Amelia Earhart Biography

At a time when flying was not that popular, many pioneers stepped in to show the world the benefits of flying and what planes were capable of. One of such pioneers was Amelia Earhart. Born in Atchison, Kansas, in 1897, Earhart attended her first flying display in 1918. She went on her first flight in 1920, by 1921 had already soloed and by 1922 had bought her first plane ("Amelia Earhart: The Official Website", 2014). Earhart wasted no time in setting a record, flying higher than any woman ever had before. Earhart would set many more records, including two in a Lockheed Vega that made her famous around the world. Earhart was committed to aviation, she promoted “air mindedness” at a period when most people were incredulous about airplanes as a method of transportation.
Earhart was the first woman vice president of the National Aeronautic Association, which certified official records and races ("Amelia Earhart: The Official Website", 2014), convincing the association to create separate female records due to women not having the resources to gain experience to properly compete against men ("Amelia Earhart: The Official Website", 2014). Earhart also petitioned Congress for aviation regulation endorsing efficiency and …show more content…
For this endeavor she decided to use a Lockheed Electra10E with a designator NR16020 (“Houston, 2014”). The base model Electra plane had a range of more than 4,000 miles, and a cruising speed of about 190 miles per hour (“Houston, 2014”). The plane was the first all‐aluminum aircraft, and it included state‐of‐the‐art innovations like variable pitch propellers, retractable landing gear and wing flaps (“Houston, 2014”). Constructing the plane’s surface out of aluminum alloy made for a more resilient plane, because it allowed the skin to share the structural load. Additionally, it also permitted the plane to be more aerodynamic in