Inducted in 1968
First Woman To Fly Solo Across The Atlantic, 1932
First Pilot To Fly Solo Hawaii To California, 1935
1897 – 1937
Amelia Earhart made world headlines with the first transatlantic solo flight by a woman when she flew a Lockheed Vega from Newfoundland to Londonderry, Northern Ireland, May 20-21, 1932. This was exactly five years after Lindbergh’s first solo flight from New York to Paris. For her accomplishment, Earhart received the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Four years earlier, in 1928, Earhart had received international notice by becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, but as a passenger. On June 17, 1928, Earhart had flown aboard a Fokker C-2 Tri-motor piloted by Wilmer Stutz from Newfoundland to Wales. Thereafter, Earhart began to set records as a pilot herself.
In 1929 Earhart won third place in the first Women’s Air Derby race from Los Angeles to Cleveland. In 1930 she set an international speed record of 181 mph, then turned to flying autogyros. In 1931 she flew the newly developed rotating aircraft round-trip across the continent from New York to California.
Following her 1932 exploits, Earhart became the first pilot to fly solo the 2,400 miles from Hawaii to California, then added to her feat by flying from Los Angeles to Mexico City, and then Mexico City to New Jersey. Pursuing a long-held dream to fly around the world, Earhart set out in 1937 with navigator Fred Noonan in a twin engine Lockheed Electra. The plane left New Guinea July 3rd but was never seen again, leaving her ultimate fate an unsolved mystery to this day.