Amelia Earhart took her first plane ride in December 1920. She took flying lessons to learn to fly. In 1923 she got her pilot's license. In 1928 she was the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air. She was a passenger on the Friendship. Two men flew the plane.

In August 1929 she came in third in an air race for women. In 1931 she flew an autogiro. She set an altitude record in it. She set many flying records. She was the first president of the Ninety-Nines. It was a group of women pilots.

You may have heard she was the first to fly alone across the Atlantic. She was not. In 1932 she was the first woman to do it. She was the second person. In May she flew a Lockheed Vega. She went from Newfoundland to Northern Ireland.

Her flight from Honolulu began on January 11, 1935. She flew alone over the Pacific Ocean. She flew from Hawaii to California. In 1937 she tried to fly around the world. She flew a Lockheed Electra. The flight set off from Miami, Florida, on June 1, 1937. Fred Noonan flew with her. Her plane went missing in July 1937. Ships and planes searched for her.

Words to know

• passenger: a rider
• autogiro: flying machine
• license: pilot's paper