Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Hobbs Flashbacks: Amelia Earhart Comes to Town! circa 1928


Amelia Earhart was flying on her famed transcontinental flight and due to the open air cockpit, lost her map as it was blown from it's safety pinned location on the knee of her trousers. Originally headed for Pecos, TX; she lost her bearings and followed a road leading to a cluster of houses built around an oil well. This was the small boom town of Hobbs and she managed to land on Main Street. The people of Hobbs, true to their welcoming nature, took her in and gave her food and shelter. Today, if you mention the town of Hobbs to most pilots, they are familiar with it's location because there is a VOR (VHF Omni-Directional Range) located there, that aids in aircraft radio navigation. Back in the day that Amelia flew, that wasn't available and the area was mile after mile of grassland and provided a much greater challenge with a compass and dead reckoning as her primary tools. Read more about Amelia's experience in Hobbs at: www.hobbshistory.com, an active link is above this post.

If you are visiting Hobbs today, try soaring! Hobbs is a major mecca for soaring enthusiasts and the proud home of the Soaring Society of America! A modern day aviator of the soaring variety, Joann Shaw holds the women's free distance record of 344.4 miles.