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Today marks a major aviation event...

Rami

Rami

Administrator
Staff member
Good evening,

This date marks an important loss for aviation history, occurring 75 years ago today. Can anyone guess what happened?

P.S. - It's also day two of the Battle of Gettysburg...
 
Today 75 years ago

Hi Rami,
Wild Guess ---- Amelia Earhart with her navigator went missing over the Pacific in her Lockheed 10?


Regards
1150
 
Reply...

1150,

Precisely! I can remember watching "Unsolved Mysteries" as a child, and wonder if Richard Gillespie might be right...that she ditched near the island of Nikumaroro and perished there.

The other distinct possibility is that she ran out of fuel from a navigational / radio error and ditched northwest of Howland Island.
 
Hi Guys.

For extra credit discussion and info regarding Earharts final Lae - Howland flight, check out this website:

TIGHAR, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery.

These are the guys doing this upcoming (starting tomorrow, July3) expedition to Gardner (Nikumaroro) Island in search of Earhart's plane.

I have to tell ya, I have always been of the mind that Earhart got lost, ran out of gas, crashed at sea and died. Case closed. But after looking thru the material at TIGAR website- I am thinking that maybe this expedition to Gardner Island may not be such a waste of effort. These guys are not a bunch of propeller-beanie UFO chasers! It isn't some fly by night outfit or website. The site is well put together, its been around and for years and is kept well updated.

Here is a link to their Projects page.
Here is a link to their Earhart Project page

The Earhart Project Archive link in particular is really fascinating. Among all sorts of other stuff is a link called the Lost Antenna page and Lost Antenna II which includes a link to Lae takeoff motion picture film of Earhart last take off from Lae Papua New Guinea on the morning of July 2, 1937. It was shot by a guy named Sid Marshall, an employee of Guinea Airways.

The footage shows Noonnan and Earhart posing for pictures just as they were boarding the plane and also the plane itself as it taxis, turns around and takes of from Lae Airfield.

Of particular interest, the film and other still photos of the event seem to show that a belly antenna mast gets damaged during the taxi and turn-around for take off- and possibly torn off completely as the plane rose into the air. The west end of Lae strip- where Earhart turned around for take off- was dirt and very uneven. The plane was overloaded and sitting low. If the belly antenna mast broke- as it appears that it may have- it may explain why Earhart was unable to receive radio signals.

Anyhow. Its a great website-lots of discussion forums to chew over theories and ideas and chock full of Aviation history.

Cheers,
And thanks, Rami, for the heads up!

MR
 
Thanks for the links MR. I saw the report on the news about the new expedition, but the links give much more detail.
 
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