Evening star., 1937-09-21
My Life With Amelia Earhart
By GEORGE PALMER PUTNAM.
Noted Flyer Was AL
ways Calm When
Confronted With
Dan G e-r on H er
Long Flights.

The story OF the Dorid's most ia
nous poman aviator. as renowned
parsonage and as wJe, is told here
by the fyer's husband. t0idely
knoDn author and editor, in
series OF sir articles, OF Dhich this
is the third.
MELIA EARHART flew the At
n lantic alone in May. 1882.
~ Only Col. Lindbergh had
4 A. made the crossing solo be-
fore she did. Some of that flight
was nerve stretching. Once she saw
flames lick through the exhaust COL
lector ring, and wondered in de-
tached way whether one would prefer
drowning to incineration" There
were five hours of storm, and black
midnight, when Il kept right side
. up by instruments alone, buffeted
about as I never was before
One fact of that nights adventure
was never told. I think she might
never have told even me, if l had
not seen the tell-tale record on the
disc of the Paragraph she carried
Chsracteristically, she preferred to
keep the memory of that crisis to her.
self
But the barograph told it for her
1t is an instrument which records
the levels at which a plane flies, CO.
ordinated with clock time. And it
showed an interval of the fight in
which her ship made an almost ver-
teal drop of 5000 feet. 1t started
at something over 5000 and ended
well. something above the gunmetal
seas.
1t happened, she explained. when
the plane suddenly iced up and went
into spin. How long we spun I
am not sure. 1 do know I tried my
best to do exactly what one should
do with spinning plane. And finally
regained fight control. AS we righted
and held level again, l could see.
through the blackness below, the
white caps that were too close -"
To Europe on $50.
But the Atlantic fight had its
lighter side. There was the matter
Of personal finances, involving an in
cident she liked to tell at my ex-
. pense. When she was ready to start,
l asked her if she had any money.
Naturally. being a woman, she said
she had not. So I gave her all 1
had on me at the moment. which
was $40.
Which one has to admit" she
shuckled, was very generous al
lowance for trip to Europe"
But she was generous. She spent
1t all on cable from Ireland to me.
And then. later, she showed her
Ingenuity. She found a way to get
back that identical $50 bill. and she
inscribed 1t to me. 1t is kept among
my very treasured souvenirs. and has
even increased in value, because now
IT. is sineed around the edges, hav-
ing been in a pouch on mail plane
which caught fire. I imagine it is
rather more than a mere collectors
item.
Speaking Of personal finances. on
A. E.S Pacific flight, all she had was
IS bill. I offered to provide her with
more. But she said. IF I land. 1 don't
need more; if don't land, 1 won't
need any"
Flights end across the Atlantic al
ways tickled her. She came down in
farmers back yard, near London
derry, Ireland.
Irish Not Impressed.
Three people came out to see what
was in the airplane," she would say.
II pushed back the hatch and stuck
out my head. Not knowing the eti-
quette of the circumstances. I said, I'm
from America My involuntary re-
ception committee was not bit i'm
pressed"
Abroad, A. E. was treated royalty
and often by royalty
When she met the Prince of Wales.
they did Homeric ground flying to-
Eether. Which is to say they spun
pilot talk by the yard H. R. H. was
an enthusiastic flyer. She asked him
whether he would continue to fly solo.
They won't let me-" he said. wryly.