Female aviator flies here today on global journey
By Aditiatama Santoso Marsoem
RALEIGH, North Carolina (JP): If everything goes according to plan, Linda Finch, the second woman to attempt to fly around the world in a Lockheed Electra 10E, will land in Jakarta today.
She will be accompanied on the flight from Singapore by one of several navigators who are taking turns in assisting her in her bid. Finch's goal is to become the first woman to fly around the world along the equator route and in the same 1930s model aircraft used by American aviator Amelia Earhart. The World Tour '97 flight is also an homage to Earhart, who mysteriously disappeared near Howland Island during her bid to circumnavigate the globe in 1937.
The Texan, who is involved in the healthcare and retirement industry, is bringing a message to schoolchildren to fulfill their dreams. Many American students are following her journey through a program called You Can Soar, which was designed by Finch and 20 schoolteachers in the U.S.
Although she is a seasonal pilot, Flinch's flight experience is unquestioned. She has more than 8,000 flying hours and has flown in airshows for more than 10 years. Her 21 years of experience with historic aircraft include restoring a AT-6 World War II trainer airplane. She is currently the head coordinator for the restoration of a rare P-47 Thunderbolt airplane.
Finch's journey commemorates the 60th anniversary of the flight by Earhart and she is closely retracing Earhart's route. Her adventure began from the same hangar in Oakland, California, and on the identical date, March 17. As well as using the same aircraft model, Finch will also stop on five continents of South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.
Flying in the old aircraft is probably an uncomfortable experience compared to today's sophisticated models. The plane is made of metal and its cockpit is small; a long journey can cause heat to build up inside the plane.
Her flight path makes several detours from Earhart's journey. These changes were made due to political concerns or flight distances. She visited Egypt instead of Sudan because of fighting in that country. She will also not fly directly from Papua New Guinea to Howland Island, as Earhart attempted to do, due to the flight's length.
She will break up the journey into different stops. In Indonesia, she will fly on to Surabaya tomorrow, whereas Earhart visited Bandung. She then flies on to Darwin, Australia, on Thursday, and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on May 14.
If the starting point of the journey is designated as Miami, Florida, then Earhart reached Papua New Guinea within one month, whereas Finch will have taken nearly two months to reach the same site. Finch originally scheduled a 10-week journey and a return to Oakland on May 26.
Despite its authenticity, Finch's aircraft is outfitted with a computer and her web site is http://www.world.org. Aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney is the sponsor of her flight.
Earhart
Earhart, who was born 100 years ago this year, was one of the most famous people of her time. In 1922, she was the first woman to set an altitude record of 14,000 feet. In June 1928, she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and in 1935, she became the first person to solo the Pacific Ocean. By 1937, a flight around the world was the only notable feat missing from her achievements.
Her original route was to take a western route. On March 17, 1937, she left Oakland for Honolulu, and had planned to then fly on to Howland. Unfortunately, she had an accident at Honolulu Airport and the flight was delayed while the airplane was fixed at the Lockheed plant in California.
By the time the plane was ready, weather conditions around the world had changed. Earhart judged that it would be especially dangerous to fly over the Caribbean in the middle of the monsoon season and she changed her flight path to the east.
She first flew to Miami for a final check on her airplane. The technicians could not fix her radio properly but they recommended that she remove the long antenna from the airplane because it could cause problems during the journey. The antenna was important as an emergency wavelength but Earhart went along with the advice.
On June 1, 1937, Earhart resumed her adventure again with her navigator Fred Noonan as she took off for South America. By June 30, she was in Lac, New Guinea, and had already traveled 22,000 miles, with 7,000 miles to go before her final destination. Her next stop was Howland, 2,500 miles away.
The flight from Lac to Howland would be the longest, most dangerous part of her route, and one which nobody had attempted before. Her final contact with radio operators on the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca was at 8:45 a.m. on July 1 when she was within minutes of landing. All subsequent efforts by the U.S. ship to contact her were unsuccessful. Her decision to leave the radio transmitter behind in Miami proved to be fateful after all.
Finch says her flight is dedicated to Earhart. She has reiterated that Earhart's journey was much more difficult as communication and navigation devices were not as sophisticated as today. Despite the difficulties, Earhart was not daunted in pursuing her goal. Earhart believed limits were often more perceived than real, and that people could achieve their dreams through persistent effort.
This same belief motivates Finch. She realizes that breaking down a formidable objective into small steps is the best way to achieving a dream.
Aditiatama Santoso Marsoem is a 7th grade student at Leroy Martin Middle School in Raleigh, North Carolina. He received a scholarship from Duke University's Talented Identification Program (TIP) to study algebra at Appalachian State University, NC, this summer. His teachers are Ms. Sahar El Shafie and Mrs. Stacy Ham.