Page 38 - All About History - Issue 28-15

Heroes & Villains
AMELIA EARHART

Amelia once said: “Flying may
not be all plain sailing, but the
fun of it is worth the price”

Theaviatrixcampaignedfor Amelia was called ‘Lady Lindy’ partly
better public awareness of because her slim build and facial
aviation and female pilots features resembled Charles Lindbergh
grandmotherdied,butleftherdaughter’s
inheritance in trust for fear that Edwin’s drinking “She was not satisfi ed. She wanted to
woulddrainthefunds.Withherhomelifein
tatters, Amelia struggled to maintain her grades. achieve the ultimate in aviation feats”
When the USA joined World War I in 1917, she was
traumatisedbythesightofthereturningsoldiers,
many with lost limbs, blind or on crutches. She every weekend at least one of them hosted an ‘air and by the following May, Amelia had become the
couldn’t bear to return to school knowing so many meet’. Amelia attended every one she could, and 16thwomantobeissuedapilot’slicense.
wereinneed,soshesigneduptobecomeanurse. eventuallygotwordofNetaSnook,a24-year-old By this time, her family’s fortune was almost
The hours were long and the work was gruelling; female pilot. Arriving at the airfield in a suit and depleted, following an investment in a failed
Amelia felt a million miles away from the world she neatlycoiffedhair,sheasked:“Iwanttofly.Will gypsum mine. Amelia was forced to sell her Canary
hadbeenraisedin.Onherraredaysoff,shewould you teach me?” Willingly, Neta agreed. andlookfornewemployment.Sheworkedfora
head to the local stables, where she had succeeded ForAmelia,itseemedasthoughallthestarshad whileasaphotographer,thenatruckdriver–for
in taming an unruly horse named Dynamite. One finally aligned, but there was one problem: she had whichshewas‘ostracisedbythemoreright-
daywhileoutriding,shecameacrossthreeair no money to pay for lessons. The pair came to a thinking girls’. Eventually, she saved up enough
forceofficers,whoexpressedtheiramazement settlement whereby Amelia would pay her as soon foranotherplane–thistimeaKinner–andonce
athowwellshecontrolledthehorse–hehad as she could afford it. Shortly after, Amelia took againcouldtakeherflyingseriously.Shewas
infamouslyoncebuckedoffacolonel.Theyinvited upajobasaclerk.Onthedayofherfirstclasson electedvice-presidentoftheAmericanAeronautical
hertocomeandwatchhowtheycontrolledtheir 3 January 1921, she turned up in jodhpurs, boots Society’s Boston chapter, helped finance the
planes, and she was astounded by the beauty of andaleatherjacketthatshehadsleptintogive operation of Denniston Airport in Quincy,
the metal birds. She asked if she could go up with itawornlook,andwithabookonaerodynamics Massachusetts,andin1927flewthefirstofficial
them,butwasrefused;notevenageneral’swife under her arm. Her transformation was complete flightoutofit.Nowalocalcelebrity,inApril1928
candothat,theysaid.Frustratedbytheinjustice, when she reluctantly cut her hair short, after a little Amelia received a call from Captain Hilton H Railey,
shecommittedherselftofindingawaytofly. girltoldhershedidn’tlookmuchlikeanaviatrix who asked her: “Would you like to fly the Atlantic?”
Withthewarover,Ameliareturnedtolivewith with her long, neatly styled hair. Six months later, The first Atlantic crossing was achieved in the
herparents,whohadrelocatedtoCalifornia.The shepurchasedasecond-handbrightyellowKinner spring of 1927 by American pilot Charles Lindbergh.
wholestatehadbeensweptupbyanaviationcraze, Airster biplane nicknamed ‘the Canary’. On 22 Overnighthehadbecomethemostfamousman
madepopularbythebignamesofHollywood. October,sheflewtheCanarytoanaltitudeof onearth,andsooneverydaringaviatorwasvying
Therewere20airfieldsinLosAngelesalone,and 14,000feet,settingaworldrecordforfemalepilots, for their piece of the fame. In the year following
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