Editing Amelia Earhart (section)

=== Transatlantic solo flight in 1932 ===
[[File:Herbert Hoover and Amelia Earhart.jpg|left|thumb|Earhart walking with President Herbert Hoover in the grounds of the White House on January 2, 1932]]
On May 20, 1932, 34-year-old Earhart set off from [[Harbour Grace, Newfoundland and Labrador|Harbour Grace]], [[Newfoundland]], with a copy of the ''[[Telegraph-Journal]]'', given to her by journalist [[Stuart Trueman]]<ref name=telegraph>"Eighty years since famed flight; Anniversary Amelia Earhart's stop in Saint John may have been brief but pivotal in record-breaking feat". ''[[The Telegraph-Journal]]'', May 19, 2012.</ref> to confirm the date of the flight.<ref name=telegraph /> She intended to fly to Paris in her single engine [[Lockheed Vega 5B]] to emulate Charles Lindbergh's solo flight five years earlier.{{sfn|Parsons|1983|pp=95–97}}{{efn|Earhart's Vega 5B was her third, after trading in two Vega 1s at the [[Lockheed Aircraft Company]]'s [[Burbank Airport|Burbank]] plant.<ref>[http://www.dmairfield.org/airplanes/NC7952/index.html "Lockheed Vega NV7952."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117190444/http://dmairfield.org/airplanes/NC7952/index.html |date=November 17, 2011 }} ''Davis-Monthan Aviation Field Register'', September 11, 2011. accessed: September 23, 2017.</ref>}} Her technical advisor for the flight was the Norwegian-American aviator [[Bernt Balchen]], who helped prepare her aircraft and played the role of "decoy" for the press because he was ostensibly preparing Earhart's Vega for his own Arctic flight.{{refn|Bernt Balchen had been instrumental in other transatlantic and Arctic record-breaking flights during that period.{{sfn|Butler|1997|p=263}}}} After a flight lasting 14 hours, 56 minutes, during which she contended with strong northerly winds, icy conditions and mechanical problems, Earhart landed in a pasture at [[Culmore]], north of [[Derry]], Northern Ireland. The landing was witnessed by Cecil King and T. Sawyer. When a farm hand asked, "Have you flown far?" Earhart replied, "From America."<ref>Goddard, Seth. [https://web.archive.org/web/20021005082222/http://www.life.com/Life/heroes/newsletters/nlearhart.html "Life Hero of the Week Profile: Amelia Earhart; First Lady of the Sky."] ''Time-Life (life.com)'', October 5, 2002 (archived). accessed: September 23, 2017.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060310224954/http://www.derrycity.gov.uk/museums/emelia.asp "Amelia Earhart Centre."]| ''Derry City Council Heritage and Museum Service''. accessed: September 23, 2017.</ref>

As the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic, Earhart received the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]] from [[United States Congress|Congress]], the Cross of Knight of the [[Légion d'honneur|Legion of Honor]] from the [[Cabinet of France|French Government]], and the Gold Medal of the [[National Geographic Society]]<ref>Sherman, Stephen. [http://acepilots.com/wwi/hfa.html "The Hall of Fame of the Air; An illustrated newspaper feature from 1935 to 1940."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502004738/http://www.acepilots.com/wwi/hfa.html |date=May 2, 2007 }} ''acepilots.com'', April 11, 2012. accessed: July 9, 2017.</ref> from President [[Herbert Hoover]]. As her fame grew, Earhart developed friendships with many people in high office, most notably First Lady [[Eleanor Roosevelt]], who shared many of Earhart's interests, especially women's causes. After flying with Earhart, Roosevelt obtained a student permit but did not further pursue her plans to learn to fly. Earhart and Roosevelt frequently communicated with each other.{{sfn|Glines|1997|p=47}} Another flyer, [[Jacqueline Cochran]], who was said to be Earhart's rival, also became her confidante during this period.{{sfn|Leder|1989|p=49}}