On Wed, 21 Apr 2004 00:39:17 GMT, James Robinson
wrote:

Bruce Wodetzki wrote:

Help me end an argument please,can any one tell me how many
flying hours this lady had before she disappeared

I've never seen a tally, but a some information from her biography might
give a clue.

She learned to fly in 1921, and bought her own airplane that year. She
was only an amateur, but set a couple of records for women fliers, like
altitude and distance, on her own. In 1928, she was invited to
participate in a trans-Atlantic publicity flight, and from that point on
was dedicated to flying and publicity as a career. She entered many
races, and flew various endurance flights, until she attempted the RTW
flight in 1937.

Just to add what I know to your list:

1928: First woman to fly across the Atlantic
(acted as “logkeeper," not pilot).

1931: Altitude record for autogyros (18,415').

1932: Second person to fly solo
across the Atlantic.

1932 & 1933: Broke women’s transcontinental
speed record.

1935:

First to fly nonstop from Mexico City to Newark.

First person to fly solo from
Hawaii to California.

Founded the 99s.

Overall, I'd say she had a fair number of hours in her log when she
disappeared.

Probably on the order of several thousand.

I got involved with TIGHAR a few years ago. They sent me to
Fiji and New Zealand last summer to search for some bones
that were found on Gardner Island (now Nikumaroro) in
1940. There is a chance that they may have been hers, but
the bones have been lost after they were examined in Fiji
in 1941. Details at http://www.tighar.org if anyone is
interested.

Marty