Around The World In 73 Days -- Texas Pilot Linda Finch Completes Flight Amelia Earhart Tried

OAKLAND, Calif. - After 2 1/2 months and almost 26,000 miles, pilot Linda Finch touched down today at Oakland International Airport, completing the round-the-world journey Amelia Earhart never finished.

"I followed my own yellow brick road in the sky, visiting many wonderful countries," the Texas businesswoman told the crowd after climbing from the plane. "But this, for me, is the most wonderful of all."

"I was touched by how many people shared their dreams with me," she added. "I hope World Flight gave them a little more wind beneath their wings."

Moments before she touched down, Finch's voice was carried over the field's loudspeaker system.

"I'm very happy to be home," she said, as the children were urged to scream loud enough for her to hear in the air.

Finch's twin-engine plane made a smooth landing, taxied and turned back toward the cheering crowd. She had departed from the same field on March 17.

In the crowd, 10-year-old Julia Anne Ho, a fifth-grader from California, said she was impressed with Finch's courage.

"We thought it was neat that she could travel around the world," she said. "It takes a lot of guts."

Finch said yesterday before leaving Honolulu that she was anxious to see her children.

"My strongest thought is that I'm so close to home," she said. "Amelia must have been so disappointed, she got so close."

Earhart, attempting to become the first person to fly around the equator, mysteriously disappeared on her way to Howland Island in the South Pacific on July 2, 1937.

With about 15 supporters yelling "Aloha," Finch flew out of Honolulu under sunny skies. A support plane that had been following Finch throughout the trip was left behind after its brake cracked just before takeoff.

She considered the final leg the most dangerous of her trip because it covers the most distance and she had to overload the twin-engine Lockheed Electra 10-E plane with fuel.

Finch said that despite the long trip, she has no regrets.

"I've really gotten a different sense of the world," she said after landing in Honolulu.

Finch dropped a wreath on Howland Island, a one-square-mile bit of U.S. territory in the central Pacific.

Her plane is the same model Earhart used in her 1937 attempt.

Finch spent the last two years rebuilding and modernizing the plane found in a jungle of junk in a Wisconsin hangar. She borrowed rare parts from a Lockheed Electra on display at the Western Aerospace Museum.

Finch met with about 500,000 students during her trip to talk about her flight in an effort to inspire them to take on Earhart's courage and dreams.

Finch will be flying the Electra to the Paris air show and will take the plane on a tour of air shows throughout the United States.