Amelia Earhart’s Certificate of Landing for Her Groundbreaking Solo Transatlantic Flight, Signed on Her Arrival in Europe, Submitted to the National Aeronautic Association for Official Recognition

It is also signed by the two witnesses

 

This is a national treasure of American history, as well as women’s history and aviation

Amelia Earhart was an aviation enthusiast in the 1920s. She joined the Boston chapter of the National Aeronautic Association and in 1928 was elected vice president of the chapter. Founded in 1905, the National Aeronautic Association is the oldest national aviation club in the United States. NAA was, in the golden age of aviation, and remains today, the official record-keeper for United States aviation. Recognized, official records are set through its Contest & Records department. NAA has provided observers for many record attempts and compiles the data necessary to certify aviation and spaceflight records of all kinds. The mechanics of this have been that when a pilot seeking an aviation record landed in the destination city, he or she would fill out and sign forms containing the data of the trip. Then the NAA would review and provide a certification.

Some of the nation’s most prestigious aviation awards are administered by NAA, including the Collier Trophy and the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy. NAA’s members and supporters over the years include the Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, Wiley Post, Jimmy Doolittle, Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yeager, John Glenn and Dick Rutan.

In 1927, Charles Lindbergh thrilled the world by flying non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean. One enthralled by the idea of having a woman fly across the Atlantic was Amy Phipps Guest. She proposed to sponsor such a project if they could find a suitable girl with “the right image.” This led to the famous call made in April 1928 from Captain Hilton H. Railey to Amelia Earhart. “Would you like to fly the Atlantic?” This would mean becoming the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air. Earhart, who believed that women should play a major role in aviation, accepted the proposal and accompanied pilot Wilmer Stultz and mechanic Louis “Slim” Gordon on their 1928 transatlantic flight on the “Friendship” plane. She soon gained international acclaim for being the first woman to make the transatlantic crossing by air, although she did not fly the plane herself. Following the “Friendship” flight, Earhart wrote her first book, “20 Hrs. 40 Mins,” and took a job as aviation editor for Cosmopolitan magazine.

In 1929, Earhart competed in the Powder Puff Derby, the first national Women’s Air Derby race, finishing in third place. She was appointed assistant to the general traffic manager of Transcontinental Air Transport with special responsibility for promoting aviation to women travelers. Earhart and several other women pilots founded the Ninety-Nines, the first women pilots’ organization. In 1930, Earhart set the women’s flying speed record of 181.18 mph and acquired her transport pilot’s license. She became the first woman to fly an autogiro (similar to the helicopter) in the United States and became vice president of Ludington Lines, a commercial airline. In February 1931, Earhart married publisher George Palmer Putnam. Earhart acquired an autogiro and set an altitude record for the autogiro in April. She completed a solo transcontinental flight across the United States in an autogiro in the summer of 1931 and was elected the national vice president of the NAA, the first woman officer of the NAA. Earhart was also elected the first president of the Ninety-Nines in 1931, and served in this position until 1933.

On May 21, 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Flying her red Lockheed Vega, she left Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, Canada, and 15 hours later completed her 2000 mile flight, landing in Culmore in Northern Ireland. The landing was witnessed by Cecil King and T. Sawyers. According to many reports, a farmer who greeted her, Dan McCallon, asked, “Have you flown far?” Earhart answered, “From America.” Soon after, she filled out and signed the NAA’s Certificate of Landing form, which the NAA processed and then awarded her the official recognition to state that she was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

With this flight, she became the first person to cross the Atlantic twice by air nonstop, setting a record for the fastest Atlantic crossing and the longest distance flown by a woman. She was awarded the Army Air Corps Distinguished Flying Cross by U.S. Congress, Honorary Membership in the British Guild of Airpilots and Navigators, and the Gold Medal of the National Geographic Society, which was presented to her by President Herbert Hoover. In July, she set the women’s record for the fastest non-stop transcontinental flight, flying from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey. She wrote her second book, “The Fun of It,” and began lecturing across the country. She was awarded the Harmon Trophy as America’s Outstanding Airwoman, the Cross of Knight of the Legion of Honor by the French government, and received honorary membership in the National Aeronautic Association.

It was Earhart’s intention to encourage women to not merely fly, but to take on challenges, and have ambitions, in all fields that had been previously closed to women. And in this, she succeeded. Her untimely death in 1937 was a tragedy in part for this reason.

This is Amelia Earhart’s original Certificate of Landing for her groundbreaking solo transatlantic flight. It confirms the flight and formed the basis for her being credited as the first woman to fly the Atlantic alone.

Document Signed twice (“Amelia Earhart”), the “Certificate of Landing” signed upon her landing in Northern Ireland, and submitted to the National Aeronautic Association, partially printed and accomplished in manuscript, Derry, Ireland, May 21, 1932; also signed by witnesses Cecil King, T. Sawyers, who both witnessed the landing, and J.J. Carroll. The text that is not in Earhart’s hand was written by Member of Parliament J.J. McCarroll, who was also a witness.

The certificate identifies the time, date and location of the landing, as well as the plane and its engine. It reads: “Record classification: Distance. Description of Landing Points: field at Springfield near Derry City….” Longitude and latitude is left blank but name of locality is given “Springfield Co. Derry Northern Ireland … Time of landing: About 2 pm (local time) / Date of landing: 21st May 1932.” Earhart signs her own name under “Full name of pilot”, and under “Name, weight and age of co-pilot, crew, passengers (if any):” she writes “None.” Earhart identifies her craft as the Lockheed Vega monoplane with the Pratt & Whitney Wasp 9 cylinder, 450 hp engine. To the question on condition of seals on oil tanks at time of landing, she has written Intact.

The certificate continues, “In order to establish the correctness of the flight, the National Aeronautic Association requests the witnesses of the landing to sign this certification, and to have it certified if possible by a municipal magistrate or legal agent and to return it to the pilot.” Thus this form would have at least for a time been in Earhart’s possession. Earhart then signed the form a second time. The document was witnessed by journalist Cecil King of Londonderry and Sergeant T. Sawyers of the Londonderry Constabulary, and by J.J. McCarroll, who has signed as a witness and legal representative/magistrate.

This document is not merely about Earhart’s epochal flight, but is a key part of the story itself. It is nothing short of a national treasure of American history, as well as women’s history and aviation.