On this date seventy-five years ago Amelia Earhart flew from Singapore to Bandoeng, Java. Waiting for her there were the steel drums of aviation fuel each stamped with her name. She took both comfort and delight in those drums. "We wanted the keys of
no city so long as the hangar doors were open and the ground crew ready.
Always they were and it was. And always we found my usual calling cards,
fifty-gallon drums of gasoline, each with my name printed large upon it in
white or red lettering. The exact quantity of fuel, all as arranged months
before, waited at each stopping place and additionally at many which changed
schedules or leap-frogging eliminated. The first thing we were
apt to see as we rolled into any hangar from Caripito to
Port Darwin was an orderly group of these "Amelia Earhart" drums, their
contents waiting to be consumed by the thirsty Electra. The metal barrels,
empty, were left behind as souvenirs." - Amelia Earhart
On the island of Nani in But This Is Different http://butthisisdifferent.com the fuel for a boat made from parts never intended to float will not be as common a sight for the woman who will soon wait for forty years.
In the photograph are the steel drums of aviation gasoline waiting for Amelia at Bandoeng, Java.
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