![]() This would be the second to last, longest, and most dangerous leg of the historic second attempt by Amelia Earhart, the most famous female aviator in history, to circumnavigate the earth as close to the Equator as possible. Every instrument, every reading, every projection had to be exact because the real difficulty was not only finding Howland in the vast Pacific but seeing it. The auxiliary tanks enabled the Electra to fly 2,565-miles nonstop to its destination: a tiny, remote atoll called Howland Island, approximately 1,700 nautical miles south/southwest of Honolulu, Hawaii. To that end, the passenger seats were removed, and two 118-gallon tanks were installed forward of the Main Beam, three 149-gallon tanks, and one 70-gallon tank behind the Main Beam. Originally designed as a passenger plane this one-of-a-kind aircraft was specially designed to fly as far and as long as possible before refueling. Called the “Flying Laboratory,” this aircraft was the most technologically advanced and costly of its day. ![]() civil certification registration NR16020, took off from Lae Airfield in Papua New Guinea, 1,468 miles north of Australia. ON JULY 2, 1937, AT 10 A.M., Lockheed Electra 10-E Special, serial number 1055, U.S. They do get more glory than men for comparable feats, but, they also get more notoriety when they crash.
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