AN OFFER SHE COULDN’T REFUSE
Amelia Earhart and G.P. Putnam, 1928
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In the spring of 1928, Captain Hilton H. Railey, a representative of publisher and publicist George Palmer Putnam, contacted Amelia Earhart and offered her the chance to fly the Atlantic aboard an airplane later dubbed the Friendship. Earhart had apparently been selected because of her activities in aviation and her altitude record. After brief skepticism, Earhart jumped at the chance, later telling interviewers that it was “an offer you don’t turn down”. For this flight, Earhart was to be a passenger, as well as keep the flight log. Wilmer Stultz would be the pilot and Louis Gordon his co-pilot and mechanic. The friendship took off on June 17, 1928 from Trepassey, Newfoundland after a three week wait for decent weather, landing in the harbor at Burry Port, Wales the next day. From then on, Earhart’s life would never be the same: she was catapulted to instant international fame. The flight took exactly 20 hours and 40 minutes. When she was interviewed after the landing, Earhart candidly told Captain Railey, "Stultz did all the flying—had to. I was just baggage, like a sack of potatoes." She added, "...maybe someday I'll try it alone."
Earhart received an enthusiastic welcome on June 19, 1928, when landing at Woolston in Southampton, England. The English aristocracy immediately embraced the aviatrix, whisking her into the world of high society. She flew the Avro Avian owned by Lady Mary Heath, later purchased the aircraft, with her new found wealth and had it shipped back to the United States.
Amelia Earhart being greeted by Mrs. Foster Welch,
Mayor of Southampton, June 20, 1928.
Above, a button issued by the Bond Bread Co.
to commemorate the flight
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