Female aviator flies here today on global journey<\/p>\n
By Aditiatama Santoso Marsoem<\/p>\n
RALEIGH, North Carolina (JP): If everything goes according to
\nplan, Linda Finch, the second woman to attempt to fly around the
\nworld in a Lockheed Electra 10E, will land in Jakarta today.<\/p>\n
She will be accompanied on the flight from Singapore by one of
\nseveral navigators who are taking turns in assisting her in her
\nbid. Finch's goal is to become the first woman to fly around the
\nworld along the equator route and in the same 1930s model
\naircraft used by American aviator Amelia Earhart. The World Tour
\n'97 flight is also an homage to Earhart, who mysteriously
\ndisappeared near Howland Island during her bid to circumnavigate
\nthe globe in 1937.<\/p>\n
The Texan, who is involved in the healthcare and retirement
\nindustry, is bringing a message to schoolchildren to fulfill
\ntheir dreams. Many American students are following her journey
\nthrough a program called You Can Soar, which was designed by
\nFinch and 20 schoolteachers in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Although she is a seasonal pilot, Flinch's flight experience
\nis unquestioned. She has more than 8,000 flying hours and has
\nflown in airshows for more than 10 years. Her 21 years of
\nexperience with historic aircraft include restoring a AT-6 World
\nWar II trainer airplane. She is currently the head coordinator
\nfor the restoration of a rare P-47 Thunderbolt airplane.<\/p>\n
Finch's journey commemorates the 60th anniversary of the
\nflight by Earhart and she is closely retracing Earhart's route.
\nHer adventure began from the same hangar in Oakland, California,
\nand on the identical date, March 17. As well as using the same
\naircraft model, Finch will also stop on five continents of South
\nAmerica, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.<\/p>\n
Flying in the old aircraft is probably an uncomfortable
\nexperience compared to today's sophisticated models. The plane is
\nmade of metal and its cockpit is small; a long journey can cause
\nheat to build up inside the plane.<\/p>\n
Her flight path makes several detours from Earhart's journey.
\nThese changes were made due to political concerns or flight
\ndistances. She visited Egypt instead of Sudan because of fighting
\nin that country. She will also not fly directly from Papua New
\nGuinea to Howland Island, as Earhart attempted to do, due to the
\nflight's length.<\/p>\n
She will break up the journey into different stops. In
\nIndonesia, she will fly on to Surabaya tomorrow, whereas Earhart
\nvisited Bandung. She then flies on to Darwin, Australia, on
\nThursday, and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on May 14.<\/p>\n
If the starting point of the journey is designated as Miami,
\nFlorida, then Earhart reached Papua New Guinea within one month,
\nwhereas Finch will have taken nearly two months to reach the same
\nsite. Finch originally scheduled a 10-week journey and a return
\nto Oakland on May 26.<\/p>\n
Despite its authenticity, Finch's aircraft is outfitted with a
\ncomputer and her web site is http:\/\/www.world.org. Aircraft
\nengine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney is the sponsor of her flight.<\/p>\n
Earhart<\/p>\n
Earhart, who was born 100 years ago this year, was one of the
\nmost famous people of her time. In 1922, she was the first woman
\nto set an altitude record of 14,000 feet. In June 1928, she
\nbecame the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and in
\n1935, she became the first person to solo the Pacific Ocean. By
\n1937, a flight around the world was the only notable feat missing
\nfrom her achievements.<\/p>\n
Her original route was to take a western route. On March 17,
\n1937, she left Oakland for Honolulu, and had planned to then fly
\non to Howland. Unfortunately, she had an accident at Honolulu
\nAirport and the flight was delayed while the airplane was fixed
\nat the Lockheed plant in California.<\/p>\n
By the time the plane was ready, weather conditions around the
\nworld had changed. Earhart judged that it would be especially
\ndangerous to fly over the Caribbean in the middle of the monsoon
\nseason and she changed her flight path to the east.<\/p>\n
She first flew to Miami for a final check on her airplane. The
\ntechnicians could not fix her radio properly but they recommended
\nthat she remove the long antenna from the airplane because it
\ncould cause problems during the journey. The antenna was
\nimportant as an emergency wavelength but Earhart went along with
\nthe advice.<\/p>\n
On June 1, 1937, Earhart resumed her adventure again with her
\nnavigator Fred Noonan as she took off for South America. By June
\n30, she was in Lac, New Guinea, and had already traveled 22,000
\nmiles, with 7,000 miles to go before her final destination. Her
\nnext stop was Howland, 2,500 miles away.<\/p>\n
The flight from Lac to Howland would be the longest, most
\ndangerous part of her route, and one which nobody had attempted
\nbefore. Her final contact with radio operators on the U.S. Coast
\nGuard cutter Itasca was at 8:45 a.m. on July 1 when she was
\nwithin minutes of landing. All subsequent efforts by the U.S.
\nship to contact her were unsuccessful. Her decision to leave the
\nradio transmitter behind in Miami proved to be fateful after all.<\/p>\n
Finch says her flight is dedicated to Earhart. She has
\nreiterated that Earhart's journey was much more difficult as
\ncommunication and navigation devices were not as sophisticated as
\ntoday. Despite the difficulties, Earhart was not daunted in
\npursuing her goal. Earhart believed limits were often more
\nperceived than real, and that people could achieve their dreams
\nthrough persistent effort.<\/p>\n
This same belief motivates Finch. She realizes that breaking
\ndown a formidable objective into small steps is the best way to
\nachieving a dream.<\/p>\n
Aditiatama Santoso Marsoem is a 7th grade student at Leroy
\nMartin Middle School in Raleigh, North Carolina. He received a
\nscholarship from Duke University's Talented Identification
\nProgram (TIP) to study algebra at Appalachian State University,
\nNC, this summer. His teachers are Ms. Sahar El Shafie and Mrs.
\nStacy Ham.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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