to find Howland Island.
Find Out More About The Search For Amelia.
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