Amelia Earhart

If you Ladies and Gentlemen want to know what is happening in this part
of the world regarding Amelia Earhart, then please look at:

www.electranewbritain.com/

This website describes evidence that the Electra is on New britain
Island in Papua New Guinea.

Regards,

David Billings


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david_billings
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Posted via OziPilots Online [ http://www.OziPilotsOnline.com.au ]
- A website for Australian Pilots regardless of when, why, or what they fly -

Very interesting. You've obviously done a lot of work. Good luck in
finding a sponsor.

William Bruce


"david_billings" wrote in
message . ..

If you Ladies and Gentlemen want to know what is happening in this part
of the world regarding Amelia Earhart, then please look at:

www.electranewbritain.com/

This website describes evidence that the Electra is on New britain
Island in Papua New Guinea.

Regards,

David Billings


--
david_billings
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted via OziPilots Online [ http://www.OziPilotsOnline.com.au ]
- A website for Australian Pilots regardless of when, why, or what they
fly -

Fascinating article. I hope you are successful in finding suitable
sponsorship.

I once discovered aircraft remains in the jungle in Belize, Central America.
It was in 1979 and I was on a patrol moving along the line of the Belize /
Guatemala border south to north. On about the 4th or 5th day we found
wreckage very badly smashed up and corroded. We had a good look around the
site for a couple of hours but could'nt find any cockpit section just small
wing and fuselage sections and a bit of undercarraige. It had clearly been
there for many years. We could'nt ID the aircraft type or any registration.
There were no airfields within 100 miles so I can only assume it had gone
down through some serious technical trouble.

In those days there was no GPS and the maps of the Belize central highlands
were not very accurate, most being marked 'No relief data available'. We
navigated mainly off a series of air photos combined with the map and good
old bearing, pacing and timing. It was very hit and miss although we did'nt
get seriously geographically embarressed very often. We reported the approx
location of the wreckage on our return to Salamanca Camp in the standard
patrol debrief. I returned to Belize several times and often wondered if
anyone ever found the aircraft again or if anyone knows what it is.
I was a19 year old paratrooper at the time and most of my interest in planes
came from jumping out of them. I have held a PPL for several years now and
found David Billings article to be very interesting, not only from the
'mystery of the lost pilot' angle, but also from the technical navigation
and aviation aspect, as well as my own experience in Belize many years ago.
There are lessons to be learnt by all pilots in his article. Well done
David, I wish you well with the project.


"david_billings" wrote in
message . ..

If you Ladies and Gentlemen want to know what is happening in this part
of the world regarding Amelia Earhart, then please look at:

www.electranewbritain.com/

This website describes evidence that the Electra is on New britain
Island in Papua New Guinea.

Regards,

David Billings


--
david_billings
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted via OziPilots Online [ http://www.OziPilotsOnline.com.au ]
- A website for Australian Pilots regardless of when, why, or what they
fly -

"david_billings" wrote in
message . ..

If you Ladies and Gentlemen want to know what is happening in this part
of the world regarding Amelia Earhart, then please look at:

www.electranewbritain.com/


fascinating stuff David. Seems to me that some local knowledge would be
handy. Did you ever try to track down the native policeman , Illip? who was
with the party who originally found the aircraft? Does New Britain have
any local newspapers that could be searched? Could the aircraft be known
about by locals that you are not aware of.?
The magnetometer stuff sounds interesting. How heavy is the equipment? just
wondered if it really needed a helicopter. If the equipment was light weight
I reckon one of those powered parachutes could be a neat low cost little
platform if the weather was good. they can carry 2 good size people or one
and maybe 100 kg of equipment. I went for a ride in one, they offer an
incredible view as the engine is behind you and can fly low and slow.( about
25-30 mph).
If this magnetometer thing is as good as they claim I wonder if it could be
used to find what I believe is the only aircraft missing on land in
Australia, a cessna 206 lost in the Barrington tops area of Queensland in
1981 with 5 people on board. This area is also extremely dense jungle and
many walking searches have failed to find a trace.
Good luck with your search and I hope you can find a sponsor.
Terry

"david_billings" wrote in
message . ..

If you Ladies and Gentlemen want to know what is happening in this part
of the world regarding Amelia Earhart, then please look at:

www.electranewbritain.com/

David, just a secondary thought. This search sounds just like the sought of
thing Australian aviation guru and multimillionaire Dick Smith might be
interested in . You probably know about the successful search he conducted
for the Kookaburra, an aircraft that crashed in the Northern territory of
Australia in about 1929 ( the 2 pilots died of thirst and the aircraft was
found but left in the bush for 70 years to be lost again) He found the
remains of the aircraft which are now in a museum in Alice Springs. He has
his own helicopter too.!
Have you ever tried to interest him in your search?
Terry

I was just watching a documentry on Earhart. The documentry said that
most of her fellow pilots "did not consider her to be an exceptional
airman, but she was a good showman". I'd never heard that before,
interesting.

I was just watching a documentary on Earhart. The documentary said that
most of her fellow pilots "did not consider her to be an exceptional
airman, but she was a good showman". I'd never heard that before,
interesting.


Next month (February or March) I'll be attending a presentation by a fellow
who flew in a 'support' plane (not sure what to call his duties?) along with
Earhart on some of her 'missions'. He's a nice local fellow at one of the
airports I frequent and I'll be interested to hear about his 'reading' of
Earhart as a pilot. I'll share any gems that I hear with the newsgroup.

In a conversation with this fellow, I do remember that he said Amelia would
get a little testy about the press mentioning the 'extra' aircraft in which
he flew since, I guess, she felt it would detract from her accomplishments -
that the press would say; "A male pilot flew in another plane along 'with'
her and that is what 'helped' her with some of her flights" or something
like that to detract from her accomplishments as a woman - who knows?

Only question I would have about the comments you saw would be separating
how much of the analysis of her flying was truly objective or simply male
chauvinism of the times towards her being a female pilot (i.e.,, to be
honest, I really don't know - I'd like to expect though that she would be
fairly 'weighed' as any other fellow male pilot, but I don't know for sure).

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Good Flights!

Cecil
PP-ASEL-IA
Student - CP-ASEL

Check out my personal flying adventures from my first flight to the
checkride AND the continuing adventures beyond!
Complete with pictures and text at: www.bayareapilot.com

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

"We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with
this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"
- Cecil Day Lewis -

Cecil Chapman wrote:

Only question I would have about the comments you saw would be separating
how much of the analysis of her flying was truly objective or simply male
chauvinism of the times towards her being a female pilot ...

Much of the criticism came from Paul Mantz, who was a friend of hers,
was her technical advisor for the trip, and was rumored to have had an
affair with her. Paul Mantz went on to a distinguished career as a
Hollywood stunt pilot.

Mantz is quoted as saying that Earhart was in such a rush to start her
journey that she was inadequately trained on the new radio equipment,
routinely ignored safety procedures, had not had enough practice flying
the aircraft, (she pranged it on takeoff in Hawaii, and had to delay her
first attempt,) was only an average pilot, etc.

On Sat, 01 Jan 2005 13:15:57 GMT, James Robinson
wrote:

Cecil Chapman wrote:

Only question I would have about the comments you saw would be separating
how much of the analysis of her flying was truly objective or simply male
chauvinism of the times towards her being a female pilot ...

Much of the criticism came from Paul Mantz, who was a friend of hers,
was her technical advisor for the trip, and was rumored to have had an
affair with her. Paul Mantz went on to a distinguished career as a
Hollywood stunt pilot.

.... and died tragically in the filming of "Flight of the Phoenix.

Mantz is quoted as saying that Earhart was in such a rush to start her
journey that she was inadequately trained on the new radio equipment ...

1. She and Fred Noonan, her navigator, refused to learn Morse Code.
They planned to rely on voice. This became a fatal flaw when they
needed to communicate with the Coast Guard crew waiting for
them at Howland Island.

2. Amelia took out the Hooven radio compass and replaced it
with an inferior RDF system (according to Hooven, at any
rate).

3. A flight test of the RDF system failed just a few days before
the departure from Lae, New Guinea. Amelia said, "We were
too close for it to work." In fact, her inability to make the system
work on the test flight probably showed something wrong with
the hardware or with her DF technique.

4. AE seemed to have a poor grasp of how to emit a signal
to let the Coast Guard get a bearing on her. She didn't stay
on the air long enough for the radio men to get a fix on her
position.

routinely ignored safety procedures,
had not had enough practice flying
the aircraft, (she pranged it on takeoff in Hawaii, and had to delay her
first attempt,)

The crash on takeoff was the end of the first attempt.
She had three men on board with her: Fred Noonan,
Paul Mantz, and Harry Manning. On the second attempt,
only Noonan accompanied her.

was only an average pilot, etc.

1928: First woman to fly across the Atlantic
(acted as “logkeeper”).

1931: Altitude record for autogyros (18,415').
Coast-to-coast in an autogyro.

* Broke first airframe. Finished in
a replacement.

1932: Second person to fly solo
across the Atlantic (15 hours 18 min).

* Made an off-field landing on the coast of Ireland.

1932 & 1933: Broke women’s transcontinental
speed record.

1935: First person to fly solo from
Hawaii to California.

1937: Crashed on takeoff from Hawaii.
Disappeared after takeoff from Lae.

The Lae takeoff was masterful and courageous.
The plane dropped off the end of the ridge that
the runway was on and skimmed over the waves
until it was out of sight--probably flying in ground
effect.

AE and FN were trying to go around the equator,
where earlier "round-the-world" flights flew shorter
routes:

Wiley Post and Harold Gatty:
1931: 15,474 miles; 8 days, 15 hours, 51 minutes

Wiley Post solo (one good eye, autopilot & RDF):
1933: 15,596 miles in 7 days, 18 minutes.

(1935: Wiley Post and Will Rogers died on
takeoff in Alaska.)

For more details on AE, FN, and the history of
the era, see www.tighar.org.

(I am a dues-paying member of TIGHAR
and I have done research in Fiji and New Zealand for
the group.)

Marty

On 31 Dec 2004 21:35:55 -0800, "Robert M. Gary"
wrote in .com::

I was just watching a documentry on Earhart. The documentry said that
most of her fellow pilots "did not consider her to be an exceptional
airman, but she was a good showman". I'd never heard that before,
interesting.

I got the feeling that her willingness to place herself at risk for
fame was exploited by many the chief of which was her husband, George
Palmer Putmum. As an airman, she appeared to be sincerely dedicated
to "air mindedness," and genuinely willing to apply all of her not
insubstantial intellectual faculties and spirit to flying. There's
little doubt that she was a champion of women's issues, and saw
herself as a torch bearer in that movement. But like many of her
fellow aviatrix' of the time, her bravado exceeded here piloting
skills.

Reading of these early aviatrix', one soon finds a common thread of
tough assertiveness, confident self-reliance, mean technical prowess
and seemingly wanton disregard for self preservation in a world
dominated by condescending men. Amy Johnson embarked on a solo flight
from England to Australia at 23 with little more than 100 hours flight
time in her log book, and regularly damaged her Gipsy Moth upon a
majority her landings, without a thought of it diminishing her stature
as an airman. Beryl Markham pointed her Percival Vega Gull westward
in her solo flight "wrong way" across the Atlantic on what amounted to
a bar-bet dare. Many of these ladies found aviation a popular vehicle
to part the tyrannical cloak of protective subservience under which
they found themselves smothered by male parochialism. None the less,
their successes captured the world's attention and undeniably
demonstrated female equality with men at a time when it was needed to
publicly advance that movement.