Kandi Grey, Grade 11
UWCSA (Waterford)
When I was thirteen, our class was tasked with doing a presentation on people from history that we admired. At the time, I chose to do Leonardo Da Vinci, as a Renaissance man, an artist and inventor I admired greatly. Now, I can’t say I truly have an idol, though there are many that I do admire; Mary Shelley, Emma Watson, Michelle Obama, Annie Leibovitz. But the person I am writing about now is Amelia Earhart: a woman that I’ve read about since I was a little girl - a woman seeking adventure, and a pilot who defied the rules.
Amelia was a female aviator who changed the way that women were seen in the field of aviation, creating new pathways for women in other areas as well. And for a young girl who loves the wild, she is an inspiration. She had a passion for the unconventional and exciting exploration, beginning to study flight in her twenties. Along with her sister, Amelia and Grace were said to have been very close, and complete ‘tomboys’.
Her relationship with her sister and her childhood are close to my own, and thus, a chord within me was struck. Amelia was so similar to me, and though it did inspire me to attempt to get over my fear of heights, it did not convince me to follow a career in aviation. She was also an avid reader, much like myself, who could always be found in the library with a book; she was also an author and a writer. Her inspirational actions encouraged me to face my fears, to try and soar beyond expectations and go after what I wanted in life - to not care what others thought.
She got into flying after visiting the airfield alongside the Canadian National Exhibition. She was with a friend, watching a show by a World War 1 pilot, who saw the girls and decided to spook them by diving close to where they stood. Amelia did not move, and later on, comments on it: “I did not understand it at the time, but I believe that little red airplane said something to me as it swished by.”
Later on, Amelia initially became famous for being the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic in an airplane. However, what Amelia is most known for is being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean solo and the first female to fly across the North American continent and back alone. Also, whilst flying, she wrote newspaper articles and columns about aviation, building up support for female pilots. During her career in Aviation, Amelia was also a big part of the formation of a female pilots’ organisation; The Ninety-Nines, as well as member of the National Women’s Party. She was a member of the American Aeronautical Society’s Boston chapter, also flying the first official flight out of Denison. Living up to the image, she cut her hair and got a leather jacket, becoming an icon for an adventuress with her heart in the sky.
The part that always drew me to her though was her disappearance while doing what she loved: flying. She joined Purdue University as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers, and as an advisor in the Department of Aeronautics. She began to plan a round the world flight in 1936, and it would have been the longest recorded flight at 47, 000 km following an equatorial flight plan. In June of 1937, Amelia left on a flight, having completed a majority of the trip, whereupon she and her only crew member Fred Noonan didn’t check-in at the appropriate radio checkpoint; they disappeared. This is where the mystery starts.
There are numerous reports, recordings, and documentaries written about Amelia Earhart’s incomplete flight, but the mystery remains. There were search parties around the area of the disappearance, near Howland Island, and their last reported location near the Nukumanu Islands. The official search lasted until July 19, 1937, and she was declared dead in absentia on January 5, 1939.
Amelia Earhart became a legacy over the years after her disappearance, and for young women everywhere, she remains so. Her dreams of soaring above the clouds, of reaching further than was thought possible. That is why she is one of the women that I admire the most.
Amelia was a female aviator who changed the way that women were seen in the field of aviation, creating new pathways for women in other areas as well. And for a young girl who loves the wild, she is an inspiration. She had a passion for the unconventional and exciting exploration, beginning to study flight in her twenties. Along with her sister, Amelia and Grace were said to have been very close, and complete ‘tomboys’.
Her relationship with her sister and her childhood are close to my own, and thus, a chord within me was struck. Amelia was so similar to me, and though it did inspire me to attempt to get over my fear of heights, it did not convince me to follow a career in aviation. She was also an avid reader, much like myself, who could always be found in the library with a book; she was also an author and a writer. Her inspirational actions encouraged me to face my fears, to try and soar beyond expectations and go after what I wanted in life - to not care what others thought.
She got into flying after visiting the airfield alongside the Canadian National Exhibition. She was with a friend, watching a show by a World War 1 pilot, who saw the girls and decided to spook them by diving close to where they stood. Amelia did not move, and later on, comments on it: “I did not understand it at the time, but I believe that little red airplane said something to me as it swished by.”
Later on, Amelia initially became famous for being the first female passenger to cross the Atlantic in an airplane. However, what Amelia is most known for is being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean solo and the first female to fly across the North American continent and back alone. Also, whilst flying, she wrote newspaper articles and columns about aviation, building up support for female pilots. During her career in Aviation, Amelia was also a big part of the formation of a female pilots’ organisation; The Ninety-Nines, as well as member of the National Women’s Party. She was a member of the American Aeronautical Society’s Boston chapter, also flying the first official flight out of Denison. Living up to the image, she cut her hair and got a leather jacket, becoming an icon for an adventuress with her heart in the sky.
The part that always drew me to her though was her disappearance while doing what she loved: flying. She joined Purdue University as a visiting faculty member to counsel women on careers, and as an advisor in the Department of Aeronautics. She began to plan a round the world flight in 1936, and it would have been the longest recorded flight at 47, 000 km following an equatorial flight plan. In June of 1937, Amelia left on a flight, having completed a majority of the trip, whereupon she and her only crew member Fred Noonan didn’t check-in at the appropriate radio checkpoint; they disappeared. This is where the mystery starts.
There are numerous reports, recordings, and documentaries written about Amelia Earhart’s incomplete flight, but the mystery remains. There were search parties around the area of the disappearance, near Howland Island, and their last reported location near the Nukumanu Islands. The official search lasted until July 19, 1937, and she was declared dead in absentia on January 5, 1939.
Amelia Earhart became a legacy over the years after her disappearance, and for young women everywhere, she remains so. Her dreams of soaring above the clouds, of reaching further than was thought possible. That is why she is one of the women that I admire the most.
Bibliography:
Van Pelt, Lori (2005). Amelia Earhart: the Sky’s no limit (1 ed). New York: Forge pg 205
Morey, Eileen (1995). Amelia Earhart. San Diego. CA: Lucent Books
Oakes, Claudia M. (1985). United States women in aviation, 1930 – 1939. Smithsonian Institution Press.
“The Mystery of Amelia Earhart”. Social Studies School Service, February 10, 2007.
Van Pelt, Lori (2005). Amelia Earhart: the Sky’s no limit (1 ed). New York: Forge pg 205
Morey, Eileen (1995). Amelia Earhart. San Diego. CA: Lucent Books
Oakes, Claudia M. (1985). United States women in aviation, 1930 – 1939. Smithsonian Institution Press.
“The Mystery of Amelia Earhart”. Social Studies School Service, February 10, 2007.
www.unitedworldwide.co