Amelia Earhart had conquered the Atlantic with her solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic, but that wasn’t enough for this adventurous aviatrix. Fortunately for Purdue, university president Elliott was ahead of his time both in women’s career choices and aviation. By 1935 Earhart joined the faculty of Purdue University as a counselor for women’s careers. She also advised Purdue how to establish themselves as a leader in aeronautics and aeronautical engineering.
Earhart had a dream to fly around the world, and the Purdue Research Foundation helped her pursue that dream. In order to accomplish this feat, she had to have a “flying laboratory.” On the board were trustees whose names still live in Hoosier history – J. K. Lilly, grandson of the founder of the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical giant, who personally offered to pay $20,000 of the $80,000 price tag. David E. Ross of the Rostone Corporation, another familiar name to Indiana residents, matched Lilly’s sum. The total amount raised for Earhart’s flight into the history books totaled $100,000, a tidy sum for that time period.
Earhart left for her airborne trek around the world in a Lockheed Electra 10. It was the first all-metal design by Lockheed and was sleek beauty powered by two Pratt & Whitney air-cooled radial engines with nine cylinders with three to four hundred horsepower each. The plane, manufactured in California, was delivered to Earhart at Purdue where she wrapped the gas and oil lines to prevent leaks. Extra fuel tanks took up most of the space in the fuselage. Fred Noonan, a top-notch navigator, sat behind the tanks in the tail of the aircraft. He had no way to walk to the front to discuss information with Earhart, so he used a long stick to pass notes to her. Not an efficient method of communication and, one could guess, useless in an emergency when radio transmission could be inadequate.
In an eerie prelude to the end of Earhart’s flight, the beginning was tragic. As Earhart had decided, she flew east to west in the first attempt at a world flight. At Luke Field in Hawaii, a tire blew on landing. In order to prevent a fire on her flying gasoline tank, Earhart switched off the engines. She hit the runway hard enough to break the struts, and the sleek $80,000 Elektra bellied in. Imagine the shudder of the yoke, the vibrations of the rudders, and the fight to control the uncontrollable. Imagine the sound of metal ripped from the frame while sparks marked the end of a dream. From the pictures in the Purdue University archives, it looks like the gear splayed on landing.
A less determined pilot might have given up, but not Earhart. She had the plane repaired and set off again – this time from east to west. Twenty-two thousand miles of the twenty-seven thousand mile trip were completed. The last words from Earhart were at full strength, which meant she was only a few miles away. “KHAQQ calling Itasca. We must be on you but cannot see you. Gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at a 1,000 feet.”
This is the final installment in a three-part series. Read parts one and two.
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