The 58th Cactus Fly-In at Casa Grande Municipal Airport will welcome a woman who’s flown the same routes as Amelia Earhart.
Ann Pellegreno will be featured at the event that runs today and Saturday. She is known for flying around the world in the same flight path that Amelia Earhart attempted in 1937.
Thirty years after Earhart’s journey, Pellegreno made her trip in a Lockheed Model 10 Electra, the same type of aircraft as Earhart’s. During the flight, Pellegreno laid a wreath near Howland Island, the destination Earhart was searching for before she and flight navigator Fred Noonan disappeared on July 2, 1937.
Pellegreno went on to write a book about her adventure titled “World Flight, the Earhart Trail,” and later became the first woman appointed to the Iowa Department of Transportation Commission.
The Cactus Fly-In is an annual showcase of vintage aircraft flown in from around the country. The event is a fundraiser for the nonprofit Classic Airplane Association of Arizona.
A series of forums are scheduled on Saturday that will include presentations by the Arizona Pilots Association and the Recreational Aviation Foundation. Saturday will feature a banquet starting at 5 p.m. and an awards ceremony at 8 p.m.
Gates open to the public at 8 a.m. both days and there is a suggested entrance fee of $10 for adults.