DAY 4 - June 4, 2004
Amelia Earhart would be pleased

Day 2-3

Siegfried at Amelia's

The crew of Flight of Discovery spent another beautiful day flying, with a stop at the capitol of Missouri, Jefferson City, and then onward to Atchison, KS, to the Amelia Earhart Airport. Upon arrival, Sigfried and the crew were greeted by the Chamber of Commerce, and taken to the birthplace of one of the most famous of pilots, Amelia Earhart.


Cessna Flight Operations

Weather

Washington Memorial, MO (M06)

38o 35.50'N
90o 59.86'W

Runway 160/3400
Length 3281' x 50'
Elevation 487'

Location - Approximately 1 mile aside the Missouri River

1430 Z / 9:30 AM Local Time
Winds 130 / 03 KTS

Visability = 10
Sky Clear
Temp 19 / Dew Pt 14

Ninety-Nine Club Members

Ninety-nine members

Today was a special day for the FLIGHT OF DISCOVERY GROUP as we focused on the female aviators that have "flown the trail" for the women pilots today. First of all we landed at the Amelia Earhart Airport in Atchison, KS. We were greeted by the Chamber of Commerce to bring us to the House and birthplace of Amelia Earhart. The thing that is so significant about Amelia Earhart of course is that she was the first President of the Ninety Nines Women Pilot Organization. Two of our pilots on the flight of discovery expedition are currently members of the Ninety Nines along with being the aviation education representitives. It was a great honor to have the opportunity to return to the roots of the pioneer of women's aviation, to "Lady Lindy's" hometown.

Expedition Leader's Notes
I'm writing this a few days after the events and I won't dwell on the details…

Late on Thursday evening Carol was injured in a car accident on the way home from the airport in San Diego. After flying the Bell 206 across the country to Indiana and across the Midwest to Washington, MO she gets t-boned in a taxi two blocks from home. Go figure. Broken collarbone and nose but otherwise okay. The taxi driver is not so lucky and is paralyzed from the neck down. The drunk driver who ran the stop sign has a broken cheekbone.

We rallied the troops and divided my responsibilities among Mike Mann, Roger Fraser, Brian Forrest, and John Egan. The crew gave me a FOD t-shirt that everyone (including Sigfried) had signed for me to take to Carol. Rather than go backwards on the river to St. Louis, which I thought for myself to be important at the time, I decided personally to push on to Kansas City and catch a flight at KCI, there being now real difference in available departure times between there and Lambert Field. I booked a 2:45pm flight.

I flew in the Caravan with Mike and we stopped at Jefferson City where we were well received by the local L & C Bicentennial Committee. They shuttled us to the National Park Service Corps II celebration site, which included many trading booths and exhibits and the Tent of Many Voices at which I gave a short speech to the assembled grade schoolers. Much appreciation to the NPS for feeding the crew on a very stressful day for the FOD.

As the rest of the FOD departed along the river, Mike, Jeanette and I winged our way direct to KCI. It was a strange experience hearing everyone's good wishes to Carol over the air-to-air as we headed west; I didn't know what awaited me in San Diego and I wondered if either I or Carol would be rejoining this fine group for the remainder of the Journey.

The best news possible in SD when I arrived was that I could take Carol home that evening. Thanks to co-worker Kim for shuttling me around to make that possible (my Expedition is on the Trail, right?). Checked in on the taxi driver, Abdullah; we'll try to figure out how we can help him and his family since they are uninsured and rely totally on the income from his driving. Met with the neighbors at the accident site and thanked them for pulling Carol out of the wreckage.

Carol insists that I immediately rejoin the group and we spend the evening talking about the expedition and less about the accident.

Roger Fraser - Airport Operations

FOD - Day 4

A beautiful morning to start with at M0G, crew was excited to get in the air and on the road. Jefferson City was our first stop to meet up with the Lewis and Clark Boat Group and to visit with the Centennial Committee. What a receptions at the function. Then departing up river to Atchison, CA, to K59, overnight stop, Boy, what a beautiful place! Cameras rolling when we landed and the people were fabulous. A trolly to Amelia Earhart Home, Boy, what a place! Back to camp at the airport for a great dinner, and rest. We see what tomorrow brings.

Roger
(aka)
Chuck

Sciences


Zoology

Today we flew from Washington, MO to Jefferson City. We saw the largest variety of animals, including elk, white tail mule deer, badgers, bear, skunks, and much more. Unfortunately they were all stuffed, and part of the display that is included in the Louis and Clark Tent of Many Voices tour. The live animals and birds that were seen were limited to white tailed deer, a golden eagle, turkeys, and a few geese. A fish was observed jumping in the river and it appeared to be the Asian Carp, an introduced species to the river that was not present during Lewis and Clark's day.