Amelia Earhart Plane Fragment Identified

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Hello, I saw an interview with an old man who was a radio operator. Perhaps he was on Howland or the preceding island on Earhart's & Noonan's route.
He heard Amelia's radio call and went to the window to listen for the airplane's engines because she sounded so close.

That fellow, along with the Polish dental assistant who drew a picture of Adolf Hitler's teeth-which matched fragments taken from the bomb crater behind the bunker-are the 2 most believable "sources" relevant to big mysteries of recent times. Kira
 
Originally Posted By: Kira
..."sources" relevant to big mysteries of recent times.


Best wishes to all fragment seekers.

Have we determined yet to determine the whereabouts of Malaysia MH370 with its 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard from March 8?

Now that's a really big recent mystery...
 
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen


What a waste of time and money.



Only when they find the airplane artifacts....they will be instant millionaires. Parts will sell and they will write a book and sell the movie rights....

HUGE dough!!!!



......
 
Originally Posted By: BigJohn
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen


What a waste of time and money.



Only when they find the airplane artifacts....they will be instant millionaires. Parts will sell and they will write a book and sell the movie rights....

HUGE dough!!!!



......


You really think these folks searched all this time just for the payoff? Sure, they might make a little bit of money (as they should) for all that effort. But I think they did it for the simple reason of finding out what happened and solving a mystery.
Anyway, I find it to be an interesting topic.
 
Originally Posted By: andrewg
Originally Posted By: BigJohn
Originally Posted By: Smokescreen


What a waste of time and money.



Only when they find the airplane artifacts....they will be instant millionaires. Parts will sell and they will write a book and sell the movie rights....

HUGE dough!!!!



......


You really think these folks searched all this time just for the payoff? Sure, they might make a little bit of money (as they should) for all that effort. But I think they did it for the simple reason of finding out what happened and solving a mystery.
Anyway, I find it to be an interesting topic.
Same can be said for space exploration.
Solves mystery and has potential for cash payoffs.
 
This IS interesting news. The thing that bothers me is they have only recovered a patch panel, not any part of the original Lockheed airframe. I'm wondering how it became detached. I suppose its possible it was used as a reflective device to aid rescue, but it would be terribly difficult to remove without proper tools.

Then again, due to the nature of the flight, some tools would have been aboard. Good chance they included a hammer and chisel that could be used to pop rivet heads off...
 
It has to be hers. The numerous artifacts that have been found over the years from that island all pointed to her. Like your going to find a glass jar of freckle cream on that island in the middle of no where?? I would bet that panel got blown out by the crash landing from air pressure pushing out. There is a picture that "kind" of shows a part of the landing gear stick out of the water that was taken around that same time. If it was a crash landing, they didn't have time to grab anything before escaping their deaths. Plane then sank and slid to the bottom of the ocean floor.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Maybe Amelia and Fred can finally be recognized as hero's that risked it all on a spy mission for FDR.


That was the storyline in the movie about Earhart starring Rosalind Russell. It was also how they explained her ground loop on takeoff for her first round-the-world flight. A shadowy government figure had a secret meeting with Amelia immediately before takeoff, and told her that FDR had a secret mission for her to spy on the Japanese. But they needed some time to make arrangements, so could she do something to delay her flight? Hence, she did the ground loop.

I think she was just not a very good pilot, and couldn't handle the heavily laden plane.
 
Per Paul Mantz, Amelia typically corrected drift in the Electra's take off by "jockeying the throttles", and not using the rudders. On the crash report she mentioned pulling a throttle back when the plane got off the centerline.

In her final radio transmission, her voice was near panic, hysterical, per the witnesses on the bridge of the coast guard cutter. Sound like someone with her lack of experience that can deadsock a heavy twin after being airborne for 22 hours? Reports were she was also ill.

The Electra did not have shoulder belts for the pilot. There was a radio DF unit right in front of her forhead. Noonan was probably in the back fuselage, not strapped in with the cabin fuel tanks in front of him. Lockheed stated the radios had no power unless the engines were running.

Her life and exploits were fascinating. She was in the right place at the right time, and took advantage of her opportunities. The sad ending was the result of poor planning and worse execution. She crashed and sank.
 
Originally Posted By: GregGA
Per Paul Mantz, Amelia typically corrected drift in the Electra's take off by "jockeying the throttles", and not using the rudders. On the crash report she mentioned pulling a throttle back when the plane got off the centerline.



Is there any advantage to jockeying the throttles as opposed to using the rudder? The purpose of the rudder to control yaw. It seems to me that the rudder is more effective in controlling yaw than using differential thrust from two engines. If you pull one engine back too far, the plane will yaw quickly in the direction of the lower powered engine, and the engine won't respond as quickly when throttle is reapplied.
 
As a non-pilot I'd think anything other than rudder dead center would increase drag. Rudder, flaps, etc.

Not sure what dissimilar throttle settings would do for a drawback. Should avoid harmonics I'd think (if perfectly phased could have some NVH increase).
 
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