Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega 5B

Here's the plane Amelia Earhart flew across the Atlantic, and across the United States, both solo in 1932. Both were the first times a woman had made the flight. I was excited to view the plane at the National Air and Space Museum because for my voice for performance class I'm performing Amelia's acceptance speech for a medal awarded to her by the National Geographic Society after making the flight across the Atlantic.

"At 11:30 (pm) I plunged into the storm and met the roughest air I have ever encountered while flying completely blind. By blind I mean I could not see out of my cockpit at all. I had light there which of course, did not cast much illumination beyond the windowpane, anymore than a lamp in a house casts its glow far outside. For about an hour I could not keep my course absolutely. I was tossed about to such an extent that accuracy was impossible," Amelia said about her flight across the Atlantic, which took 15 hours.