Kit's Aviator Doll: A Brief History of Amelia Earhart and Aviation

Hey Followers!!
    I recently bought Kit's Aviator Doll (complete with original box) from a woman I buy from often for $40. It is one of my favorite things in Kit's collection. In Kit's book Kit's Surprise, Kit was given a doll that resembled Amelia Earhart from her friend Ruthie. Kit was so excited to have received a doll version of her hero! So what made Amelia such an icon?
   Amelia Earhart saw her first plane when she was 10 years old at a fair, surprisingly enough... she wasn't impressed. A decade later she finally fell in love with aviation when she attended a stunt flying expedition. She took her first ride in an airplane in December of 1920 and about a week later she had her first flying lesson.
   In only 6 months, she saved up enough money to buy an airplane of her own. In this plane that she called The Canary after its bright yellow color, she set the worlds first woman's aviation record by rising to an altitude of 14,000 feet.
   In 1928, Earhart received a call offering her a chance to be the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean. Although she was fully aware of the danger after hearing that 3 women before her had died trying to complete this flight, In June of 1928, Amelia landed in Wales 21 hours after leaving Newfoundland, becoming the first woman to successfully complete the trip.
  In the years after, she continued to knock out world records including being the first person (and woman) to fly the Pacific Ocean solo and she also beat her first altitude record and bringing it to 18,415 feet. This record stood untouched for many years. But there was one record she wanted bad, to be the first person to fly around the world.
    A couple years after Kit's stories, on June 1st of 1937.. Amelia and her navigator Fred Noonan departed on their journey. By the 29th, they landed in New Guinea and had completed all but 7,000 miles of their 29,000 mile trip. A few days later they depart again to finish the trip. By the next day, Earhart's radio transmissions were weak and choppy. Most were not even audible. The last two transmissions heard from Amelia were,  "We must be on you, but we cannot see you. Fuel is running low. Been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet."  and the last thing heard from Amelia Earhart was at 8:45am,  "We are running north and south."
    Despite a long and expensive (costing about $4 million) search covering 250,000 square miles, Earhart's plane was never found. To this day, her fate has never been discovered.
    In a final letter to her husband, she wrote something that should be an inspiration to all girls and women.  "Please know I am quite aware of the hazards, I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others." Truly an amazing woman, determined and brave.
    Of course, Amelia Earhart was not the first person to have a passion for flight. The ancient Chinese had many flying devices such as kites (some where big enough to lift a human into the air), flying lanterns, and propelling toys made from bamboo.

Da Vinci's Flying Machine Blueprints

   In the 15th century, Leonardo Da Vinci had dreams of a flying machine. After studying bird flights, Leonardo drew many blueprints of designs, although he never actually attempted to construct them.
   In the 18th century, the first hot air balloon was successfully constructed by the Montgolfier brothers, the first flight glided 5 miles! Years later in 1884, the French Military came up with the first airship... which today we usually call them Blimps. The most well known airship was the Hindenburg, most famous for its tragic end when it caught fire and crashed in Germany in 1937, the same year of Earhart's disappearance.
   The first edition of the modern day airplane was invented by Sir George Cayley. He had the theory that of the concept of the modern airplane as a fixed wing flying machine with separate systems for lift, propulsion, and control. Although he only was able to construct a glider only large enough to carry a small child, his ideas still broke ground for many future advances in aviation. 

Wright Brothers 1903 Flight

   Several inventors after Cayley built and tested many different flying machines and contraptions. None completely successful until 1903 when two brothers from Ohio, Orville and Wilbur Wright built an aircraft and flew the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft. This flight only lasted 59 seconds. After a couple years of working out the bugs, The Wright Brothers were making 10, 20, then 30 minute flights. In 1905, Wilbur flew 39 minutes, a total of 24 miles.
   After the Wright Brothers success, Aviation technology took off. Airplanes changed the way the following wars were fought. After World War 2, commercial flights were becoming more popular for travel, and in the 1950's, aviation took a step in a whole new direction when the Race to Space began between Russia and The United States. In 1961, the race was over when Russian astronaut Yuri Gagarin made an orbit around earth in a space shuttle. 
    Now a days, flight is an everyday technology, but the impact flight has had on us is huge. The world doesn't seem so small anymore. Travel is quicker and shipping is faster. Men and women both are flying planes everyday. Just the things that Amelia Earhart probably dreamed about.

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       Kit's doll is made of cloth. Her shirt and tie, pants, and boots are non removable, the boots are made of a faux leather. Her jacket, gloves, and hat are removable. Her face is embroidered and her hair is made of yarn.  

Thanks so much for reading another one of my posts! I hope you have enjoyed it and learned something new! And I would like to announce my newest girl

Kit! 

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