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Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) was America's most celebrated aviatrix. After receiving her pilots licence in 1922, she set many world's records for speed, altitude and distance. In 1932, she flew solo across the Atlantic (May 20-21); and she set the women's nonstop transcontinental speed record (August 24-25). Her dream was to be the first of either gender to fly round the world at the equator. Accordingly, in a Lockheed twin-engine Electra, with navigator Fred Noonan, Earhart took off from Miami eastward on June 1, 1937. By June 30th, they had arrived in New Guinea. Next stop was Howland Island, 4113 km away. However, the plane disappeared on July 2, 1937. Fast forward 30 years later. Ann Pellegreno, an accomplished aviatrix in her own right, decided to retrace Earhart's round-the-world flight route in the same aircraft type, the Lockheed twin-engine Electra. On June 9, 1967, with a crew of three, Pellegreno took off from Oakland, California and headed eastward. On July 2, 1967, flying over Howland Island, Pellegreno dropped a wreath to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Amelia Earhart's disappearance. The flight ended back in Oakland on July 7th. On the flight Pellegreno carried a number of commemorative covers. These had the Amelia Earhart airmail stamp (C68) issued on July 24, 1963 and the covers were autographed by Pellegreno and her three crew members. Here we have one of the autographed covers that made the round-the-world commemorative flight. The cover is cancelled on the starting date for the flight: June 9, 1967, at San Francisco. The four signatures in the bottom right: (1) William Payne, the copilot; (2) Lee Koepke, owner and restorer of the Lockheed Electra used in the flight; (3) Ann Pellegreno; (4) William (Bill) Polhemus, navigator. We also include a detailed itinerary of the commemorative flight.
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