Amelia Earhart takes first flying lesson
Earhart had her first lessons, beginning on January 3, 1921, at Kinner Field near Long Beach but to reach the airfield Amelia took a bus to the end of the line, then walked four miles (6 km). Amelia's mother also provided part of the $1,000.00 "stake" much against her "better judgement." Her teacher was Anita "Neta" Snook, a pioneer female aviator who used a surplus Curtiss JN-4 "Canuck" for training. Amelia arrived with her father and a singular request, "I want to fly. Will you teach me?"
Amelia's commitment to flying required her to accept the frequently hard work and rudimentary conditions that accompanied early aviation training. She chose a leather jacket but aware that other aviators would be judging her, slept in it for three nights to give the jacket a more "worn" look. To complete her image transformation, she also cropped her hair short in the style of other female flyers.
Amelia Earhart went to an air show on December 25, 1920, in California. Three days later she took a ten-minute airplane ride. Amelia took her first flying lesson on January 3, 1921.
Amelia enjoyed watching airplane stunt shows, which were very popular during the 1920s. It was after visiting a local airfield in California and being given a ride on a plane that she decided to learn how to fly. To earn the money for flying lessons, Amelia worked several odd jobs. She hired another female aviator, Neta Snook, as her teacher. On January 3, 1921, Amelia had her first flying lesson. After several hours of instruction, she was ready to fly all by herself. She made her first solo flight in 1921. Except for a poor landing, the flight was uneventful.
In 1921 Amelia began taking flying lessons from Neta Snook. She worked in a telephone office to pay for the lessons. She bought her first airplane that summer. She told Muriel, her sister, that she could foresee a day when the cockpits of planes would be covered, and planes would be large enough to carry 10 or 12 passengers. They would even run on schedule as trains did.
