LADY LINDY (Amelia Earhart)
Grade 3rd-5th
by Paula Rucker
Amelia Earhart, some of you may be asking yourself who in the world is Amelia Earhart, well I sure do have a story for you. By the way my name is Muriel and I'm Amelia's sister. I guess the first thing I will tell you is a little bit about who Amelia Earhart was. Amelia was quite famous back in the 1930's. I know that was a very long time ago, but that was when Amelia and I were growing up. Before I tell you about all the adventure and danger of her story I will start out with a little history.
Amelia Earhart was born in her grandparents' big white house on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River on July 24, 1898. She was the first child born to Amy and Edwin Earhart. I was her younger sister and I was born two years after that. We had a different life than most children our age. We spent a lot of time living with my grandparents, because my Father was away on business quiet often. But how Amelia and I loved to run wild on my grandpa's land. I guess you could say that, that is one reason that Amelia turn out like she did. Now by that I do not mean that Amelia turned out bad or anything, she was just well, a tom-boy. When most girls our age were having tea parties and playing with dolls Amelia was fishing in the lake or running wild.
Life grew harder for Amelia and I as we got older. Our father started drinking and lost his job. Our family then had to move from one city to the next in order to try and find work for Dad. Amelia worked hard and graduated from high school on time, even though she had attended six different high schools. Amelia had become a very determined young adult. She went to Toronto Canada, where I was attending college. There Amelia went to work as a nurse's aid. Many of Amelia's patients were pilots and hearing their stories sparked her curiosity. This is where the story begins to get good.
In 1918 Amelia became interested in airplanes. She began spending much of her free time at various airfields watching planes land and take off. She absorbed all she could during this time. I remember one day, like it was yesterday. Like normal, Amelia was spending her free time at the airfield. On this certain day she had dragged me along with her. One of the planes stunted for us, at that moment Amelia always said that the little red airplane said something to her as it swished by. From then on if Amelia had free time you could find her at the airfield.
When Amelia was at an air show she tried to find out how much it would cost to learn to fly. The amount she was told was $1000, which was way more than she had. She however paid $1 to go up on a plane for 10 minutes, from that moment on flying was in her blood. She knew she had to learn to fly. Flying at this time was a daring adventure, especially for a women. Most women at this time did not even drive an automobile let alone pilot airplanes. Amelia did not care, she had to fly.
Now all that stood between Amelia and a pilot's license was a thousand dollars. Amelia went to work for a telephone company to earn money so she could learn to fly. She spend her weekends at a small airport. She cut her hair, wore breeches and a leather coat, and blended in with the male pilots. In 1922 Amelia earned her pilot's license. In June 1928 Amelia made history when she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic in a flight from Newfoundland to Whales. The public considered her a heroine, even though she had only been a passenger on the flight.
Amelia did not let the American people down. She lived up to her reputation. She went on to set a long list of flying records. Amelia was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. On May 20, 1932 she took off form Newfoundland. The trip was full of trouble. The first problem was the altimer, the instrument that measures altitude, broke. If that was not bad enough she flew right into a storm and was almost struck by lightning. No sooner had my poor sister taken the plane above the storm then the air turned very cold and the wings began to ice up. In order to melt the ice, Amelia was forced to fly lower into the warmer air and right back into the storm. All night long the strong winds shook the airplane. To top off the whole bad trip the gas gauge stopped working, and Amelia had no idea how much fuel was left.
Now if you ask me, I would have been done flying after that terrible flight, but not my sister. She was more determined than ever to be the best woman pilot. She went on to set many other flying records. In 1937 Amelia wanted to be the first pilot male or female to fly around the world at the equator. This was a very dangerous route to follow, but Amelia would not give up her dream. On May 20 1937 her world flight began. Thirty days and 22, 000 miles into the trip things turned bad for Amelia. My sister was somewhere between New Guinea and Howland Island on the hardest and last part of her journey. Amelia was suppose to land at Howland Island, a very small island. Amelia had been radioing for several hours that she could not find the tiny island in the fog, and the fuel supply was running low. Amelia radioed several different times, but she was unable to hear the responses. On July 2 1937 at 8:44 a.m. Amelia radioed her last message.
Amelia was never heard from again. My older sister disappeared without a trace. The U.S. Navy organized the largest search in its history and kept it up for 16 days. Not a trace of the flight was found. There are many theories about what happened to her, but the most likely one is that her plane crashed when she ran out of fuel. My older sister was a heroine for me as well as for many other people. She had a dream and did not give it up no matter what came along.
- Where was Amelia Earhart born and in what year?
- How did Amelia first get interest in flying?
- Why do you feel that Amelia still wanted to fly even after her first terrible trip?
- What do you thing happened to Amelia after her plane went down?
- What are some of the things that happened on Amelia's first trip?
OUTLINE
I. Amelia's early history
A. Where and when Amelia was born
B. Spent much of growing up years at grandparent's house
C. Father's work problems
II. How Amelia got interested in flying
A. Working as a nurse's aid
B. Hearing the patient's stories
III. Amelia's first flight (many things that went wrong)
A. Altimer broke
B. Flew into a storm
C. Almost struck by lightning
D. Ice on the wings
E. Gas gauge broke
IV. Last flight
A. Began May 20, 1937
B. Could not locate Howland Island
V. Search
PROPS
Leather coat
Jeans
Boats
Scarf around neck
Flying goggles
ANSWERS
- Amelia was born in her grandparents' big white house on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River on July 24, 1989.
- Amelia first got interested in flying when she was a nurses aid in Canada and some of her patients were pilots.
- Answers may vary
- Answers may vary
- Instrument that measures altitude over land and sea broke, flew into a storm and almost got hit by lightning, ice formed on her wings, and gas gauge stopped working she had no idea how much gas she had left.
SOURCES
- Briggs, Carole. Women in Aviation At The Controls. Minneapolis: Lerner, 1991.
- Burke, John. Winged Legend. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1970.
- Goerner, Fred. The Search For Amelia Earhart. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1966.
- Leder, Jane. Amelia Earhart. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1989.