In July 2011, Amelia Earhart of Denver, Colorado – a distant relative of the Amelia Earhart – finished her transition training in an SR20 with Independence Aviation. She’s given herself ten years to accomplish a phenomenal goal: to trace and successfully complete the other Earhart’s journey around the world, beginning and ending in California. And only if she can with a Cirrus SR22T.

When the 28-year-old was born, her parents didn’t expect her to become a pilot. “They wanted to give me a positive female role model-type of name, something nobody would ever forget.” Growing up, she got a little tired of everyone asking her if she wanted to become a pilot, but in high school, she started to wonder if maybe it would be something she could do. By college, it became a real possibility, especially after her first general aviation flight in 2004. “My first flight I thought, ‘I hope I like this!’. Turned out I’m completely in love with it.” A year later, when she took her first flight in a Cirrus, she was hooked. “I was in complete shock. I left my heart up there.”

It took a few years, paying for the training, finishing college and starting her journalism career, but on February 2, 2010, this Amelia Earhart earned what few people do: a private pilot’s license. “It was the best to be able to say, ‘I’m finished. I’m a pilot.’”

At home in her living room, Amelia has hung a giant map of the world marking her namesake’s voyage. With a Cirrus SR22T, she’s sure she can complete the journey that caused Earhart’s disappearance in 1937. “I’ll do it by the time I’m 39 [Earhart’s age at the time of her flight]. In my research I found that I can absolutely, positively fly around the world in a Cirrus.”

Amelia wants to bring closure to that fated, 1937 flight by completing it using the technology of today. “That’s why I’m going to do it in a Cirrus. It means a lot to me to know I have the safety and backup systems on board as well as the parachute [CAPS].”

But flying around the world in a Cirrus is only a drop in the bucket of Amelia’s aviation goals. Bigger plans are in the works to start a foundation in honor of the late Amelia Earhart to teach young women to fly. “At a certain point in your youth you believe you can do anything you want, then something in high school switches and you’re told things you ‘need to do’ – especially for women. I want to make sure that magical time when believing that anything is possible isn’t lost.”

When it’s up and running, her foundation’s first year goal will be to support 12 young, high school-aged women in accomplishing their pilot’s license. “Imagine starting college with the confidence of already holding a private pilot’s license. When you have that kind of confidence, you want to share it with people.”

We congratulate Amelia and look forward to hearing more from her as her foundation and circumnavigation plans take flight!