CCII
San
Juan, Puerto Rico and not Miami, Florida was in fact Amelia Earhart’s last
United States landfall. Earhart and Noonan made landfall at Isla Grande Airport
at noon on June 1, 1937*.
A
few minor repairs and routine aircraft maintenance were done on the Electra and
Amelia met with groups of excited well-wishers, signed some autographs, and took
in the sights of Old San Juan before retiring for the night in a comfortable
hotel bed. The next day, June 2, they set out for foreign climes --- Venezuela.
Records
of the San Juan stop --- including photos --- exist because Amelia maintained
the habit of shipping unneeded items home at every staging stop in order to
save weight. Thus, the overnight hangar bill and a number of photos survived
her disappearance.
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“No Smoking”: Fred Noonan and Amelia sign
autographs in the hangar at San Juan
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A photo of San Juan Harbor taken by Amelia
herself
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The storage and repair bill for the Electra’s
stay in San Juan. Note that the labor charge for Pan American’s mechanics on
the island was a whopping $2.20 per hour for four hours
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*By
coincidence, eighty years ago to the day that this blog entry has been posted.
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