ACROSS THE ATLANTIC—SOLO
London, May 25, 1932
Active preparation for the Atlantic Flight started after I had finished the manuscript of “The Fun Of It.” Indeed, the book itself was finished by the time I left New York . . . Here, at the request of the publishers, is a final chapter describing the flight itself—a postscript from overseas.
Starting from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, on the afternoon of May 20, 1932, I landed near Londonderry in the north of Ireland the next morning, thirteen and a half hours after the takeoff. That, briefly, is the story of my solo flight across the Atlantic.
Ever since my first crossing in the “Friendship,” in 1928 when I was merely a passenger, I have wanted to attempt a solo flight. Then, a few months ago I decided upon it seriously. My Lockheed-Vega plane, which had been under charter to a transport line at Washington, was free. I found that Bernt Balchen was ready to take charge of its re-conditioning, while my husband, always a good
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