Earhart's Plane Found?!

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GrauGeist said:
How does that kill the Gardner theory?

They did conclude in 1998, that the skeletal remains were a female of European ancestry. Add to that, the artifacts that were found, dating before the colonists (1938) and later than the shipwreck (1929). Of these artifacts found were a broken jar of freckle ointment, which was a unique shaped trademark design of Dr. C.H. Berry Company. They found fragments of a glass bottle that has been identified as being manufactured by Owens-Corning, New Jersey plant in 1933 for the Compana Corporation, used for their Italian Balm skin softener product line.

They have also found aircraft grade aluminum pieces as well as clearly identifiable aircraft parts, none of which would be found on a ship AND no other known aircraft wrecks are known to have occurred on Gardner before or during WWII.

They say that the "expedition" that landed in 1937 "walked around" the island, but I might make a few observations about this: First, they weren't looking for Earhart. AT that point in time, the assumption had been made that she was lost to sea, most likely to the north-east or north-west of Howland. Secondly, they were scouting for a place on the island for a suitable location for building, not looking for any signs of castaways - this was a deserted island with the last known human presence (although temporary) being 1929 - so a small campsite in a remote area could have easily been overlooked, especially if it had been made in a sheltered spot away from the elements. Otherwise, they would have found a corpse, not a skeleton, as was found a few years later.

The location they selected for the "village" was just south of the SS Norwich wreck, on the west coast, which is a broad area, unlike the far south-eastern area of the island, which is very narrow and unsuitable for any sort of building - which happens to be where the campsite and human remains were found.

Add to this, that all of the aircraft debris (aluminum, plexiglass, etc.) has been found on the western shore, in the area directly around the reef where the SS Norwich is located (and the anomaly in the 1937 photograph was sighted) and no where else on the island. All of the bottles, sextant case, shoes, animal bones and skeleton were found on the south-eastern shore at the campsite.

So as far as I can see...there is a fair amount of evidence that an aircraft did put down there and that someone was castaway. If it's not Earhart, then who was it?
Click to expand...

Listen you big meanie, don't make me come out there... :lol:

Seriously though, points well taken, and I can agree to a certain extent but ( there's always a but, or a butt... ), in reference to FBJ's post 224 re: the navigation/range issue, then the prospective colonists walking the island, plus during WWII there were actual inhabitants there ( granted they may have been restricted on where they could go ), I just don't really see it. I'm lukewarm on the Gardner Island theory at best but I won't say positively "No" on it just yet. The circumstantial evidence is tantalizing I agree, sort of adds to the whole mystery because we can't get a definitive piece of data to prove it's her electra, or her freckle cream jar, or her shoe etc.

Believe me, I'd be the first to admit I'm wrong if they find that one shred of evidence to prove that's where AE and FN met their end.

Cheers.
 
Good article and it even makes an excellent point with Dorothy Cochrane's comment:,
"This is the greatest mystery of the 20th century. A legitimate excellent pilot, hero, role model, one of the celebrities of the century."
While Earhart may have been many things, she was NOT an excellent pilot.

And even if she were, how many famous pilots throughout history have come to an untimely end through pilot or mechanical error?

Just because one is a legend does not make one infallible.
 
Agreed, all I have read suggests she was actually rather inept as a pilot. Many hard landings, several navigational errors of note and so forth. She is indeed famous, but fame does not confer ability. Still it would be lovely to know exactly how she met her end. I can't believe it was at the hands of the Japanese, but my current favorite of the theories is the castaway one.
 
JimX said:
I would suggest you go to this site .......... www.irene-amelia.com
Click to expand...
Wow, ah no, the "facts" as discussed on that site have been almost all officially debunked, the rest are obviously false on their face. Sorry, the cool thing about the web is anyone can post anything. That bad side of the web is that anyone can post anything. I found this out myself recently after quoting "facts" from another site that turned out to be rather less than truthful.
 
JimX said:
I would suggest you go to this site .......... www.irene-amelia.com
Click to expand...
Oh for gods sake......!!!!

upload_2016-12-17_22-22-5.jpeg
 
with all the hours of flight time that she had she should have been a top notch pilot! she used to race. I would think if she was that bad of a pilot she would have bought the farm doing this...
 
bobbysocks said:
with all the hours of flight time that she had she should have been a top notch pilot! she used to race. I would think if she was that bad of a pilot she would have bought the farm doing this...
Click to expand...

Depends what kind of racing. I think most of here racing was cross country racing, I don't know if she ever did any pylon stuff - a lot more difficult.

The ground loop in Hawaii was a rookie mistake IMO. Although the aircraft was heavily loaded and the runway was wet (it rained the night prior) the winds were almost calm.

Here's a clip about the Hawaii ground loop, I couldn't find a Model 10 POH so I wonder about her reasoning for using asymmetric control during take off.

20 March 1937 - This Day in Aviation
 
She raced for transcontinental races including the so called 'Powder Puff Derby' specifically for women pilots. But as far as I can tell she had no pylon racing or even short haul distance racing. And honestly as far as I can tell she only raced a few times. She did set a women's time to altitude and highest altitude for a women records. And of course her transatlantic crossing as the first woman solo pilot etc.

Anecdotal evidence including the famous ground loop in Hawaii would indicate that she was not a terribly great pilot. Rather her fame revolved around her sex in a male dominated field and at a time in history when woman were making significant strides in their struggle for equality etc.

I certainly admire her tenacity and ability to do the things she did, but I think even she would disagree with being placed on any kind of pedestal for her skills alone. Interestingly she initially decided she was not the person to do the transatlantic solo as a woman and suggested several other 'more skilled' female pilots. She offered to help sponsor it, but it took some convincing for her to actually make the attempt herself.
 
a lot of the pilots I know that have some sort of incident made bone headed mistakes that 99.99% of the time they wouldn't have. brain farts, distractions, showing off, getting sidetracked from your normal routine all can have bad results and lead to an "Oh $#!T!!" moment. I am not saying she was top notch but that stupid crap happens to even the best of them.

it would be interesting to see how other women pilots like pancho barnes rated her flying.
 
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