newsletter 4-3

Over my clothing I had a rubber belt that could be instantly inflated to keep me afloat. Near the belt was a hatchet. In case the plane landed in the water I was supposed to get out of the plane, swim about, chop a hole in the ship, get out the rubber boat, inflate it and continue on my way until aid arrived. All that sounds ridiculous, but those were the precautions taken for my safety. I even had a chart showing the locations of all ocean vessels along my way.”
Earhart explained that to her the lure of flying was the lure of beauty. She told of the strange beauty of flying above the clouds with stars so close that one could almost reach and touch them.
A visit to Parkersburg’s municipal airport at Maplewood as guests of joint managers Wade Stewart and Jay Sodowsky on Saturday morning, October 31, concluded Earhart’s visit to Parkersburg. That day’s Sentinel reported that Earhart was highly pleased with the 80 acre field and its equipment. She suggested that hard-surfaced runways would be

a necessity before transcontinental transport lines consider a stop in Parkersburg. “All transport line stops are field equipped with hard-surfaced runways,” she explained. “Year round service must be available for the large ships and such is not possible on a turf field. If Parkersburg desires a transport line through this section, it would be advisable to make efforts to secure adequate runways.”
Earhart concluded her trip by telling Wade and Sodowsky, “You really have a wonderful field and you and your board of commerce should be
complimented for pioneering aviation in Parkersburg. The future has great possibilities.” She left Parkersburg to drive to Fairmont where she was scheduled to lecture that evening.
On July 2,1937, Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific Ocean near Howland Island during an attempted flight (with Fred Noonan) around the world. The mystery of her disappearance has never been solved.

During her visit to the Parkersburg Municipal Airport, Wade Stewart, Amelia Earhart and Jay Sodowsky pose in front of a new plane, which was used at the airport for commercial and cross country flying for photographer Vincent Borrelli. According to Paul Borrelli, owner of Artcraft Studio, he and his father have made copies of the photo for individuals and organizations around the world. Copies of the photographs are displayed in the Women’s Air and Space Museum in Dayton, Ohio, and the Ninety-Nines (an organization of women pilots) Museum in Earhart’s childhood home of Atchinson, Kansas. “The original is mine,” Borrelli said. “The photo of Amelia Earhart was one of my father’s proudest pictures and no one will get the original.”