Local fliers hope 'Amelia' film inspires women
| Wednesday, Nov 04 2009 06:08 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Nov 04 2009 06:08 PM
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A daredevil who took her first flying lesson in 1921, Amelia Earhart set altitude and distance records. In 1928, she was the first woman to fly the Atlantic.
A few years later, she was the first woman and second person to solo the Atlantic. In 1935, she became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific, from Honolulu to Oakland. Later that year, she became the first person to solo from Mexico City to Newark. She was the first woman awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Congress.
But her accomplishments were not limited to her aviation record. She was married to publisher George Putnam and romantically linked to Eugene L. Vidal, a federal aviation official and the father of author Gore Vidal. Her aviation exploits and spunk made her the darling of the media and the envy of young women.
As Earhart approached her 40th birthday, she set her sights on becoming the first woman to fly around the world.
On June 1, 1937, she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, took off from Miami to begin the 29,000-mile journey. By June 29, they had reached New Guinea, with just 7,000 miles remaining of their route.
On July 2, Earhart and Noonan took off for their next stop -- tiny, hard-to-find Howland Island in the mid-Pacific. The route soon became enshrouded by clouds and rain, making celestial navigation difficult. Their radio transmissions to a Coast Guard cutter tracking their progress became intermittent.
Earhart complained her fuel was running low. Then there was silence. Earhart's plane had disappeared. After spending $4 million to search 250,000 square miles of ocean, the United States government called off its rescue operation.
Earhart's disappearance remains a mystery today.
Earhart an inspiration for women
Actress Hilary Swank learned how to fly for her starring role in "Amelia." Members of the Bakersfield chapter of the Ninety-Nines hope the movie, currently on screens in Bakersfield, will inspire others to earn their wings.
Bakersfield members of the national women's aviation organization will be at the entrance of Edwards Theater in The Marketplace from 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday with information about learning to fly and about joining the Ninety-Nines.
"We will be there to tell people how they can put their dreams to flight," said Dee Blum, the chapter's president and a flight instructor with Kern Charter Service Inc.
The movie "Amelia" stars Swank, Richard Gere, Virginia Madsen, Ewan McGregor and Christopher Eccleston. It depicts the challenges and accomplishments of women aviators through the life of pioneer Amelia Earhart. Earhart knew and accepted the dangers of her aviation career. Her official biography notes that she left a letter to her husband to be read in case a flight turned out to be her last. It read: "I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."
She was often heard claiming that her accomplishments proved women can pilot an airplane just as well as men.
In 1929, with just 117 women licensed as pilots in the United States, the Ninety-Nines began to form. The women were contacted to determine their interest in establishing an organization to encourage other women to fly and to remove prejudicial obstacles to women pilots achieving their goals. Ninety-nine responded affirmatively, resulting in the organization's name. Earhart was the organization's first president.
Blum said 1,500 women belong to the organization's Southwest Section, which includes California, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii. Twenty-nine women belong to the Bakersfield chapter. Among its newest members is Elaine LeCain, 60, who earned her license last fall after retiring from a career as a music teacher in the Panama-Buena Vista School District.
Blum acknowledges that LeCain's route to flying is a bit unusual. Most people learn to fly in their 30s and 40s, after they have established their careers and can afford the approximately $14,000 it takes to complete training.
The average course requires 70 hours of in-flight instruction.
LeCain, who is heading up the Ninety-Nines' "Amelia" event at Edwards on Sunday, said she began taking lessons in the 1970s.
But her career and child-rearing, as well as a six-month trip to India to study tigers, interfered.
But the flying bug never left her. LeCain resumed her lessons as retirement from her teaching career neared. She has grown children in Santa Barbara and in Nicaragua who she hopes to fly off to see.
Blum, a pilot for three decades, has been a flight instructor for 27 years. Before moving to Bakersfield and becoming a full-time flight instructor for Kern Charter Service, Blum lived in San Carlos and worked in human resources for major start-up and fiber optics companies.
Today's slumping economy has resulted in some slowdown in general aviation services, Blum noted. But she said there remains a steady interest in learning to fly.
A typical local student works in the oil industry, or owns his or her own business, she said. "They are at a position in their life that they can afford the lessons."
But becoming a private pilot is not just a "rich man's" hobby, she said, explaining general aviation is a critical component of the nation's emergency response system.
As an example, she noted private pilots "flew tons and tons of supplies to Watsonville in response to the 1989 (Loma Prieta) earthquake" that struck the Bay Area. Private pilots volunteer to fly medical missions, transporting patients that otherwise could not afford emergency transportation. Blum said she once flew a heart to a critically ill patient awaiting a transplant.
General aviation also contributes to the economic vitality of communities, she noted. With commercial airlines cutting back, charter flights connect smaller communities to urban destinations. Aviation-based companies provide a wide range of other services.
Pilots interested in joining the Ninety-Nines or people who want to learn more about flying are invited to call Blum at Kern Charter Service, a Cessna-based, certified flight school. Telephone 834-6870.
