The first for a woman, Amelia Earhart piloted a bright red Lockheed Vega 5B (located in the Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight gallery) across the Atlantic. She thought a transatlantic flight would bring her respect, something other women sought too -- Ruth Nichols had made an attempt in 1931, crashing in Canada, and was planning another attempt when Earhart succeeded. During Earhart's 2,026-mile nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, Earhart fought fatigue, a leaky fuel tank, and a cracked manifold that spewed flames out the side of the engine cowling. Ice formed on the Vega's wings and caused an unstoppable 3,000-foot descent to just above the waves.Realizing she was on a course far north of France, she landed in a farmer's field in Culmore, near Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Acclaimed in London, Paris, and Rome, she returned home to a ticker tape parade in New York City and honors in Washington, D.C. By July and August she was back in the Vega for her transcontinental flight
