"I've Come from America"
Amelia read the date on the paper once again: May 20, 1932. The newspaper confirmed her flight date. Today, thanks to Amy Guest, she would be the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, the first person to attempt to equal or better the flight made by Charles Lindbergh in his “Spirit of St. Louis” this same day five years ago. But today she would do far better than attempt: she was going to do it.
She would take off from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, in a few short minutes in the “Little Red Bus” – a single-engine Lockheed Vega 5B, with a maximum of 185 miles per hour, 165 miles per hour cruise, a climb of 1,300 feet a minute, and a service ceiling of 15,000 feet. The plan was to land in Paris, France – a journey of over 2,000 miles. It was to be the longest non-stop flight made by a woman and the second solo flight across the great Atlantic.
It was now 7:12 p.m., and the “Little Red Bus” was all set for the expedition. Amelia climbed into the cockpit and powered up the engine. She had carefully inspected all her equipment, and everything was in working order. She guided the “Little Red Bus” down the runway and flew off. So far so good; she read the altimeter and saw that she had reached 1,000 feet, then 3,000, 6,000.... The airspeed indicator revealed that she was arriving at 118 knots, approximately 136 miles per hour.
After drinking down some warm broth, she brought her eyes to the altimeter once more. The needle was resting on the zero line: it was broken! She could not know at exactly what altitude she was flying. She inhaled and emitted a sigh. She glanced at the surrounding sky; the weather was changing fairly quickly. Hopefully, she would not run into any strong winds or violent thunderstorms.
She continued her adventure, keeping a watchful eye on the weather. Conditions were becoming icy, and, judging by the smell filling her nostrils, gasoline was leaking into the cockpit. She passed her smelling salts beneath her nose once again. She reclosed the container, taking her eyes off the controls for a mere fraction of a second. The “Little Red Bus” began to drop – she had lost control and was chaotically spinning downwards! She desperately jerked the controls, and, after a few panic-filled moments, she won the struggle with gravity and was back on course.
She could not tell for certain how far down she had fallen, but she estimated, based on how long she was without control, roughly 3,000 feet. Flames had now begun shooting from the exhaust manifold.
The “Little Red Bus” pressed on. She fought oncoming northern winds every inch of the way, and finally had to forget the idea of flying all the way to Paris. She landed instead north of Londonderry, Northern Ireland, in a pasture in Culmore. She calculated in her head it had been approximately 15 hours since she had left Newfoundland, and she was exhausted. When she opened the door to the cockpit and climbed down, she was greeted very warmly.
“Have you flown far?” one farmhand asked, extending his hand to Amelia.
Amelia shook his hand. She gave a firm nod of her head and smiled, “I’ve come from America.”
Rewards
Amelia Earhart was awarded the Distinquished Flying Cross by the United States Congress, the Cross of Knight from the Legion of Honour of the French Government, the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society by President Herbert Hoover. She also became good friends with Eleanor Roosevelt and Jacqueline Cohran.
