First Solo Flight Across the Atlantic
At the age of 34, on the morning of
May 20, 1932,
Amelia set off from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland with the
latest copy of a local newspaper (the dated copy was intended to confirm the
date of the flight). She intended to fly to Paris
in her single engine LockheedVega 5B to try to surpass Charles Lindbergh’s
solo flight across the Atlantic. After a long flight of 14 hours and 56
minutes with the complications of icy winds, strong northly winds, and mechanical
problems. Earhart
landed in a pasture at Culmore, just north of Derry, Northern Island.
The landing was witnessed by Cecil King
and T. Sawyer. When a farm hand
asked, "Have you flown far?" Earhart
replied, "From America." The
site now is the home of a small museum, the Amelia Earhart Centre.
As the first woman to fly solo non-stop across
the Atlantic, Earhart
received the Distinguished Flying Cross from Congress, the Cross of Knight of
the Legion of Honor from the French Government, and the Gold Medal of the
National Geographic Society from President Herbert Hoover.
As her fame grew, she developed friendships with many people in high offices,
most notably Eleanor
Roosevelt, the First Lady from
1933–1945. Roosevelt
shared many of Earhart's interests and passions,
especially women's causes. After flying with Earhart,
Roosevelt obtained
a student permit but did not pursue her plans to learn to fly. The two friends
communicated frequently throughout their lives. Another famous
flyer, Jacqueline
Cochran, considered Earhart's
greatest rival by both media and the public, also became a friend during this period.