Sixty-six years ago this month, Amelia Earhart departed on what she hoped would be the first round-the-world flight by a woman. We should not forget that she was part of our neighborhood.

Earhart's first airplane was purchased from Burt Kinner; it was built at Grand Central Airport in Glendale. She worked at the phone company on Magnolia Boulevard and Tujunga Avenue, to earn money to take flying lessons. She set speed and distance records in her beautiful red Lockheed Vega, which was designed and built in Burbank, on the land where the Burbank Empire Center is located now. She took off from the dirt runway that ran parallel to the train tracks there; you can see that in vintage photos of her flying with the Verdugo Mountains behind her.

She prepared for her round-the-world trip with Paul Mantz in hangar 2 at Union Airport in Burbank. That hangar is still in use today - you can still walk up to the hangar door that she leaned against in 1937.

The aircraft she used on her round-the-world attempt was a Lockheed Electra model 10, which was designed and built in Burbank. She and her navigator, Fred Noonan, departed Lae, new Guinea, on July 1, 1937. One more refueling stop and they were home free. They were never seen again.

It was a different world back then, a world where real people pitted themselves against real danger, and sometimes they paid with their lives. I believe we should remember that Burbank's history is not only about make-believe and movies; some of our history was real. Especially during this centennial year of aviation, there should be recognition of the great things that took place here in Burbank.

Ron Dickson

Burbank, Ca