20 Hours, 40 Min: Our Flight in the Friendship

An intriguing look at women in aviation and the pioneering days of flight as seen through the eyes of aviatrix Amelia Earhart. The main event in the book is the 1928 crossing of the Atlantic Ocean aboard “Friendship,” a Fokker F VIIb/3m. Co-pilots Wilmer “Bill” Stultz and Louis “Slim” Gordon were the two men who comprised the rest of the three-member crew. Amelia was not qualified for instrument flight and so did not pilot the plane; her job was to keep the log book for the flight.
Even though she was only a passenger, Amelia gained fame as the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean by airplane. [It was a feat she would repeat some four years later, this time piloting her Lockheed Vega 5B for the solo flight.]

Amelia’s log show more book entries, along with her candid, insightful comments, make for fascinating reading. Although the flight is the centerpiece of the narrative, Amelia also discusses her aviation exploits, her nursing duties during the war, and her social work as she shares her thoughts on the development of aviation and its place in the American way of life. With more than sixty photographs reproduced throughout the book, the reader gains an added insight into the 1928 world in which Amelia lived.

Marion Perkins, the Head Worker at Denison House in Boston, wrote the discerning introduction. Amelia worked at the settlement; she hoped to give the children experiences to keep them young and to help them develop a zest for life.

There is no doubt that Amelia had a zest for life and her bubbly personality shines through in this engaging commentary. Her insightful reflections on aviation and the place of women in that field, born of a 1928 perspective, are interesting, thought-provoking, and perceptive. Since most readers know of the aviatrix’s loss on her round-the-world flight, this charming account holds an unintended undercurrent of poignancy.

Highly recommended. show less