of the rare aircraft, only a small number of which still fly. Finch had restored six vintage planes by 1997. She has flown over 8,000 hours, three-quarters of the time in vintage multi-engine aircraft, warbirds and taildraggers. Finch has flown in air shows worldwide for more than 20 years. World Flight 1997 In 1991, Finch began planning to duplicate Amelia Earhart's doomed 1937 World Flight. Earhart was the first female (and the second person, after Charles Lindbergh) to fly completely over the Atlantic Ocean, and the first aviator to fly solo across the Pacific from Hawaii to California. Earhart attracted the world's attention when she began her 29,000-nautical-mile global flight attempt, which Finch aimed to duplicate (and finish). On July 2, 1937, Earhart took off from New Guinea for Howland Island and disappeared without a trace over the South Pacific Ocean. Finch's flight marked the 60th anniversary of Earhart's failed effort, and the centennial of her birth. Preparations Finch flew a 1935 Lockheed Electra 10E, restored to the specifications of Earhart's Electra 10E. She believed that the flight should be in the same type of plane as Earhart's for historical purposes. Finch searched for three years for parts for one of only two such planes in existence, neither of which was flight-worthy. She found it in a garage at a small airstrip near Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where it had been sitting for years. A number of parts were missing; the wings and engines had been removed and sold, and the plane was corroded. Finch spent $330,000 (most of her savings) to purchase it and haul it back to her Texas hometown. Pratt & Whitney, manufacturer of the Wasp radial engines which powered Earhart's Electra, donated $1.5 million in March 1995 to help Finch restore the plane. It underwrote the $4 million flight, and the Hartford Courant was a sponsor. The Electra was methodically reassembled in accordance with its original specifications. Pictures of Earhart's plane and original drawings and photographs from Lockheed aided in the restoration. Although it was not completely restored until 1997, the plane was able to fly in July 1996. Earhart's radio gear was antiquated, but Finch's Electra was designed with state-of-the-art radio navigation and weather radar. She had a GPS receiver for world navigation and tracking her exact location. The Electra's fuel-tank capacity was increased from 800 pounds to 1,800 pounds for island-hopping across oceans. The National