Aviation History

Shortly before 5 p.m. local time on the 11th of January, 1935 a bright red Lockheed Vega (NR-7952) struggled into the overcast and rainy skies over Wheeler Field in Oahu, Hawaii. 
  
The Vega was originally designed to carry six passengers, this one carried only a pilot and fuel, a lot of additional fuel, 520 gallons or so.  This fuel extended the range of the Lockheed from 725 miles to over two thousand.  The lone pilot would need that range.   

Eighteen hours later a bright red Lockheed Vega landed in Oakland California and the first person to fly solo from Hawaii to California stepped from the airplane to claim that title.

In 1932 she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic ocean and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for that endeavor.  

Two years after this flight across the Pacific that flyer would cement her place in aviation history when her attempt to fly around the world ended in tragedy.  Her Lockheed Electra disappeared en-route to Howland Island, Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan remain lost, their fate unknown.