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    Disappeared Without a Trace, Vol I: Amelia Earhart
    Disappeared Without a Trace, Vol I: Amelia Earhart
    Disappeared Without a Trace, Vol I: Amelia Earhart
    Ebook132 pages2 hours

    Disappeared Without a Trace, Vol I: Amelia Earhart

    By James R Ashley

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    About this ebook

    Amelia Earhart was one of the most well known and admired woman of her age. And although she was more homely than pretty, there was an earthiness, a friendliness, and a passion for flying in her that captivated everyone who came in contact with her, from U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife, to the common man or woman on the street. Her dedication to her dream of being a flying pioneer in what was considered an exclusively male domain was an example of what women could achieve in aviation. She lived her dream, however, at a dangerous time, when flight was in its infancy, and simple oversights and mistakes could be deadly. Amelia largely flew by the seat-of-her-pants and trusted her instincts in place of the existing state of aviation technology at the time. This got her by until her last flight, where everything seemed to go wrong and she disappeared without a trace.

    The round-the-world flight was to be Amelia’s last and most spectacular flight. All of her preceding flights were short, being only 1 or 2 days, but this one was to be a full month. Never especially strong physically, this flight was to prove a grueling ordeal for Amelia that would tax her to her physical and mental limits. But once she began the flight there was no turning back; she had to see it through to the end. For if at any point in the flight she had backed out, she would have been remembered for her singular failure, and a lifetime of achievement would have been overshadowed. She viewed herself as an inspiration to women on what can be achieved by a determined woman who refused to accept 2nd place in any endeavor she set her mind to pursue.
    When Amelia took off from Lae in New Guinea for Howland Island on that fateful day of July 2, 1937, she had no way of knowing that it would be the last day of her life. Although she was likely exhausted, she was undoubtedly looking forward to a spectacular 4th of July party that her husband was orchestrating for her when she arrived on the West Coast. And although we will never know for sure what happened during her final flight, there are a number of clues left behind which point to what likely happened. On the last 1,000 miles of her flight to Howland Island Amelia would be flying at night over the ocean with no landmarks to guide her. She was likely flying through overcast and rain squalls by dead reckoning and along the way her apprehension must undoubtedly have steadily increased with the realization that she was trying to find a needle in a haystack at midnight. We can only imagine the cold fear that began to grip Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan, as they struggled on into a more ominous and desperate situation with each passing hour. So ride along with Amelia on her last flight and experience how she likely faced her last hours.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJames R Ashley
    Release dateAug 6, 2013
    ISBN9781301440771
    Disappeared Without a Trace, Vol I: Amelia Earhart

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      Book preview

      Disappeared Without a Trace, Vol I - James R Ashley

      Disappeared Without a Trace

      Vol I: Amelia Earhart

      James R Ashley

      Copyright 2015 James R. Ashley

      Smashwords edition

      Table of Contents

      Introduction

      Early Years

      Persona

      Love Life

      Lectures

      Learning to Fly

      Trans-Atlantic Flight (1928)

      Women's Cross-Country Air Derby (1929)

      Trans-Atlantic Flight (1932)

      Honolulu - Washington Flight (1935)

      Mexico City Flight (1935)

      Hawaiian Fiasco Flight (1937)

      ROUND-THE-WORLD FLIGHT (1937)

      Flight Readiness

      The Flight

      United States

      South America

      Africa

      India

      Southeast Asia

      Java

      Australia

      New Guinea

      The Problems

      Lae to Holland Island Flight Log

      Rescue Ships

      Ground Stations

      Amelia's Death

      Bibliography

      Introduction

      Amelia Earhart was one of the most well known and admired woman of her age. And although she was more homely than pretty, there was an earthiness, a friendliness, and a passion for flying in her that captivated everyone who came in contact with her, from U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife, to the common man or woman on the street. Her dedication to her dream of being a flying pioneer in what was considered an exclusively male domain was an example of what women could achieve in aviation. She lived her dream, however, at a dangerous time, when flight was in its infancy and simple oversights and mistakes could be deadly. Amelia largely flew by the seat-of-her-pants and trusted her instincts in place of the existing state of aviation technology at the time. This got her by until her last flight, where everything seemed to go wrong, and she disappeared without a trace.

      The round-the-world flight was to be Amelia’s last and most spectacular flight. All of her preceding flights were short, being only 1 or 2 days, but this one was to be a full month. Never especially strong physically, this flight was to prove a grueling ordeal for Amelia that would tax her physical and mental limits. But once she began the flight there was no turning back; she had to see it through to the end. For if at any point in the flight she had backed out, she would have been remembered for this singular failure, and her lifetime of achievement would have been overshadowed. She viewed herself as an inspiration to women on what can be achieved by a determined woman who refused to accept 2nd place in any endeavor she set her mind to pursue.

      When Amelia took off from Lae in New Guinea for Howland Island on that fateful day of July 2, 1937, she had no way of knowing that she only had hours to live. Although she was likely exhausted, she was undoubtedly looking forward to a spectacular 4th of July party that her husband was orchestrating for her when she arrived on the West Coast. And although we will never know for sure what happened during her final flight, there are a number of clues left behind which point to what likely happened. On the last 1,000 miles of her flight to Howland Island Amelia would be flying at night over the ocean with no landmarks to guide her. She was likely flying through overcast and rain squalls by dead reckoning and along the way her apprehension must undoubtedly must have steadily increased, with the realization that she was trying to find a needle in a haystack at midnight. We can only imagine the cold fear that began to grip Amelia and her navigator, Fred Noonan, as they struggled on into a more ominous and desperate situation with each passing hour. So ride along with Amelia on her last flight and experience how she likely faced her end.

      Early Years

      Amelia Earhart was born on July 24, 1897, in Atchison, Kansas, the daughter of Samuel Edwin Earhart and Amelia Amy Otis. As a juvenile Amelia was a tomboy.

      When she entered Hyde Park High School, Amelia was most proficient in math and science and she excelled in quickly solving difficult problems. These should have proved extremely useful in her future career in aviation, but she chose not to use the tools of the latest aviation science available to her at the time in preference to a seat-of-the-pants approach of trusting in her intuition to see her through.

      After graduation, Amelia had intended to attend Vassar, but her declining finances forced her to enroll is a less expensive private woman’s college near Philadelphia. Her mother’s trust fund, which was funding her education, had been reduced from $250,000 to $60,000, then to only $20,000. At this point, Amelia persuaded her mother to invest in a gypsum mine, but this proved to be a disaster, as an unexpected flash flood in 1922 put the mine underwater. Amelia tried to recoup something of the failed investment by driving the truck that survived the mine flooding in a sand & gravel hauling business, but this too soon failed when the truck was hit by a train. Amelia then bought another truck for $7,200 and drove it herself, but there was not enough business to make the venture profitable. A few years later Amy found the money to send Amelia to Columbia University for 2 years (1923-4), but then she was finally tapped out and could afford no further tuition, resulting in the end of Amelia’s formal education.

      With the deterioration of the family’s financial situation, Amelia’s father Edwin took to the bottle. He soon made home life for the family a living hell, as verbal abuse inevitably led to physical abuse for Amelia's mother. The railroad had begun to notice his erratic and often incompetent handling of its legal affairs and when an official from the corporate office dropped by unannounced one day, he saw Edwin passed out drunk at his desk. For that he was summarily fired. In 1924 the family then separated, with Edwin going to stay with relatives in Kansas City in an attempt to dry out, while Amy and her 2 daughters (Amelia and Muriel) went to live with friends (the Otis family) in Chicago. Muriel eventually remarried and moved to Medford, Massachusetts.

      While taking some college classes in Toronto, Canada, Amelia decided to volunteer as a Red Cross nurse’s aid at the WWI military hospital for the wounded there. She stayed on for the rest of the war (about a year), doing whatever she could during her 10-hour shift to provide assistance in menial housekeeping and sanitation support.

      In 1924, less than 9 months after she received her FAI (flying) license, Amelia Earhart was hospitalized for a sinus operation. She was not only ill, she was broke. Almost 27 years old, she had spent the last 3 years racing on a treadmill of multiple, menial jobs to pay for her flying. It was a matter, she said, of no pay, no fly, and no work, no pay. Her only financial help had come from her mother, who gave her the money for the little Airster from the sale of the Otis house in Atchison.

      Barely recovered from one operation and knowing another would be necessary as soon as she reached Boston, Amelia was determined to see something of the United States on the way. She drove to the Sequoia National Park, then to Yosemite and Crater Lake in early June. After Seattle, she drove to Banff Alberta, then to Lake Louise before crossing Calgary’s prairie land on her way to Yellowstone National Park. The 7,000-mile trip to Boston took 6 weeks. Two weeks later Amelia entered Boston General Hospital for more sinus surgery.

      Persona

      Amelia was tall for a woman for her time, being about 5’8". Her face was homely and her smile revealed a noticeable gap between her front teeth. When she saw how she photographed, she tended to keep her mouth shut from then on. She considered her ankles too thick and her legs shapeless and thick, so she frequently wore trousers to cover those defects. Her feet were prone to swell from time to time, so stylish shoes calling attention to her feet were out. Despite all this, however, Amelia did have a down-to-earth seriousness and friendliness that endeared her to most people who met her.

      Love Life

      George Palmer Putnam Although Amelia did have a few brief flings during her teenage years, she had only one noteworthy romantic relationship, that being with George Palmer Putnam. He was the grandson of the founder of G.P. Putnam’s Sons, Publishers. George was the publicist on Amelia’s 1st trans-Atlantic flight and on all her flights thereafter, and their closeness and compatible personalities soon led him to become infatuated with her. Upon divorcing his wife Dorothy (whom he married in 1911) on December 19, 1929, George allegedly proposed the 1st of 6 times to Amelia over the next 2 years. She finally agreed to marry him but with the stipulation that a year from then if either of them became dissatisfied with the marriage they could call it quits without any hassle from the other. The prenuptial agreement specified that they would have an open marriage, where unfaithfulness was always an option for either of them. On February 7, 1931, the pair was married. Amelia's mother opposed the marriage largely because George was 10 years older than Amelia. Although George slipped a marriage ring on Amelia’s finger on the day of their marriage, the quirky Amelia never wore it after that.

      The glue that kept the marriage together was Amelia’s interest in establishing new flying records for women and George’s interest in promoting her dream and securing the financial backing to make it happen. George was soon named chief of the editorial board of Paramount Studios, which increased his effectiveness in handling Amelia publicity.

      The year after Amelia’s death, George set up a new publishing company. During WWII, he joined the military, serving as an intelligence officer. He remarried in 1939 (Marie Cosigny James) and 1945 (Margaret Havilland). George died from kidney failure in 1956, at the age of 62.

      Lectures

      Amelia was in great demand on the lecture circuit. Her immediate future was financially comfortable, due to lecture fees and syndicated articles she wrote about her various record-setting flights. Although initial attention was paid to those transatlantic flyers who crossed the ocean by air subsequent

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