Amelia Earhart, Vehicle Junkie: Gold Character

The real history

Amelia Earhart's path to a license began with a single airplane ride. On December 28, 1920, in Long Beach, California, pilot Frank Hawks took her up for a ten-minute flight that cost ten dollars. The ride changed her plans, and she decided she had to learn to fly herself.

Her instructor was Anita "Neta" Snook, who taught her in a Curtiss Jenny biplane. Her lessons began in early January 1921, less than two weeks after that first ride, and the official timeline of her career dates the start of her training to January 3. Later that year she bought her first airplane, a Kinner Airster that she nicknamed The Canary.

In October 1922 she set a women's altitude record by flying the Airster to 14,000 feet. She did this before she held a license. In May 1923 she received her official pilot's license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, the world governing body for sport aviation, and she was the sixteenth woman to receive one. Sources differ on the exact day in May, so the safest statement is simply May 1923.

The license was the start of a record-setting flying career. She went on to set more women's records, and in 1928 she became the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air. Because her pilot's license came only after she had already been flying and training for more than two years, her story is a good reminder that earning the paperwork was one step in a much longer climb.

Sources

1. Amelia Earhart and Her Flying Career, Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
2. Amelia Earhart, Flying Through the Blue and Into History, Los Angeles Public Library
3. Amelia Earhart Achievements Timeline, Amelia Earhart official site (Earhart family estate)

Checked against these sources on October 3, 2026. Spot a mistake? Report an error. How we check facts.