Amelia's Equator Run

21 May 1937 — Amelia lifts the silver Lockheed Electra 10E off Oakland, flying east on her second attempt to circle the globe along the equator.

Mechanics fine-tune the Electra. The round-the-world bid officially begins as she departs Miami on 1 June 1937.

From Natal — the last land in the Americas — a ~1,900-mile leap over open ocean to the African coast.

Reaching the West African coast after the Atlantic crossing; recalibrating for the long haul across the continent.

Hopping desert airfields — Gao, Fort-Lamy, El Fasher — to Khartoum at the meeting of the Blue and White Nile.

A first — flying the Arabian Sea leg straight into Karachi without a stop. Rest and repairs in British India.

Heavy monsoon rain on the field — a soaked, sluggish climb out of Calcutta toward Southeast Asia.

A night among the harbour lights before pressing on south toward Australia.

The Electra is checked over; the parachutes are packed up and shipped home — no use over the Pacific.

2 July 1937, 10:00 — heavily fuelled for 2,556 miles, Amelia and navigator Fred Noonan leave Lae for tiny Howland Island.

The USCG Itasca waits offshore. Her last clear radio call comes at 08:43. Howland Island never sees the Electra.