Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega 5B

Amelia Earhart was the first woman, and only the second person (the other was Charles Lindberg), to make a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. On May 20, 1932, she set off alone from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland. The weather was a problem from the start, and at one point in the flight, ice on the wings forced her into a 3,000-foot, unchecked descent. She finally managed to level off and, constantly fighting fatigue, she landed in a field near Culmore, Londonderry, Northern Ireland. She made the 2,026-mile flight in 14 hours, 54 minutes.

The aircraft she used was a bright red Lockheed Vega 5B, a sleek, new monoplane with a fully cantilevered wing and roomy cabin area. It was the first airplane built by Lockheed. The first one flew in 1927 and 131 were eventually manufactured.

Amelia sold her Vega to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia in June 1933. The aircraft was displayed there until it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution on September 8, 1966. It is displayed in the Museum's Pioneers of Flight gallery.

First Flight: July 4, 1927

Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Nov 2016
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