These are the last images of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart as she prepared for her round-the-world flight during which she mysteriously disappeared.

Among the pictures is one of the Lockheed Electra 10E, the plane that was used for her doomed circumnavigation attempt in 1937.

She is also poignantly captured packing for the journey and getting her hair cut at a barber's shop in Miami, Florida. 

Sprucing up: Aviator Amelia Earhart has a haircut in Miami ahead of her doomed attempt to fly around the world in 1937

The photographs were unearthed along with Earhart's Luxor aviator goggles which she had worn during a flying lesson with instructor Neta Snook in 1921. The pair were involved in a minor crash and one eye-piece of the goggles was smashed.

The goggles and photographs were given by Mrs Snook to her daughter Diane Brown around 40 years ago and were almost thrown out.

 

Mrs Brown, 66, said: 'I thought at the time it was just old papers that weren't needed anymore. But something said not to throw it out. I don't know why, but something just kept telling me, "Get that back out of that bag".

Poignant moment: The aviator prepares for her attempt to fly around the world during which she disappeared

'Amelia Earhart inspired my mother to fly. She loved to fly and was a huge proponent of women pilots.'

The items are being auctioned at Clars Auction Gallery in California. Auctioneer Marcus Wardell said: 'We have a large section of items connected to Amelia Earhart. But the broken goggles and unpublished pictures really stand out as collectors' items.

'The goggles were said to have been worn when Amelia crashed in 1921 at Goodyear Field in California in her Airster.

'One eye piece is broken and they were then owned by her instructor Neta Snook who gave them to our vendor.

'We have 18 unpublished photographs of Amelia just prior to her round-the-world attempt that ended with her disappearance.

'They were found by a woman who almost threw them out. She remembers them from when she was a child. 

'These items have caused a great deal of excitement because Amelia Earhart is still very well known. In her time she was enormously famous because of her flying and the nature of her death means interest in her endures.

Mapped out: Ms Earhart makes final notes on her round-the-world flying attempt in her Lockheed Model 10 Electra aeroplane

Pioneer: Amelia Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross

Pioneering: Goggles worn by Ms Earhart are expected to fetch £20,000 at auction. On the right lense is a crack which happened during a minor crash when she was learning to fly

'Collectors and museums would love to be able to get hold of these unique items.'

The goggles are expected to fetch around £20,000 while each photograph is estimated at several  hundred pounds. 

Amelia Earhart was the first woman to receive the U.S. Distinguished Flying Cross, for flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She set many other records and wrote best-selling books about her flying experiences.

She disappeared in 1937 aged 40 while attempting to fly around the world with navigator Fred Noonan.

The pair had set off in her Electra plane from Miami on June 1. After stops in South America, Africa, the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, they arrived at Lae, New Guinea, on June 29.

Wings: The pilot's Lockheed Model 10 Electra plane is prepared for take off in Miami

Adventurous: There are many theories about the fate of Amelia Earhart after her plane disappeared over the Pacific Ocean around 800 miles from Papa New Guinea

At this stage about 22,000 miles of the journey had been completed and the rest would be over the Pacific, a further distance of 7,000 miles.

They took off on July 2 and headed for the tiny Howland Island but never arrived.

Earhart ran into trouble near the island, if radio reports purporting to be theirs can be believed.

She radioed to a U.S. ship in the area, the Itasca: 'We must be on you but cannot see you - but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet.'

The transmissions were the last anyone heard from the flyer and it was assumed the plane had crashed near Howland Island.

There are many competing theories about what happened and some believe they survived for some time on another island before dying.

The pilot prepares: Amelia Earhart examines navigation weather charts before her round-the-world trip

Woman on a mission: Amelia Earhart (second left) looks through flight records with friends

Celebrated: An earlier photo of Amelia Earhart (not part of auction) being waved off on a short flight from Derry to London after flying across the Atlantic solo

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2031701/Unseen-pictures-aviator-Amelia-Earhart-makes-preparations-doomed-final-flight.html#ixzz1WXBvLAFi