Amelia Earhart's Historic Route
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Recommended Aircraft
Lockheed Electra by Aeroplane Heaven
Flight Summary
This is a modern route adapted to Amelia Earhart's original flight plan from 1937.
100h
Uploaded By: neilends
Flight Rules: VFR
Stops: 29
Downloads: 637

To create this plan, I followed Amelia Earhart's official route starting from Oakland, California. Notes:

  • I recommend downloading this for use with Little NavMap or a similar application, so you can modify the legs as desired and break this up into pieces. If anyone accomplishes this plan in one sitting, I hope they stream it live and put it on YouTube because that would be hilarious, amazing, and possibly newsworthy. But I hope you don't crash. 
  • Aeroplane Heaven has created a Lockheed Electra for MSFS, including an Amelia version. The longest stretches on Amelia's original plan were about 1,500 miles or less. Near the end (which she did not reach), her flight from Lei, Papau New Guinea to Howland Island was 2,556 miles. Her final stretch from Honolulu to Oakland was 2,410 miles. Thus, you may need to simulate a refueling since the Heaven version of the Electra does not come with Amelia's fuel storage expansion.
  • This is a modern adaptation in the year 2021 of her route. It is not a historical recreation trying to simulate the world or conditions in 1937. Many of the airstrips Amelia used do not exist anymore. I crafted this with the thought of how I would actually fly this route if I tried it in the real world, using a real and modern airplane.
  • Whenever possible, I chose the largest, commercial airports close to the destinations on Amelia's route. 
  • In Indonesia, Amelia flew from Bandoeng (spelled "Bandung" in the plan) to Soerabaja ("Surabaya") on June 24, then back to Bandoeng on June 25, for unscheduled maintenance. I have not included this back-and-forth in the plan. Instead, the plan flies you from Bandoeng to Soerabaja and then straight on to her next destination. You can modify as desired obviously.
  • The scheduled destination that Amelia failed to show up to is known as Howland Island, which is a U.S. territory. A temporary airstrip had been constructed for her. Today, the island is barren in real life and therefore in MSFS as well. But it is listed here as a waypoint. It is possible to land there.
  • The best theory of Amelia's death is that she landed or crashed on an island in Kiribati known as Nikumaroro Island. Fortunately, Microsoft's depiction of Nikumaroro is well done and accurate. I recommend visiting it. There is no airstrip but most small planes will find enough smooth ground to land on. 
  • To avoid complications in saving this .PLN file, I concluded Amelia's trip in San Francisco, right across the bay from her starting airport of Oakland. Feel free to modify as desired.
  • Historical references used for this .PLN file: The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery's Earhart Project.
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