“Amelia” movie plane flies into Balboa Park museum

Photo courtesy of The San Diego Air & Space Museum.

As the new Fox Searchlight movie “Amelia” flies into theaters, a replica of Earhart’s plane used in the film has made its way to the San Diego Air and Space Museum.

The replica Lockheed Vega 5B was created for the film and donated to the SDASM by Avalon Pictures. Earhart was fond of the Lockheed Vega 5B and used the plane in the first female solo flight across the Atlantic and then across the United States, along with other world records. The Vega 5B was known for its speed and many records were set with the plane.

“The Lockheed Vega is a very significant addition to the San Diego Air & Space Museum,” said museum president Jim Kidrick.  “It allows us to upgrade our Amelia exhibit, showcasing her exceptional flying career and positive impact on women in aviation.  Our expert restoration team spent hundreds of hours refinishing the Vega after we received it, to ensure the new exhibit superbly represents the quality of the Museum’s other aircraft and artifacts.”

Earhart is best known for her mysterious disappearance in July 1937. The most extensive air and sea search in US Naval history was launched soon after and cost over $4 million. Amelia, her navigator Fred Noonan, and the plane, a Lockheed Electra, have never been found although there are dozens of theories as to what happened.

“Amelia” opened in theaters, Friday to lukewarm reviews. SDNN’s movie critic, David Elliot, gave “Amelia” two stars:

“The movie packs some suspense and pathos into Amelia’s last minutes in the air. Still, well before then, we know that she is flying on a wing and a prayer, and that both proved inadequate. Like the film.”

Steven Bartholow is SDNN’s multimedia editor.

Tags: "Amelia, Avalon, Earhart, hilary swank, movie, Richard Gere, San Diego Air & Space Museum, SDNN, Uncategorized

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 3:38 pm and is filed under Arts & Entertainment, Movies, News, photo gallery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.