Continue Discussion - visit the forum 11 replies
November 2024

Arthur_Foyt

The Earhart flight was a self promotional “stunt”.
It continues to have resulted in one of the most expensive searches in history.
Her costs will go on.

November 2024

RationalityKeith

The image more closely resembled a swept-wing single-engine fighter as were common in training exercises well after Earhart’s disappearance, not a twin engine twin tail airplane like Earhart’s.

If the fool had read of sonar searches by the TIGHAR organization he’d have learned how easy it is to fool yourself - TIGHAR saw a fuselage shape near Gardner Island, but further imaging showed it was just a rock ledge.

1 reply
November 2024

RationalityKeith

That money would have been better spent looking in deep water off of the reef at Gardner Island that TIGHAR thinks Earhart landed on.

Tony Romeo had ‘get home itis’, as Earhart and Coast Guard searches did at various times. She pressed on ill-prepared, after her disappearance CG’s search from the air over Gardner was limited.

The whole saga including competence of Earhart and navigator, Earhart’s husband in promoting, and CG/USN in searching is chronicled in Ric Gillespie’s book ‘One More Good Flight’. I recommend it.

1 reply
November 2024 ▶ RationalityKeith

RationalityKeith

I don’t agree with Gillespie’s ‘99% certain’ estimate but he makes a very strong case for Earhart and Noonan having searched along a ‘line of position’ (navigation term) to find their destination Howland Island, perhaps not going far enough north but there is no land that way beyond Howland, instead turning south toward the Phoenix Islands.

The estimate is that they crash-landed on a reef, were able to transmit at low tide for a few days, but a storm destroyed their airplane.

Credible DF on radio signals pointed to Gardner Island. (Notably those by experienced Pan American stations. Pan Am flew the Pacific to the north of that area. Radio signals were at frequencies giving long range at certain times.)

(Gardner Island is now called Nikumaroro.)

November 2024

Aviatrexx

This just in: “Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead” …

November 2024

rpstrong

Uh…“when they went mission…”?

November 2024

RationalityKeith

What a whiner!

The bleep couldn’t even tell the difference in shape of the image between Earhart’s twin engine twin tail airplane and swept wing fighters common in the region later.

November 2024

Fast-Doc

I hate to say it but Earhart is a poor role model for aviators, young female aviators in particular.

Her planning and preparation was poor, in general but for this leg in particular. Not someone I’d encourage others to emulate.

Her airplane handling skills are also suspect based on her history of incidents and accidents.

Her lack of ADM skills is what led to her being lost over the ocean.

That rock formation NEVER looked like an Electra.

1 reply
November 2024 ▶ Fast-Doc

JohnSchubert

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr./Ms. Fast-Doc. Earhart’s lack of preparation would be an embarrassment to a student pilot on a 50-mile solo – let alone a trip across the ocean.

November 2024 ▶ RationalityKeith

rniles

Please be kinder, Keith. Don’t call people names.

1 reply
November 2024 ▶ rniles

RationalityKeith

Um, seems to me that many in these forums are calling crash pilots fools and incompetents.

Wasn’t the peddler of the erroneous sonar image a pilot once? Yet he could not tell the difference between shape of Earhart’s twin-engine twin-tail airplane and a swept wing single-tail fighter airplane. How would you describe his epistemology?

‘Can’t we all get along now?’ kills people in aviation.