Editing Amelia Earhart (section)

=== Additional solo flights ===
[[File:Amelia Earhart First Female Aviator Flies Solo Across Pacific in 18 Hours, 1932.webm|thumb|Newsreel of Earhart flying from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, California in 1935]]

On January 11, 1935, Earhart became the first aviator to fly solo from [[Honolulu]], Hawaii, to [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], California.<ref>[https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/11-january-1935/ "11–12 January 1935."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150114001507/http://www.thisdayinaviation.com/11-january-1935/ |date=January 14, 2015 }}  ''This Day in Aviation'', January 11, 2017. accessed: July 13, 2017,</ref><ref>[http://aviation.hawaii.gov/aviation-pioneers/amelia-earhart/ 'Hawaii Aviation; Amelia Earhart."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116182959/http://aviation.hawaii.gov/aviation-pioneers/amelia-earhart/ |date=January 16, 2016 }}  ''aviation.hawaii.gov''. accessed: September 23, 2017.</ref><ref>[https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/earhart-amelia-lockheed-model-5c-vega-special-6th-earhart-aircraft-nr-965y "Earhart, Amelia; Lockheed Model 5C Vega Special (6th Earhart Aircraft, NR-965Y). (photograph)."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706200417/https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/earhart-amelia-lockheed-model-5c-vega-special-6th-earhart-aircraft-nr-965y |date=July 6, 2016 }} ''[[National Air and Space Museum]]''. accessed: July 13, 2017.</ref> This time, Earhart used a Lockheed 5C Vega.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.si.edu/object/lockheed-vega-5b-amelia-earhart%3Anasm_A19670093000|title=Lockheed Vega 5B, Amelia Earhart|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|language=English|access-date=7 December 2022|archive-date=January 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112001632/https://www.si.edu/object/lockheed-vega-5b-amelia-earhart%3Anasm_A19670093000|url-status=live}}</ref> Although many aviators had attempted this flight, including the participants in the 1927 [[Dole Air Race]], which flew the opposite direction, and resulted in three deaths, Earhart's{{sfn|Goldstein|Dillon|1997|p=132}} flight was mainly routine with no mechanical breakdowns. In her final hours, she relaxed and listened to "the broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera from New York".{{sfn|Goldstein|Dillon|1997|p=132}}

On April 19, 1935, using her Lockheed Vega aircraft that she had named "old Bessie, the fire horse",{{efn|"Old Bessie" started out as a Vega 5 built in 1928 as c/n 36, but was modified with a replacement fuselage to become a 5B.<ref>{{cite book |last=Allen |first=Richard Sanders |title=Revolution in the sky: those fabulous Lockheeds, the pilots who flew them |year=1964 |publisher=S. Greene Press |pages=199–200, 202}}</ref>}}<ref>[https://parksfield.org/airplanes/NR965Y/ "Parks Airport Lockheed Vega 5C Special NX/NR/NC965Y."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924151638/https://parksfield.org/airplanes/NR965Y/ |date=September 24, 2017 }} ''parksfield.org''. accessed: July 13, 2017.</ref> Earhart flew solo from Los Angeles to Mexico City. Earhart's next record attempt was a nonstop flight from Mexico City to New York. After she set off on May 8, her flight was uneventful, although large crowds that greeted her at [[Newark, New Jersey]], were a concern,{{sfn|Lovell|1989|p=218}} because she had to be careful not to taxi into them.

Earhart again participated in the 1935 [[Bendix Trophy]] long-distance air race, finishing fifth, the best result she could manage because her stock Lockheed Vega, whose maximum speed was {{convert|195|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}}, was outclassed by purpose-built aircraft that reached more than {{convert|300|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Oakes|1985|p=35}} The race had been difficult because a competitor, Cecil Allen, died in a fire at takeoff, and [[Jacqueline Cochran]] was forced to pull out due to mechanical problems. In addition, "blinding fog"{{sfn|Goldstein|Dillon|1997|p=145}} and violent thunderstorms plagued the race.

Between 1930 and 1935, Earhart set seven women's speed-and-distance aviation records in a variety of aircraft, including the Kinner Airster, Lockheed Vega, and Pitcairn Autogiro. By 1935, recognizing the limitations of her "lovely red Vega" in long, transoceanic flights, Earhart contemplated a new "prize&nbsp;... one flight which I most wanted to attempt—a circumnavigation of the globe as near its waistline as could be."{{sfn|Earhart|1937|p=37}} For the new venture, she would need a new aircraft.
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