Named after the pioneering female pilot, Amelia Rose Earhart is constantly asked whether she flies planes. So the Denver 9News reporter finally decided to learn. Now that she's completed her instrument training, she's vowed to recreate Earhart's 1937 North American voyage, starting in Oakland, California and ending in Miami.
When the original Earhart landed in Miami, she announced her plans to circumnavigate the globe -- the same trip that would result in her unexplained disappearance.
While Earhart of Denver plans to eventually tackle a global voyage, she's excited about this first trip even though it will only break personal records. One of the legs includes her first time piloting over ocean, the Gulf of Mexico.
She told HuffPost Miami, "This flight will be a true cross country adventure as I complete my instrument flight training," adding, "I have my private pilot certificate. This is an advanced rating." Her instrument flight instructor, John Post, will accompany her on the trip.
The two leave Oakland the day after Christmas in a donated Cirrus SR22 plane and have stops planned in Burbank, Tucson, Austin, and New Orleans before arriving in Miami. That amounts to 30 hours in the air, traveling at 190 knots and at 10,000 to 15,000 altitude, according to Earhart on 9News.
The new aviatrix says she "inspired by Amelia's adventurous spirit. She was bold, strong, but also feminine and I want to be a similar role model for young girls who want to get into aviation." She also claims to be a distant relative of Earhart, citing common ancestry in the 1700s on her father's side.
On her blog, which she will update during her planning and voyage, Earhart notes:
My home is filled with books about Amelia Earhart, aviation related tokens and artwork… but there is one thing in particular that has been a source of constant inspiration to me as a pilot, a woman and as an adventurer.
A large print of this photo hangs in my home, I see it as I come and go, as I daydream of flights to far away places. This is a photo of Amelia Earhart that was taken over Oakland, CA in 1937 during her flight to Honolulu. It is my goal to recreate this photo in the Cirrus.
The first Earhart and her eventual disappearance is a continued source of fascination.
Ann Pellegreno successfully recreated Earhart's flight in 1967 flying a Lockheed Electra 10A, dropping a wreath at Howland Island on July 2, 1967, thirty years after Earhart was lost with her navigator, Fred Noonan.
Here's Earhart discussing her flight plans on 9News: