WI: Amelia Earhart returns

this idea came to mind recently. basically, instead of disappearing over the South Pacific for whatever reason, Amelia Earhart successfully completes her flight. what does she do afterward, and how is the world affected by her continuing existence?
 
She would have been killed on another secret reconissance mission ;)


She had a wide variety of options to purse. How many would have worked out is another question. Purdue University would have considered signing another short term contract. Other aviation education positions at other universities were possible. She might have gone the Dolittle route, that is contracting as a test pilot with a specific company with a long term contract. Several others like her went that route.
 
I definitely see her joining the WASPs after the US DoW in '41, perhaps in a leadership position or somewhere high up on the administrative hierarchy
 

Flubber

Banned
Would have prevented a lot of conspiracy theories from taking shape...


That's about it, that and the role in the WASPs during WW2 already mentioned.

Truth be told, Earhart was not a great pilot, exhibited little technical competence, and, apart from working with a Hollywood stunt pilot for a few months in the mid-30s, never made much effort to improve. She couldn't operate the radio aboard the Electra, for example, and never bothered to learn how. She also was a poor navigator. Rather than the "flying lab" work the press reported on, Noonan's real role during the circumnavigation attempt was to perform the celestial navigation duties Earhart could not.
 
I think she retires shortly after this flight, what other things could she to do to break records? She becomes a spokesperson for the Army Air Core during World War II and sells war bonds like any other celebrity, and advocates the need for the US to have its own Air Force. Someone probably even names a B-59 after her that bombs Japan, something she probably wouldn't have wanted. After this she becomes a mostly retired public citizen and opens up a flight academy for women and becomes a public speaker advocating the need for countries to open airports and take part in transatlantic flight for passenger service. She becomes fond of space travel in her later years and even meets John F. Kennedy at the White House after his speech calling for the Moon landing.
 
Yes, I could also imagine her pushing for more women being involved in space flight, especially if the Soviets beat the Americans to that milestone ITTL.
 

Archibald

Banned
That's about it, that and the role in the WASPs during WW2 already mentioned.

Truth be told, Earhart was not a great pilot, exhibited little technical competence, and, apart from working with a Hollywood stunt pilot for a few months in the mid-30s, never made much effort to improve. She couldn't operate the radio aboard the Electra, for example, and never bothered to learn how. She also was a poor navigator. Rather than the "flying lab" work the press reported on, Noonan's real role during the circumnavigation attempt was to perform the celestial navigation duties Earhart could not.

What a load of rubbish !

She becomes fond of space travel in her later years and even meets John F. Kennedy at the White House after his speech calling for the Moon landing.

see Jacqueline Cochran and The mercury 13
 

Flubber

Banned
What a load of rubbish !


Let me suggest Susan Butler's East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart. It's a more accurate and nuanced biography of Earhart than the grade school level, "Girls Can Do Stuff Too!", hagiographies you're apparently more familiar with.
 

Archibald

Banned
Critics disagree with you, you know

The chapters detailing the last flight are riveting, but the author minimises Earhart’s part in its failure. Her navigator didn’t know Morse code. Her husband George was back at base muddling through. The plane simply disappeared.
The way your post is formulated reminds me of those who say that Saint Exupery was a bad piloy and a depressive wreck that killed himself by throwing his P-38 into the sea. :rolleyes:
 
I read the title and immediately thought, "What - like she returns now?" And then I had this vision of zombie aviators and it got bad from there.
 

Archibald

Banned
From what I've seen, she's done a lot of research, which doesn't mean the book is good. She had been somewhat "blinded" by his admiration, if not obsession, for Amelia.
 
Top