In the early days of aircraft flying, there were a few women who excelled in their flying skill and loved to fly more than anything else. Here, let me talk about two women: America’s Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) and Germany’s Hanna Reitsch (1912-1979).

First comes Amelia Earhart. She came from a well-to-do family and started to fly early. Earhart became a celebrity after becoming the first female (a passenger) to cross the Atlantic by aircraft in 1928. Through accumulating her flying experience, she became instrumental in advocating women’s flying. Also, she ardently supported women’s rights. Together with her husband, George Putnam, who was a successful publisher as well as a project coordinator, she managed to make necessary preparations for eye-catching flight endeavors one after another.

In 1932, Earhart made the first woman’s nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic from Canada’s Newfoundland to a place near Londonderry, Ireland. She flew a Lockheed Vega, which was a five to seven seat airliner powered by a P&W piston engine developing 450 hp with a cruising speed of 266 km/h and a range of 1,167 km (for a standard configuration). 

This photo was taken just after Earheart landed near Londonderry on May 21, 1932. She was seen by the side of her Lockheed Vega 5B, which is now preserved at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC.

This was followed by the first woman’s solo non-stop flight across the US in the same year, Earhart flew from Newark, New Jersey to Los Angeles. In 1936, Earhart made the first female solo flight from Hawaii to California (Oakland). And more.

Then, it happened to be the last attempt by Earhart. It was a circumnavigation of the world in 1937. For this purpose, Earhart decided to use a bigger airliner, the Lockheed Electra 10E, which was powered by two engines and the standard configuration called for two crew and 12 passengers (actually, it was converted to carry additional fuel instead of passengers). To assist her, a navigator, Fred Noonan, joined the team.

Then, it happened to be the last attempt by Earhart. It was a circumnavigation of the world in 1937. For this purpose, Earhart decided to use a bigger airliner, the Lockheed Electra 10E, which was powered by two engines and the standard configuration called for two crew and 12 passengers (actually, it was converted to carry additional fuel instead of passengers). To assist her, a navigator, Fred Noonan, joined the team. 

So, they started from Oakland on May 21 and headed for South America, then to Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and so on in several stretches, and arrived at Lae, New Guinea on July 2, completing 35,000 km. From Lae, the next stretch was to a small island called Howland Island 4,100 km away. Unfortunately, the flight disappeared near the island without trace. So, this was the sad ending of Earhart’s remarkable and glorifying flying feats.

Lastly, let me quote Earhart’s love of flying; “After midnight, the moon set, and I was alone with the stars. I have often said that the lure of flying is the lure of beauty, and I need no other flight to convince me that the reason flyers fly, whether they know it or not, is the esthetic appeal of flying.”

Now, I’m turning to Hanna Reitsch. Reitch’s father was an eye doctor, so early on she wanted to be a doctor. But soon she was so taken with glider flying that this had changed her life completely. 

Reitch managed to make glider flight records one after another from 1932 to 1939, such as women’s gliding endurance (5.5 hours), women’s gliding distance (305 km), first women to cross the Alps among others. Also, she was the first woman to fly a helicopter, the Fa 61 as shown.

Eventually, Reitch became the first female test pilot for the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force). She even flew, as the first woman, the Me 262 (right), a jet fighter and the Me 163, a rocket fighter.

In this way, Reitch became a “star “of Luftwaffe propaganda. She survived WW2 and started to fly gliders once more. Just like before the war, Reitch made glider records one after another from 1952 to 1957. She wrote her autobiography, “The Sky My Kingdom.”

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