Elvy Kalep, not content with the distinction of being the first Estonian aviatrix, set her sights on a solo, west to east, Atlantic flight. To begin her preparations, she boarded the French liner SS Paris, the largest ship to sail under the French flag, for New York City on May 5, 1932. As a newspaper reporter stated after interviewing Elvy, “Her purpose in coming to America was to meet the women pilots she had heard so much about, assess how the country’s aviation is progressing, and buy an American airplane (to conquer the Atlantic by air).”
The ship docked in New Jersey on May 11; the next day, the charismatic Elvy stepped onto the tarmac at Long Island’s Floyd Bennett Field, the jumping off point for transatlantic flights. Aviatrices Frances Marsalis, Amelia Earhart, and Betty Gilles welcomed Elvy to America and encouraged her to join the Ninety-Nines, a newly formed organization for women pilots. Gilles became Ely’s lifelong friend but Amelia held a special place in her heart. She later stated, “The ever gracious Amelia became a guiding light to a stranger.”
Elvy Kalep, an Estonia aviatrix, may not have been the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, but she created a host of dolls and a children’s book, Air Babies, endorsed by her good friend Amelia Earhart. Her dolls included paratroopers, stuffed dolls with parachutes, and Scribbles. In her later life, she took scraps of leather to fashion incredible art.
