Amelia in command of the Pilatus PC-12NG – Photo: Amelia Rose Earhart
On the 2nd of June, 1937, Amelia Earhart began her journey around the world – the one that would end somewhere over the Pacific. On June 26, 2014, Amelia Rose Earhart began her journey around the world to recreate that famous flight. However, this Amelia completed that journey successfully, touching down after 19 days in Oakland, California.
Piloting a Pilatus PC-12NG, Amelia and her co-pilot Shane Jordan circumnavigated the globe, visiting 14 countries along the way and sealing her fate as the youngest woman to circle the globe in a single-engine aircraft.
Almost a year ago, I was present for Amelia’s announcement of the flight at Oshkosh 2013. Since then, I’ve followed along like so many others on Twitter and other social media. Now that Amelia is back, I was given the chance to talk to her and ask her about her amazing journey.
Boarding Singapore Airlines’ A340-500 at LAX
THE START OF THE JOURNEY
Hot damn – over 21,000 miles in less than four days is quite the adventure, but I signed up for it with smile. To cover the world’s two longest flights, I recently traveled from Seattle (SEA) to Los Angeles (LAX) to Singapore (SIN) to Newark (EWR) and back home again to Seattle. Lots of miles, lots of time in the air, and lots of good fun.
I have already shared my live blog of the world’s longest flight, but I want to tell this story of what the whole epic process was like.
Although I was looking forward to a big high-end adventure, it all started with a bus ride to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, followed by an economy flight on Alaska Airlines to LAX. I felt that with each step towards Singapore I was going a bit more upscale.
Checking in at LAX – Photo: David Parker Brown | AirlineReporter.com
Getting down to LAX was easy and uneventful. I took an early flight to make sure that I had plenty of time to check out the new international terminal at LAX, but I always forget that the ticket counters do not open so early. Luckily, there were some food options that allowed me to eat before I was able to check in (have to say that the food quality at the Daily Grill was quite disappointing this trip).
I checked in and was escorted by the airline to the new Star Alliance Lounge for a tour. I was hoping to also have the time for a full tour of the new Tom Bradley International Terminal, but with the lounge and Airbus A340-500 tour, I wasn’t able to – next time.