U.S. female pilot coming to town

JAKARTA (JP): U.S. pilot Linda Finch is scheduled to land at Halim Perdana Kusuma airport in Jakarta on May 6, as part of her attempt to retrace Amelia Earhart's 1937 flight around the world.

Finch is scheduled to arrive at 3:15 p.m. according to organizers from the Indonesian Aviation Association and U.S. airplane manufacturer Pratt & Whitney.

Earhart, the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic, completed 22,000 miles (35,400 km) of her journey before vanishing in July 1937 en route from New Guinea to Howland Island.

Finch, a 46-year-old businesswoman from Texas, started her journey from Oakland, California, on March 17 in a Lockheed Electra 10E, replicated on the 1935 plane used by Earhart, and followed a similar route used by her famous predecessor.

Organizers said Finch wanted to spread Earhart's belief that "limits were often perceived rather than real".

Finch's two-and-a-half-month journey, called "World Flight 1997", will cross five continents and include more than 30 stops in 20 countries. (raw)