“First Flight Over Lake Erie” Cover Signed by Amelia Earhart, Who Is Listed as “Special Pilot”

Earhart was the first female aviator to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records, was one of the first aviators to promote commercial air travel, wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences, and was instrumental in the formation of The Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots. She disappeared with navigator Fred Noonan somewhere over the Pacific Ocean in July, 1937 and has been the subject of numerous theories and conspiracies ever since. She was declared dead in 1939.

A cover with a 2 cent stamp postmarked May 14, 1929, at Cleveland, with a stamped notice on the left “First Flight ‘Over Lake Erie’, Thompson Aeronautical Corp. Cleveland – Detroit Route. Amphibian Service, 5-14-’29.” At the bottom is stamped “Amelia Earhart Special Pilot”, and she has signed between the stamped descriptions. It is addressed to a man in Detroit in type, with a big light blue “Air Express” stamp. On the verso is a large yellow Railway Express Agency Air Shipment Prepaid receipt noting the May 14 date, with a Railway Express agency “Received” notice with that date at Detroit. Attached at the left is a colorful large non-postage stamp promoting the 1929 National Air Races and Aeronautical Exposition at Cleveland from August to September 1929.