Soaring 500 feet over the desert floor, gliding in between mountains charred black by a massive forest fire, flying high above the city, it is easy to see why so many young people have taken on the title of private pilot.
In the middle of a sandstorm, with the left engine of her $90,000 plane engulfed in flame, Amelia Earhart touched down in Tucson, an initial stop on her fatal quest to become the first woman to fly around the world.
On Aug. 16, 1948, Tucsonan Anna Charouleau prepared to leave Los Angeles for a trip around the world via Pan American World Airways. She was the first Tucsonan to make a global flight, the Arizona Historical Society says.