Amelia Earhart to fly around the world

[tyketto]

.. and recreate/finish Amelia Earhart's flight.

I posted this at FlightAware a couple of weeks ago:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/theprotojournalist/2014/06/02/317332798/amelia-earhart-has-a-flight-plan

Amelia Earhart Has A Flight Plan

by Lauren Katz
June 02, 201411:11 AM ET

Just about every single day of her life, Amelia Rose Earhart — a former TV traffic-and-weather broadcaster in Denver — has had to answer this question: "Are you a pilot?"

For a long time, the answer was no.

Now, though, she's planning to embark this month on a flight around the world, a trip that closely replicates the 1937 journey of the original — and more famous — Amelia Earhart. If she's successful, this Amelia, at 31, will be the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engine aircraft.

For simplicity's sake, let's call the contemporary pilot Amelia and the historic pilot Earhart.

And for the record, Amelia is not kin to the famous pilot. She used to think she was, but her mother just took the opportunity to give her a cool name. Amelia says that finding out she is not related actually brought her closer to her namesake. "I feel like we share so much."

The flight, which Amelia has been plotting for about a year and a half, will take off from Oakland on June 23. She'll be flying a Pilatus PC-12, a single-engine turboprop plane. Earhart flew in a modified Lockheed Electra 10E with two engines.

Amelia's flight will be a total of about 28,000 miles with 17 stops in 14 countries. Eighty percent will be over the ocean. The final route details haven't been announced because she and her crew are still waiting on things like visas, passports and the weather forecast.

Learning To Fly

When Amelia entered the University of Colorado in Boulder in 2002, she started to hear a new question: "Could you ever fly around the world?"

She began to wonder if maybe she should try to finish what the original Amelia Earhart was unable to.

Amelia worked extra jobs to raise enough money for her first flight lesson 10 years ago. "It was a junky old plane, a cranky, old flight instructor," Amelia says, "but it didn't matter what the environment was. I was in the air. And I've been there ever since."

She even found a way to fly — in a traffic helicopter — as part of her day job.

Finishing The Flight

In 1932, Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. Five years later, she set out on a round-the-world flight. She disappeared somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. No one knows what happened. It's an unsolved mystery.

People seem compelled to share their theories with Amelia.

"What if it's my mission in life," Amelia says, "to do the flight for myself, but also for her, and also for other girls who might want to get interested in aviation and pursue their own adventures?"

In an effort to do just that, Amelia started the Fly With Amelia Foundation in 2013 to help put girls ages 16-18 through flight school. Flying is incredibly difficult, and you need good role models and peopling to cheer you on, but it's also very expensive, she says. "When the funds are there, I believe that the learning is unlimited."

There are currently about 50 girls involved in the process — interviewing for scholarships or actually flying.

Amelia's late-June excursion will be one of the world's first socially integrated flights around the world. The plane, equipped with Wi-Fi, will have live-streaming video and audio. She and her co-pilot, Shane Jordan, will be sending out tweets and Facebook messages — while the plane is on auto-pilot — using the hashtag #flywithamelia.

The girls in her program and people around the world will be able to stay connected with Amelia from the time she departs in Oakland all the way through to the end of the flight. "And that's something we've never seen, so I'm really excited to see how people get engaged," Amelia says.

The schedule has Amelia leaving early from each stop in an effort to see the sunrise around the circumference of the globe, an experience that she says she is excited to share with everyone.

Compass Points

Most of the stops will be less than 12 hours long. Amelia and Shane will land, go through customs, fuel up, configure the aircraft for the next day, eat dinner and go to sleep.

The most important part of the flight, Amelia says, is going to be flying over the area in the Pacific Ocean where Earhart was last seen — near Howland Island. "Nothing's going to go wrong on this flight. I know that deep down," she says. "But the reality is: Flight is still an adventure, and flying over the ocean is dangerous."

Amelia is also looking forward to the first time she sees terra firma coming in from Honolulu to Oakland after flying for about 8.5 hours. "I think that first indication of land is going to be something I'll never forget," she says. "And of course, jumping out of the airplane after you go full circle, 28,000 miles around the globe. I can't wait to see what that feels like."

Well, she started out yesterday, flying from KOAK-KBJC. She filed a quick plan from KBJC to KAPA, and is now on her way to KMIA. There's a feed there for those that want to listen in.

You can follow her flight as well:

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N58NG

BL.

[Squawk 7700]

You beat me to it. I was just about to post.

She is scheduled to return to Oakland July 12.

There are several ZOA feeds which we may be able to hear her as she approaches the California Coastline? Oakland Center 134.15.

I'm not too far from Oakland Airport. I may want to drop by the airport for this arrival 

Ken

[tyketto]

You beat me to it. I was just about to post.

She is scheduled to return to Oakland July 12.

There are several ZOA feeds which we may be able to hear her as she approaches the California Coastline? Oakland Center 134.15.

I'm not too far from Oakland Airport. I may want to drop by the airport for this arrival  

Ken

You and me both. This is enough for me to make a trip there from Sacramento.

It was really cool listening to her coming in to KMIA today. The initial Approach controller congratulated her on the flight, and got the greetings when she landed on 8L from MIA Tower. She handled the arrival like it was nothing. Surely deserving of that left seat.

Next top, Tobago. Flight plan already filed. And what do ya know? We have a feed there! 

BL.

[Eric M]

If you guys are going to be there, I may as well show up too. Let me know if you're confirmed for July 12 in Oakland.

[tyketto]

Quick question, everyone..

Anyone know which frequency at KZAK/San Francisco that would cover Kiribati/PLCH? I ask because ZAK should cover that, and we have ample coverage of ZAK heading out of HCF. We should be able to pick up her flight back to PHNL tomorrow.

BL.

[sykocus]

Quick question, everyone..

Anyone know which frequency at KZAK/San Francisco that would cover Kiribati/PLCH? I ask because ZAK should cover that, and we have ample coverage of ZAK heading out of HCF. We should be able to pick up her flight back to PHNL tomorrow.

BL.

You may already know this but that's part of Oakland center's oceanic airspace. Communications is generally either via CPDLC or HF radio to San Francisco AIRINC who relay it to the Oakland controllers. I think there's only 1 pacific HF feed.

[tyketto]

Quick question, everyone..

Anyone know which frequency at KZAK/San Francisco that would cover Kiribati/PLCH? I ask because ZAK should cover that, and we have ample coverage of ZAK heading out of HCF. We should be able to pick up her flight back to PHNL tomorrow.

BL.

You may already know this but that's part of Oakland center's oceanic airspace. Communications is generally either via CPDLC or HF radio to San Francisco AIRINC who relay it to the Oakland controllers. I think there's only 1 pacific HF feed.

Yep, definitely do, as that airspace is HUGE. But in looking at the feeds we have, there apparently is one that handles NW/W/SW from PHNL's vicinity, and I was hoping it may go straight south as well, as PLCH is no more than 6 - 7 hours south of PHNL.

BL.

[Squawk 7700]

Usually San Francisco AIRINC can be heard on 8843 and 5574 as I recall?
Perhaps someone can confirm this?

Might want to monitor Oakland Center on 134.15 as she approaches the California coastline?

Yeah if you guys are going out there maybe we can all meet?
I don't have any confirmation on the day and time on the arrival into Oakland.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N58NG

Ken

[tyketto]

Usually San Francisco AIRINC can be heard on 8843 and 5574 as I recall?
Perhaps someone can confirm this?

Might want to monitor Oakland Center on 134.15 as she approaches the California coastline?

Yeah if you guys are going out there maybe we can all meet?
I don't have any confirmation on the day and time on the arrival into Oakland.

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N58NG

Ken

Here's what I did. She posted their full itinerary:

http://www.ameliaearhartproject.com/amelia-project-flight-itinerary/

All I did is sign up to get alerts on when the flight plan is filed, departed, and arrived at the destination, if covered by FlightAware. Then when the flight plan is filed, it should come with departure and arrival times. That should get you what you are looking for.

Match that up with the various feeds we have here, and you can follow them in real time. I just tracked them from the moment they hit HCF all the way to landing on 4R at PHNL.

She's good. She's damn good.

BL.

P.S. The NGTA-PLCH leg was what took them over Earhart's last known location, Howland Island. They circled there, and in the process, gave out nearly $50,000 in scholarships to girls who want to get into aviation. Her twitter feed has all of the info on that.

[Eric M]

Her Twitter feed has been amazing to follow. Some incredible photos, too.

[Squawk 7700]

ETA KOAK 5:39pm PDT today.