Amelia Rose Earhart, namesake of the famous aviatrix Amelia Mary Earhart, has become the youngest woman to fly around the world in a single engine aircraft. Earhart managed the feat in a Pilatus PC-12 NG, and now hopes to fund flight scholarships for young women interested in pursuing a career in aviation.

While not a direct relation to Amelia Mary Earhart of 1937 fame, Amelia Rose Earhart was inspired by her namesake to set and achieve ambitious life goals.

Earhart has been a pilot since 2010 and worked as a professional news-caster in Los Angeles and Denver. This particular flight was first considered while she was still in high school. She, along with co-pilot Shane Jordan, selected the PC-12 NG owing to its reliability and performance. Earhart says: “It was the perfect aircraft in which to complete this flight. Its renown removed much of the inherent risk associated with a flight of this nature.

“Its large cabin gave us plenty of room to stretch out and stay alert on the very long flight legs, and I am delighted to report that the aircraft performed flawlessly throughout our entire 16-day journey. Over the total 24,300 miles, we did not incur a single issue to interrupt our flight plan.”

Earhart's flight plan endeavoured to stay as close as possible to the original 1937 flight as current geopolitical conditions would allow. In order to accomplish the long over-water legs, the aircraft was fitted with a 200 gallon auxiliary fuel tank, which extended the PC-12's standard range of 1,830 nm to over 2,500 nm.

While overflying Howland Island in the Pacific Ocean, the last known position of Amelia Mary Earhart's infamous flight, Amelia awarded 10 flight scholarships to young women across the US by radio, through the Fly With Amelia Foundation.