SEATTLE – “In Search of Amelia Earhart,” a temporary exhibit honoring the life of the famous pilot, opens Oct. 12 with the installation of the a 1935 Lockheed Electra airliner, same type as Amelia Earhart’s famous aircraft. The Museum’s Electra is one of only two in existence, and the only one with the same modifications made to Earhart’s plane – and flown around the world in 1997 on the 60th anniversary of Earhart’s global flight attempt. The aircraft will remain on permanent display.
“In Search of Amelia Earhart” will be on exhibit until April 28, 2014, and is free with admission to the Museum.
The “Amelia” exhibit tells Earhart story through original photographs, newspapers, newsreel footage and Earhart’s personal belongings including her pilot’s helmet and goggles, and the only known surviving piece of the Lockheed Electra Earhart flew on her ill-fated flight around the world in 1937.
Amelia Earhart
“Amelia” captured the nation’s imagination when she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic in 1928 – as a passenger – and became a legend when she mysteriously disappeared at the helm of a daring flight around the world just nine years later. Growing up in the early 20th century, she was inspired by the achievements of women of her day and would come to be an inspiration to many more.
Earhart was one of a small number of women who earned their pilot’s license in the early 1920s and promoted aviation her entire career. After the non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in 1928 as a passenger aboard the Fokker F.VII Friendship, she had many achievements and as a pilot broke a number of aviation records. In 1932, she became first woman – and second person after Charles Lindbergh – to fly across the Atlantic solo, and her celebrity grew. She published many newspaper and magazine articles, several books, and became a sought after public speaker and product endorser. In 1937, she nearly completed a record-setting flight around the world, but was lost in the Pacific Ocean. Her disappearance remains one of the great mysteries in aviation and popular culture.
The Lockheed Model 10-E Electra Airliner
The Museum’s Electra was built for Northwest Airlines and began passenger service in 1935. It served in WWII and then went back to flying passengers for airlines in Brazil and the U.S. until it was restored to replicate Amelia Earhart’s Electra in 1996. In 1997 Linda Finch flew it around the world, reenacting Earhart’s ill-fated, 1937 last flight. Today there is only one other Lockheed Model 10-E Electra in existence.
The independent, non-profit Museum of Flight is one of the largest air and space museums in the world, attracting more than 500,000 visitors annually. The Museum’s collection includes more than 160 historically significant air- and spacecraft, the original manufacturing facility of The Boeing Co., and the world’s only full-scale NASA Space Shuttle Trainer. The Museum’s aviation and space library and archives are the largest on the West Coast. More than 100,000 individuals are served annually by the Museum’s on-site and outreach educational programs. The Museum of Flight is accredited by the American Association of Museums, and is an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.
The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field half-way between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors 65 and older, $15 for active military, $10 for youth 5 to 17, and free for children under 5. Group rates are available. Admission on the first Thursday of the month is free from 5 to 9 p.m. courtesy of Wells Fargo. McCormick & Schmick’s Wings Café is on site. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org