Amelia and her autogiro
It’s hard to miss the advertisements touting the new movie “Amelia” about pioneer woman pilot, Amelia Earhart but in the summer of 1931 Oklahomans saw the real thing.
On June 14, 1931, the Oklahoma Publishing Company arranged to have Amelia Earhart, piloting her autogiro, appear in an aerial circus at the fairgrounds to benefit the Milk and Ice Fund for undernourished and poor children.
12,000 people, my daddy included, saw Amelia flythat day. It was one of the largest crowds to see her autogiro tour of the U.S.
The newspaper described the show:
Miss Earhart’s appearance, an accidental piece of showmanship, came just as the moment the crowd was letting down from the opening round of thrills. Circling the field several times, one of America’s premiere aviatrices brought the strange craft down for a beautiful landing, stopping within a few yards of the point where the wheels struck the ground.
The entire program was broadcast over WKY, Oklahoman, Times and Farmer Stockman radio station and preceding the appearance of the “backyard flying machine,” a description of the ship was broadcast. Miss Earhart, after her landing spoke briefly to the enthusiastically cheering crowd.
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