On June 17-18, 1928, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air, flying as a passenger (and log-keeper) aboard the Fokker Trimotor Friendship from Trepassey, Newfoundland to Burry Port, Wales. Four years later, she would do it alone.
Earhart was modest about the 1928 crossing — she insisted that pilot Wilmer Stultz and mechanic Louis Gordon deserved all the credit, calling herself "just baggage." But the flight made her internationally famous, and she used that fame relentlessly to advocate for women in aviation, for commercial aviation growth, and for the belief that flight was for everyone.
On May 20-21, 1932, Earhart silenced any remaining skeptics by flying solo from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland to Londonderry, Northern Ireland in 14 hours and 56 minutes — becoming the first woman and only the second person (after Lindbergh) to fly solo across the Atlantic.
Her record-breaking career — including the first solo flight from Hawaii to California and a string of women's speed records — was cut short when she disappeared over the Pacific on July 2, 1937, during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe at the equator. Her fate remains unknown, but her legacy as aviation's most iconic female pioneer is eternal.
Amelia Earhart proved the sky belonged to everyone willing to climb in. At Cleared4Tees, we celebrate the pioneers who flew first.
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Blue skies and tailwinds — The Cleared4Tees Crew ✈️
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