Cleveland Played a Part in Amelia Earhart's Final Flight

Amelia Earhart had just announced plans for her most ambitious flight when she touched down in Cleveland on Feb. 17.

Five days earlier, Earhart, possibly the most famous female flyer and one of the most famous flyers in America, declared her intention to become the first woman to fly around the world. She set off from New Jersey in her twin-engine Lockheed Electra from Newark, New Jersey, to Cleveland in two hours and 30 minutes.

She was testing equipment that she’d need for her around-the-world trip, which would start in Oakland, California, the following month. Among the new toys in Earhart’s “flying laboratory” were a Sperry gyropilot (an early version of autopilot), a new radio and a Bendix directional finder. (In addition to producing aviation equipment, Bendix sponsored the trophy given to the winner of the transcontinental plane race, given at the Cleveland Air Races.) The plane had everything but an electric shaver, said Earhart’s husband, George P. Putnam, who accompanied her on the flight.

She also disputed a story written that week by syndicated columnists Drew Pearson and Robert S. Allen, suggesting she had psychic gifts that helped her find a lost plane. Putnam suggested she “psych for the boys” as she was taking questions from reporters.

Earhart and her party stayed at the Hotel Westlake for two nights, as bad weather prevented her from taking off the next morning. Earhart’s around-the-world flight took off from Oakland on March 17, heading west. She completed the first leg to Honolulu, despite propeller issues. On March 20, she crashed on takeoff due to an issue with the landing gear. The plane was taken to the mainland for repairs, and on June 1, she took off from Miami, this time with an eastbound course.

A month later, her plane disappeared while flying to Howland Island in the Pacific. Theories abound regarding what happened to her, but her fate remains unknown.  

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