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Landing at Oakland International Airport, Amelia Rose Earhart returned to her flight origin and “closed the flight plan” of the original Amelia Mary Earhart. In doing so, Amelia Rose Earhart becomes the youngest woman to fly around the world in a single-engine aircraft, and draws attention to her foundation to fund flight scholarships for young women interested in pursuing a career in aviation.
While not a direct relation to Amelia Mary Earhart of 1937 fame, Amelia Rose Earhart was inspired by her namesake to set big goals to achieve in life.
Earhart has been a pilot since 2010 and worked as a professional newscaster in the Los Angeles and Denver metropolitan areas. This particular flight was first considered while she was still in high school. After more than a decade of dreaming and several years of actual planning, Earhard finally make the flight a reality.
Earhart, along with co-pilot Shane Jordan, selected the Pilatus PC-12 NG as their aircraft of choice for this arduous journey. Earhart stated, “The PC-12 NG was the perfect aircraft in which to complete this flight. Its renowned reliability and performance removed much of the inherent risk associated with a flight of this nature. And, its large cabin gave us plenty of room to stretch out and stay alert on the very long flight legs. I am delighted to report that the aircraft performed flawlessly throughout our entire 16-day journey. Over the total 24,300 miles, we did not incur a single issue to interrupt our flight plan.”
Earhart’s flight plan endeavored to stay as close as possible to the original 1937 Earhart flight as current geo-political conditions would allow. In order to accomplish the long over-water legs of Amelia’s flight, the aircraft was fitted with a 200-gallon auxiliary fuel tank, which extended the PC-12 NG’s standard range of 1,830 nm to over 2,500 nm with comfortable reserves.
While over-flying Howland Island, the last known position of Amelia Mary Earhart’s infamous flight, Amelia awarded 10 flight scholarships to young women across the United States through the Fly With Amelia Foundation (www.ameliaearhartproject.com). Earhart also employed social media throughout the trip, even in the air, to keep her fans and followers posted on her experiences. At the conclusion of the flight, Earhart had attracted more than 30,000 Twitter followers and nearly as many on Facebook and Instagram.
A joint press conference and celebration with Amelia Rose Earhart, her major flight sponsors, and the actual PC-12 NG flown on her journey will take place at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on Monday, July 28, at 10:00 a.m. at the Pilatus exhibit.
