Born in Cook County Illinois in
1893, Fred was first a navigator on ships, then later on
aircraft. He received his commercial pilots license in 1930 and
worked as a navigation instructor for Pan American World
Airways. Fred was the first to map Clipper routes in the
Pacific. In 1937 he resigned from Pan Am to start a navigation
school. When Amelia Earhart asked Fred to be her navigator, he
jumped at the chance, driving to Burbank with his new wife,
Beatrice Passadori. |
Born in Atchison Kansas in 1897,
Amelia grew up there and later in Des Moines Iowa. She was the
first female passenger to cross the Atlantic by airplane in 1928
and in 1932, piloted her own Lockheed Vega 5B, to become the
first woman to solo, non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean. She
also held several aviation records and received numerous awards,
including the Distinguished Flying Cross. She also wrote
best-selling books about her aviation feats and formed The
Ninety-Nines organization for female pilots.
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