Amelia Earhart's Early Flight Experience

Amelia Earhart's Early Life and Career

• Born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas, defied traditional gender roles from a young age.
• Took an auto repair course, played basketball, and briefly attended college.
• Served as a Red Cross nurse’s aid in Toronto during World War I.
• Began flying lessons in January 1921 with Neta Snook and worked as a filing clerk to fund them.

Aviation Achievements

• Earned a National Aeronautics Association license in December 1921 and participated in her first flight exhibition shortly after.
• Acquired her first airplane, a secondhand Kinner Airster, nicknamed "the Canary."
• First woman to fly solo above 14,000 feet in 1922.
• In 1932, became the first woman, and second person overall, to fly solo across the Atlantic, landing in Northern Ireland.

Notable Records

• First woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross for her Atlantic flight achievement.
• Completed the first solo nonstop flight across the U.S. in 1932, traveling from Los Angeles to Newark in 19 hours.
• First person to fly solo from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland in 1935.

Advocacy for Women in Aviation

• Co-founded the Ninety-Nines, an organization for the advancement of female pilots, in 1929 after competing in the All-Women’s Air Derby.
• Served as the first president of the Ninety-Nines, which represents women pilots from 44 countries.

Final Flight and Disappearance

• Departed Oakland, California, on June 1, 1937, for a flight around the world, her second attempt at circumnavigating the globe.
• Flew with navigator Fred Noonan, covering 22,000 miles before reaching Lae, New Guinea, by June 29.
• Disappeared on July 2, 1937, after losing radio contact en route to Howland Island; last sighting occurred shortly before.

Theories Regarding Disappearance

• The U.S. government posits that Earhart and Noonan crashed into the Pacific Ocean due to running out of fuel.
• Various hypotheses exist, including the Crash and Sink Theory, where they allegedly crashed during their search for Howland Island.
• Numerous expeditions using sonar and robots have failed to locate the wreckage of Earhart's plane.
• The Gardner Island hypothesis suggests alternate scenarios surrounding their disappearance.

This quiz explores Amelia Earhart's journey into aviation during the early 1920s. Learn about her first flight exhibition, her flight lessons with Neta Snook, and her first airplane purchase. Test your knowledge on the milestones that shaped her groundbreaking career.