Amelia Earhart Memorial: Help Bring the Lockheed Electra 10E to The Museum of Flight
By Herb Foreman
Amelia Earhart in front of her Electra 10-E.Recently, my friend Carol Osborne, as aircraft historian and author of a book regarding Amelia Earhart and her quest to be the first woman to circumnavigate the Earth called and asked me to become involved in a campaign to secure a Lockheed 10E similar to the one Earhart flew for the Seattle Museum of Flight. Her call brought back my memories as a child of 11 years in 1937 when President Franklin Roosevelt called for the Navy to do all it could to located Earhart’s downed plane along with her navigator, Fred Noonan off the coast of Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean. Seventy-five years have gone by and the search still continues.
The Seattle Museum of Flight’s Board of Trustees has become interested in securing a Lockheed 10E that will just about duplicate the aircraft Amelia flew on her last flight. A man and his wife in Northern California now own the one Linda Finch flew around the world in 1997, with Venture Capitalist Reid Dennis following her in his beautifully restored Grumman Albatross.
Aircraft historian Carol Osbourne sits with Bob Gililand, the chief test pilot on the SR-22 Blackbird, at the Sky Kitchen at the Palo Alto Airport. (Herb Foreman)The purchase price of $1.2 million would be used by the sellers to establish an endowment encouraging women to become pilots (through Women Have Wings). Any proposal encouraging young people to become involved in aviation has to be worthwhile. The cost of acquisition, fuel, insurance, etc., has escalated in the past few years and the pilot pool seems to be shrinking.
It is my understanding that there are only two Lockheed 10Es still flying. It was a beautiful plane in 1937 and is still quite impressive today. I remember Erol McBoyle, a wealthy fruit farmer who owned the airport that is now the Nevada County Airport possessed one. I saw it after a landing accident that damaged the landing gear at the old Nevada City Airport that is now closed. It was still beautiful even with the crumpled gear.
The Museum has already raised nearly half of the $1.2 million asking price. The trustees would like to see the project as a tribute to women pilots However, both men and women are encouraged to donate to this worthy cause with the thought that men might contribute in the name of an important female pilot in his life.
The co-chairs of this worthwhile project are Patti Payne, Anne Simpson and Nancy Auth. Sandra Dolese, Senior Advancement Officer, would be happy to accept your donation. Her telephone number is 206/768-7199. Her email address is sdolese@museumofflight.org.
Any contribution will be happily accepted. The Trustees have set up a contribution form with eight categories and suggested amounts to each one. There is the Wasp, Twin Rudder, Aileron, Landing Gear, Leading Edge, Elevator, Yoke and Instruments. Donations may be made by check or credit card. (I’m sure cash would be accepted, too!) Call or write to Sandy Dolese for the schedule. She reports that Wells Fargo has already contributed $100,000 to the project.
The mailing address of the Museum is Museum of Flight, 9404 E. Marginal Way S, Seattle, WA 98108 but you might want to call ahead (206-764-5720) for the tax identification number to write on the check for your tax purposes. The museum webiste has additional information at http://www.museumofflight.org/electra.
