Pilots such as Harriet Quimby, America's first female pilot, or Betsy Coleman, the first American pilot of African decent. The last chapter "Women in Aviation" is interesting, although she fails to what could have been a gracious opportunity, to pay tribute to the woman pioneers that came before her. After becoming lost above a layer of clouds she then intentionally spins the aircraft into the overcast below. The other incident that she relates to clearly shows poor judgement in the extreme. "Owing to carelessness in not refueling" she runs out of fuel and crashes on take off. In the book's first chapters Earhart retraces her early piloting experiences including two interesting events which clearly exemplify her incompetence. Although Earhart was a licensed pilot, her contribution to the flight was basically non existent. She had no experience flying multi- engined aircraft or sea planes, nor was she was qualified to fly instruments. Earhart was not qualified to fly the Fokker aircraft. Although simply a passenger, Earhart hints of her leadership role. Hoping to capitalize on the excitement of Charles Lindbergh's solo Atlantic crossing, entrepreneurially spirited Putman Publishing casts Amelia Earhart as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Amelia Earhart was an incompetent aviatrix and having crashed a half dozen times, mostly during attempts to land or take off, it is quite amazing that she wasn't killed much earlier in her flying career. Our Flight in the Friendship", Amelia Earhart, 1928.
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