She took her first flying lessons in 1921, driving a gravel truck at the Glendale Airport to pay for the lessons. Six months later, she bought her first airplane from Bert Kinner, a self-taught mechanic who had designed a two-seat flying machine, the Airster, in his Glendale Airport hanger.
She flew the Airster to an unheard-of height of 14,000 feet in the days when 5,000 feet was the ultimate and most aviators flew no higher than 2,000 or 3,000 feet. Her daredevil flying brought her first women's record and turned her into a national celebrity.
She liked the Airster so well that she ordered another model from Kinner, a barebones plywood affair known as the Crackerbox. According to Glendale author John Underwood, who wrote "Images of Aviation, Grand Central Air Terminal," the experimental Airster's engine ran rough and tended to put her foot to sleep, but she relished her role as a test pilot.
She was a frequent houseguest at the Kinner residence at 1201 Flower St. That same year, Earhart got a pilot's license, the first granted to an American woman, and joined a crew flying across the Atlantic, becoming the first woman to cross by air.
In 1929, Grand Central Air Terminal opened with huge fanfare and later that same year, Earhart shoveled dirt at the groundbreaking of the Flying Club of California, near the air terminal. The clubhouse, next to the Los Angeles River, was complete with a swimming pool and was said to have secret passages to provide members with an escape route from Prohibition-era police raids.
In March 1937, with her 40th birthday nearing, Earhart began her quest to become the first female to fly around the world. Her first attempt, heading west, ended with a crash on takeoff in Hawaii.
