Project coordinators (including publisher George Putnam) interviewed Amelia and asked her if she would like to fly with the pilot Wilmott Dulcz and the co-pilot and mechanic Louis Gordon as passengers, but the task is to make flight records. 1928 June 17, they flew out of Newfoundland in a Fokker F.VIIb/3m and landed near Ranelli, Wales, England, flying for about 2 1 hour. Amelia has never flown a plane because she spends most of her time flying with instruments. She has no such training. After landing, she said in an interview: "Dulcz flew all the way, and he had to. I'm just luggage, like a bag of potatoes. " She added ... maybe I'll try it one day. ”[44]
While in England, earhart was driving the Avro Avian 594 Avian III owned by Countess Mary Haas, Sn: R3/AV/ 10 1. She bought the plane and shipped it back to America.
Dulcz, Gordon and earhart received a grand welcoming ceremony in new york after their return to the United States, and were later received by US President John Calvin Coolidge at the White House. On the morning of May 20th, 1932, earhart set out from Grace Port in Newfoundland. She had planned to fly all the way to Paris with her single-engine Lockheed Vega, which was twice as much as Lindbergh's solo flight. However, due to strong north wind, cold weather and mechanical problems, she flew 14 hours and 45 minutes in the pasture in northern Delhi, Northern Ireland. A farm worker asked her, "Did you fly far?" She replied, "From America." Today this place is the center of Amelia Earhart.
As the first woman to fly across the Atlantic alone, earhart won the Medal of Honor for Cross Flight of the US Congress, the Legion of Honor of the French Government and the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society awarded by herbert hoover. As her popularity grew, she made friends with many high-ranking officials, including First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Roosevelt and earhart shared many interests and hobbies, especially women's issues. After Roosevelt and earhart flew together, she even applied for permission to learn to fly, but later she didn't really learn to fly. The two men often corresponded before they died. At that time, another very famous female pilot was Jacqueline Cochrane. She was regarded as earhart's strongest competitor, but they were also very close friends during this period. 193565438+1October1kloc-0/earhart became the first person to fly from Honolulu to Oakland, California. Although many people have tried this kind of flight before, earhart was the first person to complete the flight without any mechanical problems. In the last few hours, she even relaxed and listened to "metropolitan opera Live".
On April 19 of the same year, she flew from Los Angeles to Lockheed Vega, whom she was familiar with and nicknamed "Old Bessie the Fire Horse", and went to Mexico City. The next record is from Mexico City to new york on May 8th. There was no difficulty in this flight, but the large number of people who welcomed her in Newark caused some difficulties, because she had to carefully slide from the runway to the apron.
1935, earhart participated in the long-distance race again and won the fifth place in the Bendiks Cup. For her, this is the best result she can achieve, because her Lockheed Vega can only reach the speed of 195 mph, while the car specially built for racing at that time can reach the speed of more than 300 mph. This competition is particularly difficult. One of the participating pilots died in an air crash because of taking off too hastily, while Jacqueline Cochran was forced to quit because of mechanical failure and fog. In addition, there was a severe thunderstorm during the game.
From 1930 to 1935, earhart set seven records for women's speed and length with different planes. 1935, she realized the shortcomings of her "dear red weaver" in long-distance and transoceanic flights. She is considering a new "reward" ... My most eager attempt is to travel around the world as much as possible along the belt of the earth. "But it needs a new plane. Preliminary plan
Earhart joined Purdue University on 1935. She is a visiting teacher who helps guide women's careers and a technical consultant in the Department of Aviation. 10 In July 1936, she got a Lockheed L- 10 Electra donated by Purdue University and began to plan a round-the-world flight. She was not the first person to fly around the world, but the route she planned was the longest at that time, flying about 47,000 kilometers along the equator. Although the plane was declared as a "flight laboratory", it did not actually plan to carry out any useful scientific experiments. The flight was carried out in full accordance with earhart's plan to fly around the world, and in addition, raw materials were collected for her next book to attract public attention. As a navigator, earhart's first choice was Harry Manning, and Manning was the captain of the ship "President Roosevelt" which brought earhart from Europe to the United States in 1928.
Earhart chose Fred Noonan as the second navigator through the contact between pilots in Los Angeles. Noonan is experienced in navigation and aviation (he has a captain's license). There are many other factors that need to be considered when astronomy is used in aviation navigation. Noonan has just left Pan Am, where he established most of the company's Pacific seaplanes. Noonan is also responsible for training Pan American pilots on the San Francisco-Manila route. The original plan was the most difficult part of Noonan's navigation flight: from Hawaii to Howland Island, then Manning and earhart continued to fly to Australia, and finally earhart completed the rest.
First attempt
They flew from Oakland, California to Honolulu. In addition to earhart and Noonan, Harry Manning and Hollywood adventure pilot Paul Mantez (earhart's technical adviser) also flew randomly. They had to repair the plane in Hawaii because of the lubrication and wear of the propeller hub transmission. Finally, the plane arrived at the naval airport on Battery Island in Pearl Harbor. Three days later, earhart, Noonan and Manning set off from Pearl Harbor, but wiped the ground when they took off. The reason for cleaning the floor is controversial. Some airport witnesses, including media reporters, said they saw a tire burst. Earhart thinks the right tire, including the right landing gear, is broken. Others, including Mantez, believe that this is caused by pilot error.
Because the plane was seriously injured, the flight was cancelled and the plane was transported back to burbank for maintenance.
A second attempt
After the plane was repaired, earhart and Putnam received additional donations and were ready to try again. Due to the change of wind direction and climatic conditions of the planned route during the second flight, the flight flew from west to east. Earhart did not announce the first flight from Oakland to Miami, and then announced in Miami that she would continue to fly around the world. This time Noonan was the only random pilot in earhart. On June 1 day, I visited Miami, passed through South America, Africa, Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, and arrived in Yalai, New Guinea on June 29th. 1937. So far, they have flown 35,000 kilometers, and the rest 1 1000 kilometers are across the Pacific Ocean.
Depart from Laicheng
On July 2nd, 1937 (midnight GMT), earhart and Noonan set off from Laicheng with full loads. Their planned destination is Howland Island, 4 1 13 kilometers away. Howland Island is a small island, 2000 meters long, 500 meters wide and 3 meters high. Their last known location was near Nu Cumanu Islands, about 1300 km away from the target. The US Coast Guard vessel "Tasca I" was stationed at Howland Island. It originally planned to communicate with earhart's planes when they arrived nearby, and navigate them to Howland Island.
Fly to Howland island
Due to a series of misunderstandings or mistakes (the details of which are still controversial), navigation to Howland Island by radio waves was unsuccessful. Fred Noonan has previously written about the inaccuracy of radio navigation in determining direction. It was noted that earhart obviously lacked understanding of the very new Bendi directional loop antenna technology at that time. Another possible reason for the misunderstanding is that there is a half-hour difference in time zones used by Tasca and earhart when planning communication time (earhart uses GMT, while Tasca uses the Navy's lost target system). The film record of Laicheng seems to show that the antenna installed under the fuselage slipped or fell off during take-off. The runway of Laicheng Airport is still a lawn, and the plane in earhart is full of fuel, so it is very heavy. Mantez's biographer said that the pilot cut off the long antenna because it was troublesome to take it back to the plane after each use.
Wireless signal
When earhart and Noonan flew to Howland Island, the "Yi Tasca" got a strong and clear language signal from earhart, but earhart obviously could not hear the language signal from the "Yi Tasca". At 7: 42 in the morning, earhart said, "We should be above you, but we can't see you-there is not much fuel. I can't get your radio. Our altitude is 1000 feet. " At 7: 58, she said that she couldn't hear Tasca's voice and asked them to broadcast voice signals to help her find the signal ("Tasca" claimed that the signal was at its peak, which meant that earhart and Noonan were there). Because Tasca can't broadcast the frequency specified by earhart, it sends Morse code. Earhart confirmed that she had received the signal, but could not determine its direction.
At 8: 43, earhart announced for the last time, "We are now on the 157 337 line. We will repeat this message. We will repeat at 62 10 kHz. Wait. " But then she sent it on the same frequency (3 105 kHz): "We are flying north and south on the Internet." Earhart's message seems to say that she and Noonan think they have reached the position marked on the map of Howland Island, but in fact they still have a gap of about 65,438+00 kilometers. Tasker smoked with an oil stove, but apparently the pilot didn't see it. The numerous solitary clouds around Howland Island may also cause difficulties: their shadows on the sea surface are almost indistinguishable from those on the very flat Howland Island.
Since then, whether there are any radio signals from earhart and Noonan is still controversial. If the signals are received later, they are all very weak and difficult to distinguish. Earhart is used to transmit sound signals at a frequency of 365,438+005 kHz, which is limited to aviation use in the United States. The chief operator thinks this frequency is not suitable for long-distance broadcasting. Earhart didn't receive the signal she planned to send at 8: 15 GMT halfway between Laicheng and Howland Island. In addition, the transmitting antenna of the 50W transmitter used by Earhart is a V-shaped antenna, the length of which is lower than the optimal one.
The last sound from earhart on Howland Island showed that she and Noonan were flying along a position line. Noonan may have calculated and drawn it on the map, thinking that this line flew over Howland Island. After the signal terminal, Shimashima tried to re-establish contact through voice and Morse code. After earhart landed, radio workers in the whole Pacific and the United States should be able to receive the signal. But this signal may be too weak or indistinguishable.
Some of the so-called signals after earhart's disappearance were pranks, but others seemed to be true. The signals received by Pan Am Telegraph Station seem to come from different places, including Gardner Island. What was certain at that time was that earhart and Noonan sent these signals, so their plane landed instead of on the water, because the water would short-circuit the plane. After four or five days of disappearance, there are occasional reports of receiving signals, but these signals are incomprehensible. The captain of the Colorado said, "There is no doubt that many transmitting stations use the frequencies used by earhart aircraft to broadcast sounds and other signals. These transmissions increase the confusion and credibility of the report. "
Looking for action
About an hour after earhart confirmed the record for the last time, I Tasca made an unsuccessful search in the north and west of Howland Island. The search position is selected according to the airplane sending position set at the beginning. The us navy quickly joined the search. In three days, all available resources in the search area near Howland Island were deployed. The initial search for Itasca included following the 157/337 line to the northwest of Haolan Island, and then Itasca searched for the corresponding area in the northeast of the island, which was larger than the northwest. According to some reports received from earhart Telecom at that time, some people were sent to the sea area of 28 1 degree northwest of Howland Island, but there were no signs of land and pilots. Four days later,1July 6, 937, the captain of the battleship Colorado was assigned to coordinate all the search operations of the navy and the coast guard.
Later searches included the Phoenix Islands south of Howland Island. A week after earhart disappeared, the Colorado seaplane flew over several islands, including Gardner Island. These islands have been uninhabited for more than 40 years. The report on Gardner Island said: "Obviously, the island has been inhabited recently. However, repeated wandering and diving did not cause the fluctuation response of possible residents. Finally, make sure no one lives there ... there is a steamboat (about 4000 tons) stranded at the western end of the island ... the bow is almost above the water and the tail is broken in two. The coral reefs on Gardner Island are deep enough and large enough for seaplanes to take off and land in all directions. If Miss earhart can climb the coral reef, she can swim or wade to the island. " In addition, they also found that the shape and size of Gardner Island were wrongly marked on the map. Other naval searches are concentrated in the north, west and southwest of Howland Island. These search directions are based on the assumption that earhart's plane floats on the water after falling into the water or the pilot is on an emergency boat.
The official search lasted until July 1937. The navy and coast guard's sea and air search operation cost $4 million, which was the most expensive and rigorous search operation at that time. But the search and rescue technology at that time was still primitive, and some search operations were based on wrong assumptions and information. Official reports are influenced by personal considerations, and the media may mention in their reports that they are looking for the role of an American hero. Although the US Navy and Coast Guard did not conduct an unprecedented search, they did not find any physical signs of earhart, Noonan and their planes.
Immediately after the official search, Putnam organized and paid for the local government's private search for islands and waters near the Pacific Ocean, focusing on gilbert islands. At the end of July, 1937, Putnam rented two boats. He stayed in the United States, but he directed the two ships to look for them in Phoenix Islands, Christmas Island, Fanning Island, gilbert islands and Marshall Islands, but there was no trace of the plane and pilot.