|  | In 2001, amidst a whirlwind of media attention, she re-created one of Amelia Earhart’s legendary feats: the first solo flight by a woman from New York to California and back. | |
When possible, Carlene planned to land on the same grass airstrips, dine with the same “ladies’ societies,” and stay in the same homes Amelia did. Earhart accomplished her 1928 flight in a 1927 Avro Avian airplane; Carlene completed it in a sister plane, a restored ’27 Avro Avian – after the tragedy of 9/11.
She set off from New York a few days before September 11, 2001 and made it as far as New Mexico. But she wouldn’t be able to resume the flight until three weeks after the attacks, and then only with stops rearranged due to nationwide flight restrictions. “It was my own personal triumph,” Carlene says. “I wouldn’t be cowed by what I felt was a very cowardly act. I hoped it would make others feel safe about flying again.” |
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 Her flight turned out to be most meaningful for children. “A lot of schools used it as a teaching tool, about women in history and aviation,” she says. She also spoke to plenty of reporters and photographers – and that, she says, “was exhausting. The part I liked least was the celebrity of the flight. I feel terrible for movie stars.”
What did she love most? Flying in an open-air cockpit, “it highlighted for me how impressive and diverse our country is. How lucky we are to have so much freedom…it made me very proud to be an American. And made me see how gutsy foolish I was to attack such an adventure in such an unreliable plane!” (For safety, Carlene was followed by another plane carrying parts and supplies.) |
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| Still, she says, “I wasn’t scared at all. All these guys I fly with were scared to death for me, but I never felt afraid.” Carlene, who rides motorcycles and works on her own planes (she has five), is used to doing things “women don’t regularly do.” But she says she’s never experienced sexism in aviation. “Whenever I’ve proved myself competent, I’ve never been put down for it.”
In interviews around the time of her 2001 flight, Carlene often said the public should celebrate Amelia’s life – not just her disappearance. After all her Earhart research, is there anything Carlene would ask Amelia if she could meet her? “I am so curious about [her], I would just like to pick her brain,” says Carlene. “I want to know who she is…who she really is. Amelia was a pretty tough lady.”
Takes one to know one, Carlene. Thanks for being a Duluth Real Woman and an inspiration to us all. |
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