Legacy of Amelia Earhart's famous 1928 flight still soaring high

Known as the female Charles Lindbergh, Earhart changed the face of the aviation industry...

We take it for granted now that we can fly to any place on Earth in almost the blink of an eye, and in luxury too.

This is all thanks to those brave pioneers who risked life and limb to soar into the sky and advance flight technology while it was still in its infancy. Pioneers like Amelia Earhart.

On this day 83 years ago, June 18 1928, she made history by completing one of the very first successful transatlantic flights. The feat had only been achieved the year before, by another aviation legend Charles Lindbergh.

Earhart, along with pilots Wilmer Stultz and Louis Gordon, repeated the amazing feat, by crossing from the Canadian Island of Newfoundland to Britain, landing in Wales, UK.

Amelia Earhart defined the era of exploration that was the 1920s

In their Fokker F.VII plane, they made the journey of several thousand miles in 20 hours and 40 minutes. By doing so, Earhart especially had made history as the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.

She was a pioneer not just for the aviation industry, but more importantly for women's rights too, showing that even in the male dominated area of flight, a female could beat them at their own game.

It is no surprise that she is therefore an important part of American history, and as a result any items connected to her are greatly sought after.

Her autograph is highly valued because of its extreme rarity

Like Lindbergh, pieces of memorabilia which appear in auctions regularly sell for high prices.

In 2009, a pair of flight goggles which she wore on another of her important transatlantic journeys in 1932 soared to a price of $141,600. Last year in June 2010, a signed letter from 1929 sold at Sotheby's for $3,125.

What's more, the value of items linked to Earhart are going to become more valuable because of her disappearance while attempting to fly around the world in 1937.

She was declared dead in 1939, and was only 40-years-old. The fact she was still young when it happened means pieces of memorabilia linked to her are very rare because there has never been much of it around.

Her signature is particularly unique, so any items containing it would make a wise buy for a canny investor.