Amelia Earhart To Fly Again In Upcoming Movie

A new movie on aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere, is under production and expected to be released in U.S. movie theatres in October.

The movie is being produced by a veteran from India, Mira Nair, and is described as a “biography/drama.” The Interned Movie Database (IMDB) says the upcoming film is:

A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.

The movie trailer reveals a beautifully shot, technically accurate film that deals with Earhart as both aviator, woman and above all, a dreamer who lived — and died with — her dream. Earhart, who was one of the pioneers of early aviation, started flying in 1921 and by 1927 had accumulated 500 solo flying hours. Later, she bought a yellow Kissel “Speedster” which she famously named the “Yellow Peril,” Following Charles Lindbergh’s 1927 solo trans-Atlantic flight, she was asked to accompany pilot Wilmer Stultz and co-pilot/mechanic Louis Gordon on the flight. Although an accomplished pilot, she did no flying on the trip, mainly because of the need for flying on instruments, which she had no experience with. The three flew from Trepassey Harbour, Newfoundland, which was where most early trans-Atlantic flights took off from due to the relatively shorter northern route. This route is still taken by airliners. The Fokker F.VII plane landed successfully near Llanelli in Wales, but Earhart was not overly impressed, saying she was merely the “baggage,” but vowed to do it alone one day. After a stint in air racing and a break for her wedding, she did make that first transatlantic flight in 1932 in a Lockheed Vega, the first woman to do so. She continued to break records and in 1937, Earhart decided to become the first woman to do a round the world solo flight, this time using a twin-engined Lockheed Electra. After a failed first attempt, she took off from Oakland, with Fred Noonan in early June. The planned epic flight was to be 29,000 miles (46,000 km.) The route was: Miami, Florida, stops in South America, Africa, British India and Southeast Asia and then across the Pacific to the U.S. West Coast. They reached Lae, New Guinea on June 29, 1937. They had 7,000 miles (11,000km) left, all over the Pacific Ocean.

wikimedia Earhart's Il-Fated Lockheed Electra image:53164:4::0

Tragically, after apparent radio and navigational problems near their next landing point on Howland Island, Earhart and Noonan’s Electra disappeared. An immediate search was mounted by a U.S. Coast Guard ship, the USCG Itasca, which was soon joined by U.S. Navy ships and even two Japanese ships that were in the vicinity, but no trace of the missing plane was found. Earhart’s disappearance has given rise to an endless stream of theories, well described by the Air and Space Smithsonian magazine. No credible answers as to what happened to the aircraft, which likely crashed into the sea and sank, yet exist.