Earhart's Plane Found?!

[FLYBOYJ]

Her biggest fault was in ignoring the technical aspects of her flight and the use of her radio and RDF unit

There was nothing wrong with that equipment so total operator error. It also works better when you don't discard a large portion of the antenna (maybe that's the conspiracy theory to be chased)

 

[Robert Porter]

Umm ignoring the technical aspects and proper use of equipment is almost the textbook definition of a poor pilot, not a good or even average one, a poor pilot.

 

[wuzak]

Lots of words about other aviators of the time

None of which made Earhart a better pilot.

Earhart, IMHO, followed much the same path as these men and with a bit more luck would have found Howland and finished her flight. Her biggest fault was in ignoring the technical aspects of her flight and the use of her radio and RDF unit

I don't know anything about her around the world flight, but maybe she had plenty of luck getting as far as she did.

 

[mikewint]

Robert depends on your terms. The pilot guides the plane from beginning to end of flight. However radios their usage and procedures were relatively new at this point. 1915 saw the first ever ground to air and two months later air to ground but the radios were heavy bulky short-ranged and prone to break down. It was not until 1930 that reliable and powerful enough radios were available. Still range was limited and pilots had to send messages to the nearest airfield who then contacted the nest airfield who contacted the next and so on. Planes could and did arrive before their messages did. The Army developed its point to point AACS system in 1938 thus Army aircraft could be in constant communication. Earhart took her first flying lesson in Jan 1921 so 9 years before radios became available. As to tech, a water temp gauge, Oil pressure, tach, altimeter and air speed. Most navigation (pilot) was done by looking out of the cockpit and following road maps. Poor Pilot, let's see:
Earhart took off May 20, 1932, in her Lockheed DL-1—five years to the day after Lindbergh began his historic flight. Mechanical problems and adverse weather forced Earhart to land in a pasture near Londonderry, Ireland, rather than Paris. The National Geographic Society awarded her a gold medal, presented by President Herbert Hoover, and Congress award her a Distinguished Flying Cross—both awarded to a woman for the first time.
In August 1932, she became the first woman to fly nonstop coast-to-coast across the continental United States in her Lockheed Vega. She had the fastest nonstop transcontinental flight by a woman in 1932.
In 1933, she was one of two women to enter the Bendix race from Cleveland, Ohio, to Los Angeles, California. Although she crossed the finish line six hours behind the men, on her return flight, she beat the nonstop transcontinental flight record she set the previous year by two hours.
She won the Harmon Trophy as America's Outstanding Airwoman for 1932, 1933, and 1934.
She was given honorary membership in the National Aeronautic Association and was awarded the Cross of Knight of the Legion of Honor by the French government.
She received FCC approval to install a two-way radio in her Hi-Speed Special 5C Lockheed Vega—the first in a civilian aircraft.
January 11, 1935, Earhart took off from Wheeler Army Airfield near Honolulu. A little over 18 hours later, she landed in Oakland, California.
April 1935 she became the first person to fly solo from Los Angeles, California, to Mexico by official invitation from the Mexican Government, but became lost 60 miles from her ultimate goal of Mexico City and had to stop for directions.
In May, she set a record traveling nonstop from Mexico City to Newark, New Jersey, arriving in just over 14 hours.
In August 1935, she flew in the Bendix race again, this time with Mantz, and placed fifth, winning $500.

 

[Robert Porter]

Not doubting she had some nice achievements, however common sense would tell any pilot about to set out on a round the world trip to know about, understand the usage of, and ensure she had the best equipment available. Instead she removed a large portion of the antenna system. She is on record as saying she did not understand DF and figured that was someone elses job. Which is great until something goes wrong. Good pilots do not leave anything they don't have to to chance. She made a fairly large number of mistakes throughout her career as a pilot that were both predictable and avoidable. Honestly she was the 30's equivalent of the 80's and 90's made up boy and girl bands. She was novel as a female aviator, good looking, and had a lot of money and publicity behind her. But her records speak for themselves, she was moderately capable as a pilot but she took a lot of shortcuts in both her skills and her flying. But for the time she was a novelty and very much in the public eye. Of course aviation of any kind was very much in the public eye and a lot of people capitalized on her public appeal. In short some folks enabled her to continue her bad habits for the money involved.

 

[mikewint]

Robert we are almost in total agreement. Common sense is really not that common and old habits are very hard to break. Doolittle was one of the very first to recognize that aircraft were getting beyond human senses ability to control especially when weather/darkness intervened. Pilots who had come up the "old way" were loathed to trust these "new-fangled" instruments which could and did malfunction. Even today with modern aircraft, instruments, radar, training, etc. pilots make avoidable errors. John Kennedy Jr. crashed his aircraft into the ocean when haze obscured the horizon and he became spatially disoriented. He had instruments on board and had been taking lessons to qualify for Instrument Only flight but he trusted his senses not his instruments.
Now I totally agree that Earhart suffered from more than her share of hubris. She "hired" people to navigate and expected others to make up for her inabilities on the radio. Earhart viewed the radio as a luxury and not a necessity and during the flight it's difficult to find an instance where she successfully used the radio. Art Kennedy wrote. "This was especially the case when she had trouble contacting the tower, because she was notoriously lazy about learning how to use the radio properly. She would get so frustrated that her language became unprintable and Burbank tower operators often found it necessary to reprimand her. Paul Mantz told her that she must be up to speed on frequencies for daylight and night transmissions, but she just nodded and said, "#%*$¢! I will just turn the knobs until I get what I want." The Pan Am Division Radio Engineer met with Earhart at Miami to discuss radio and suggested several possible changes to increase safety and better radio capability. To his surprise and chagrin Amelia brushed him off with, "I don't need that! I've got a navigator to tell me where I am!"

she removed a large portion of the antenna system. She is on record as saying she did not understand DF

There is no record of Earhart removing or having removed the Trailing Antenna (250ft long, reeled out from the tail, used for low frequency, 500kHz). When she crashed in Hawaii 20 March it was crushed and most likely not reinstalled since neither Noonan or Earhart could use Morse and it had considerable weight. In addition the port-side belly antenna (for DF) was also not reinstalled.
So, at the time of the second world flight attempt the plane had three antennas - the starboard belly wire, the Bendix loop, and the dorsal vee. There is some evidence from the filmed takeoff at Lae that the belly wire hit the ground and was ripped off unbeknownst to Earhart.
Which may explain why she had so much trouble hearing Itasca's broadcasts.
The Dorsal Antenna was a "vee" type running from the tip of each vertical stabilizer to a mast atop the fuselage. It was lengthen to a total of 46ft long in an attempt to accommodate 500Kcs as well as her primary 3105KHz & 6210KHz . It was a very poor decision as it provided no meaningful capability to transmit on 500 Kcs while greatly complicating the problem of putting out a decent signal on 3105 and 6210.
The Bendix Loop was installed just before the flight and replaced the Hooven radio compass, a much more advanced system that required no operator input once tuned. A dial in Earhart's cockpit would simply point at the transmitting station. BUT, the Bendix company was one of her sponsors and the Hooven system weighed 30lbs. She had it removed to save weight. Prior to leaving the US Earhart had gone to Bendix to receive instruction on the "new" loop system. Unfortunately it turned into a media circus and photo-op and she ended up receiving little usable instruction. The loop antenna had to be turned manually to find the two null points and the transmitter was between them, Sounds easy BUT you had to be able to hear the nulls and this would have to be done for a weak transmit signal in a cockpit filled with roaring engines over static filled earphones while stearing the aircraft and slowly turning the loop antenna

Good pilots do not leave anything they don't have to to chance

Very true but one person cannot do everything and those old planes did not fly themselves that's why all those early record flights were NOT solo: Pilot and Navigator. So you end up depending upon others to do their jobs

She made a fairly large number of mistakes throughout her career as a pilot that were both predictable and avoidable.

And that can be said for every pilot even the ones on FBJ's list. Amy Johnson was lost and out of fuel; Bessie Coleman did not fasten her seatbelt and her mechanic had forgotten a wrench; Wiley Post was lost and forgot to switch to a full fuel tank; Lindberg's mid-air collision at graduation, his getting lost twice flying to Chicago at night and having to bailout. No one is perfect and mistakes are always glaring in retrospect but your point is well taken

 

[Robert Porter]

I guess we have to agree to disagree. Her ambivalence to proper usage of the radio was classic of a wannabe not a real aviator regardless of having a navigator aboard. Her frequent temper tantrums were legendary as you yourself alluded to. And they directly and negatively affected her ability to fly. She was easily flustered, and easily distracted and even confused which resulted in various issues throughout her career.

All together her personality and disregard for safety and proper usage of the available equipment are all symptomatic of a serious lack of understanding and a spoiled personality that honestly assumed success and did not worry about potential issues.

The lens of history has painted her as an intrepid serious hard working aviator. But contemporary information, oft overlooked or downplayed portrayed her as spoiled, willful, and headstrong. In and of themselves not all that bad, aviators are often Type 1 or "A" personalities. However in combination with the long duration flights and difficult navigational tasks it was fatal.

In all she was ill prepared, ill trained, and ill equipped to tackle the task before her. Had everything gone right it probably would have ended well. However it did not go right and she did not have the fortitude to deal with significant adversity. Don't get me wrong, I think there is much to admire, but she by no means deserves to be put on a pedestal. The records she did set did not last long, and the real reason she is remembered today is the fact she disappeared, in other words she failed.

 

[mikewint]

Again I would agree with you almost completely on your assessment. The "Elvis" or "Michael Jackson" syndrome, i.e.; surrounded by YES-men who assure you constantly that EVERYTHING you do is correct and normal...After all your....

Her ambivalence to proper usage of the radio was classic of a wannabe not a real aviator

Here is where we part company. IMHO you are making a 21st century judgement of early 20th century tech. Remember Earhart did not learn to fly until 1921. Radio communication, radio beacons, flight instruments, and navigation (other than DR) were in the future and as I said before old habits are tough to break. I don't have a "smart" phone, my cell phone only makes telephone calls, and this so called "social media" is the dumbest stuff I've ever come across. I look at 99% of these posts and the only reply I can come up with is "Who gives a Rat's Bass".
Wanabee?? Remember, she became the 16th woman to have been issued a pilot's license by the 'Federation Aeronautique Internationale' on May 15, 1923. She was hardly famous at this time.
She was presented the Army Air Corps Distinguished Flying Cross in 1932.
She was awarded the Gold Medal of National Geographic Society in 1932.
She won the Harmon Trophy for 'America's Outstanding Airwoman' for three consecutive years; 1932, 1933 and 1934. These are hardly indifferent/mediocre achievements and it puts her in the same league as Jacqueline Cochran who won 5 times
I'd also remind you that it was not until her January 11, 1935 – First person to solo the 2,408-mile distance across the Pacific between Honolulu and Oakland, California that a civilian aircraft carried a two-way radio. She had received special permission from the FCC to do so. Her round the world flight was just two years later so she had only had the radio for two years.

 

[mikewint]

Historical perspective: Radio was the cutting edge tech of the 1930s and new developments came hard and fast, Pilots and navigation were the beneficiaries of all this new tech.
1919, U.S. Army Air Service Lieutenant Donald L. Bruner began using bonfires and the first artificial beacons to help with night navigation.
In February 1921, an airmail pilot named Jack Knight made an all-night flight to Chicago from North Platte, Nebraska by using bonfires lit by Post Office staff, farmers, and the public.

By July 1923 the Army had opened an experimental lighted airway between McCook Field in Dayton, Ohio, and Norton Field in Columbus, a distance of 72 miles (116 kilometers). The Post Office was also working to complete a transcontinental airway of beacons on towers spaced 15 to 25 miles (24 to 40 kilometers) apart, each with enough brightness, or candlepower, to be seen for 40 miles (64 kilometers) in clear weather.

On July 1, 1924, postal authorities began regularly scheduled night operations over parts of this route.

By June 1927, 4,121 miles (6,632 kilometers) of airways had lights. By 1933, 18,000 miles (28,968 kilometers) of airway and 1,500 beacons were in place. Each tower had site numbers painted on it for daytime identification. At night, the beacons flashed in a certain sequence so that pilots could match their location to the printed guide that they carried. Besides the rotating beacon, one fixed tower light pointed to the next field and one to the previous tower, forming an aerial roadway. Official and emergency fields were lit with green lights while dangerous fields were marked with red. It also prescribed that all landing fields should be at least 2,000 feet by 1,500 feet (610 meters by 457 meters) to allow plenty of room for landings. As a final safety device, the requirement for a searchlight to be mounted on airmail airplanes was appended to the Post Office's set of requirements.

The use of lighted airways allowed pilots to fly at night, but pilots still needed to maintain visual contact with the ground. A really useful air system demanded two-way voice communication and the ability to find out about changing weather conditions while in flight.

In 1926, pilots could only receive weather information and details about other planes in the air just before takeoff. If conditions changed while flying, the ground had no way to warn them. A pilot, too, had no way of communicating with the ground.

By April 1926, they had an experimental ground-to-air radiotelephone system operating that could communicate up to 50 miles (80 kilometers). Soon after, a transmitter installed at Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, on the transcontinental airway, successfully communicated with an airmail plane 150 miles (241 kilometers) away.

In October 1928, the new Aeronautics Branch of the Bureau of Standards installed a group of new radio stations to complement the 17 it had inherited from the Postal Service. It also began sending voice information to help pilots navigate, first by radiotelegraphy (Morse) and then by teletypewriter. The Bureau also developed a radio navigation beacon system, and in 1929 the Aeronautics Branch standardized a four-course radio range whereby pilots listened to audio signals (Morse A [dit-dah] and Morse N [dah-dit] plus every 30sec a two letter station identifier) to determine if they were on course. The Aeronautics Branch stepped up installation of four-course radio ranges, and this technology became standard for civil air navigation through World War II. Earhart was familiar with this system which is why Itasca was broadcasting Morse "A" and Ontario Morse "N"
NOTE: Today airports use three letters but you can still see the old code. Los Angles used to be LA, Now LAX; Phoenix was PH now PHX; Portland was PD now PDX; Sioux City was SU now SUX. The Navy reserved all "N" codes; the Federal Communications took W (East of the Mississippi and "K" west of the Mississippi. Telecommunications took "Q" thus QRL 'are you busy'; QFO 'may I land'. Canada took the "Y" thus YUL is Montreal. Lastly "Z" is reserved for special usage: ZCX is the FAA's traffic control headquarters outside Washington D.C.

As I already posted, in September 1929, Army Lt. James H. Doolittle became the first pilot to use only aircraft instrument guidance to take off, fly a set course, and land. He used the four-course radio range and radio marker beacons to indicate his distance from the runway. An altimeter displayed his altitude, and a directional gyroscope with artificial horizon helped him control his aircraft's orientation, an altimeter for attitude, without him ever seeing the ground.

The Aeronautics Branch began formal flight inspection of airway navigation aids in 1932.

By the end of 1934, there were 68 communications stations and many pilots could request navigation help by two-way radio.

Through 1935, the antennas for transmitting and receiving radio range beacons were improved and more instrument navigation tests conducted. September 1935 marked the first simultaneous transmission by radiotelephone of voice and weather information and radio beacon signals for navigation, and by the end of 1938, six stations were complete and 159 were in progress.

 

[Robert Porter]

Her awards, if you read the stories associated with each, were not for any particular outstanding feat of aviation, they were presented for rather mundane feats mostly because of her sex. Modern day feminists would rotate at warp speeds were awards like that presented to a women today.

Again, I truly admired her fortitude and effort, but refuse to glorify what was in essence a rather mediocre career. And yes radio was in its infancy as were most flight instruments, however that is NO excuse for not being proficient and able with equipment actually installed in her aircraft. That is the very definition of a wannabe IMHO. Anyone serious about their chosen career, or heck, their hobby, usually endeavors to understand as much as they can about there tools of the trade.

Flying VFR requires few of the instruments available in an modern aircraft, yet pilots are required to understand the usage and potential issues with all the standard instruments in an aircraft to gain their PPL. I am no longer qualified but I was for about 10 years. Most of what I learned in ground school I have never had to use in practice. But when bad things happen you are ever so grateful that you have that knowledge.

I was flying as a passenger in an old Beechcraft Bonanza, the V-Tail version. The pilot, and his wife were in the front seats, I had just started ground school so had zero hours in a plane at that point. His wife was not a pilot but enjoyed flying with her husband. We were flying VFR in southwest Florida and were skirting a Thunderstorm moving in from the gulf on our way from Miami to Ft Myers. The aircraft suddenly and rapidly gained altitude and speed. The pilot reduced the throttle to idle and we were still hovering near VMAX for our rate of climb. He stayed cool and collected but uttered a phrase that I knew meant serious trouble. "Aileron Flutter", his wife had no clue what was happening and was blissfully enjoying the view. The pilot and I were both having cold sweats. We flew out of the updraft as fast as we flew into it, and the pilot brought us back down to our proper altitude after gently testing all the control surfaces and responses.

My point of that was while he was certified for IFR we were in VFR conditions until then, he had to file an IFR popup at that point because of the rapid uncontrolled gain in altitude put us outside of the parameters for VFR. So the fact that he new what to do and how to do it probably made all the difference in our actually landing and walking away that day. He later confided to me that he was as scared as he had ever been in an aircraft at that point and he was my instructor!

But he drilled into all of his students that you have to know your aircrafts operating envelope and how to use and read ALL the instruments available to you in a given aircraft. To him it was the ultimate act of irresponsibility to fly in an aircraft you did not fully understand including all optional or non standard equipment.

On the other side of the coin I witnessed a pilot's last ever flight. At this point I had my license, and was flying with him in his own Piper Cherokee. We had taken off from a small field in rural Penn, and were heading to another rural field in western Mass. Along the way we had to transit the New Jersey/New York air corridor. We were flying VFR then as well, but if you have never been through that area it is very busy and you need to change/monitor multiple frequencies and contact both regional and local control centers for clearance and instructions. Those controllers are very calm but very busy and they don't like to repeat themselves.

He had to ask several times for clarification and it was obvious to me he was getting situational saturation. We eventually landed at our destination. He shut the plane down, we parked and tied it down, then he walked into the flight office and voluntarily surrendered his pilots license. Said he could no longer deal with the demands of a busy airspace and felt he was a danger to himself and others. At the time I was in my 30's he was in his late 60's. I ended up flying us home where he sold his airplane to the local flying club. THAT is a real pilot. No temper tantrum just a sober realization that the stresses were no longer manageable for him.

 

[Shortround6]

I would note that the 1930s were a period of very rapid change and development.
While Earharts Vega may have been the first "private" plane fitted with a radio by mid 1935 or so (in some cases 1934?) radio equipment is listed as optional on planes such as the Beech 17 Biplane, the Stinson Reliant and Waco Biplanes (both cabin and open cockpit) and perhaps others. How many planes were actually equipped with these options I have no idea but obviously the manufacturers felt the need to offer them (in some cases two different brands of radio) and the shielding/bonding needed for them.
According to a biography of William Lear 1/2 of all US Private planes were using Lear radios and navigation equipment by some point in 1939. This may be an exaggeration?
It is one thing to be an old school (don't need no new fangled radio) crop duster or barnstormer, trying to be an old school round the world record setter is not real smart.

The Early US Air Mail service was a bit of trying too much with too little, Lindbergh was not the only air mail pilot to bail out when lost at night or in bad weather. It was pretty much standard procedure at the time rather than trying to land at night in poor visibility (anything but a full moon night with few/no clouds).

 

[Robert Porter]

I would note that the 1930s were a period of very rapid change and development.
It is one thing to be an old school (don't need no new fangled radio) crop duster or barnstormer, trying to be an old school round the world record setter is not real smart.

Agreed! That is my primary point, she was not flying typical flights of the day, she was trying to set records and go beyond the norm. And no one with even a glimmer of intelligence does that without stacking the deck in their favor as much as possible. It is exactly where the phrase there are bold pilots and old pilots but damn few old bold pilots comes from. And she more or less proved the point. A better understanding of her equipment may have saved her.

 

[mikewint]

Guys, 99% agreement. As you observed the 1930s were a time of tremendous change as tech development multiplied logarithmicly. Not everyone is comfortable with revolutionary changes. Einstein could never accept the changes that Quantum Theory brought to Physics. He had learned his trade in a deterministic universe. My grandfather only very grudging accepted electricity in the house and only for lights and his new-fangled radio. Grandma had an ICE box until the ice company stopped delivering blocks of ice. Grandpa hated that electric refrigerator said it gave the food an "electric" taste. Reminds me of computer/internet growth in our own time. I go back to the Radio Shack Model One days with an audiotape memory. When I worked at Fermi Lab we had row after row of washing machine sized disk drives that held 12 metal platters each. The platters were a meter in diameter and each held ONE Gigabyte of data. You were king of the hill if you had 256 Meg memory. I really appreciate how difficult it must have been to go from those free-wheeling barnstorming days to ridged Fed-controlled insurance regulated days.
As I posted earlier AE learned to fly in 1921 when there were no aids to flying, navigation, or communication, in a kite that had a motor. Robert, you talk about your training and how it regulated your actions well the same is true for AE but her training was 1920 vintage. IMHO in those days taking off, flying straight and level, finding your destination and landing in one piece was a major accomplishment.
Netta Snook, herself a pioneer woman flyer taught AE for $1 per minute in war bonds for the first 5 hours and for the next 15 hours she taught her for free in AE's Kinner Airster biplane. Nine months after her first lesson AE flew that open cockpit 3-cylinder 66-hp biplane to 14,000 ft setting an altitude record.
I will maintain that all those records, trophies, and honors did not all happen JUST because she was female. AE was a competent FLYER whose biggest fault was in the technical electronics developments of the aircraft. Her radio log during that final flight puzzled me from the first time I read it to today. Short, terse, with no real information conveyed. Reminds me of the radio contacts we made in Vietnam trying to keep the VC/NVA from locating us.
Consider for a minute the out of fuel-ditch scenario most of you favor. At 08:43 AE gave her "on the line 157-337" message. At 08:55 she stated "we are running on line north and south" and that was it. The Electra had two engines both do not run out of fuel and quit at the same time and the Electra could fly on one engine. When that first engine began to sputter I'D BE ON THAT RADIO in a flash yelling MAYDAY with some kind of position even if just a guess yet there was never such a message.

 

[gumbyk]

Consider for a minute the out of fuel-ditch scenario most of you favor. At 08:43 AE gave her "on the line 157-337" message. At 08:55 she stated "we are running on line north and south" and that was it. The Electra had two engines both do not run out of fuel and quit at the same time and the Electra could fly on one engine. When that first engine began to sputter I'D BE ON THAT RADIO in a flash yelling MAYDAY with some kind of position even if just a guess yet there was never such a message.

The one person who I know has had a double-engine failure due to fuel starvation said that there was less than 30s between the engines stopping. He barely had one engine secured before the second quit. it is conceivable that she went through a similar time-frame, without having the time to get a mayday out. It is already established that she was easily flustered, and a double-engine failure could have just been enough that she became overwhelmed and completely lost it.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I will maintain that all those records, trophies, and honors did not all happen JUST because she was female.

Agree - it happened because she had some big bucks backing her up!

 

[Robert Porter]

Exactly, and the big bucks were attracted by the novelty for the time of a female aviator. Not because she was a highly proficient aviator.

 

[stona]

There were plenty of early female aviatrix, think of Raymonde Deroche (first woman to fly? certainly the first to receive a licence in 1909) and who became a test pilot before being killed in a crash in 1919.
Blanche Scott, Bessica Raiche (who is officially the first US aviatrix, because Scott's first flight was 'unintentional'), Helene Dutrieu, Ruth Law (who set a distance record in 1916 flying from Chicago to New York), Bessie Coleman (first African American aviatrix, though she had to go to France to learn to fly), Pancho Barnes (who beat Earhart's world speed record for women), and many more, Adrienne Bolland to Jaqueline Auriol.
Why don't we remember them? Some of these names will be unfamiliar even on a forum like this. It's because they were for the most part not the publicity seeking publicists that Earhart and her entourage were, and they didn't get themselves killed through their own incompetence and in circumstances that others, to serve their own ends, have decided were in some way unusual.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Robert Porter]

That sort of goes along with my point, her lasting fame is mostly due to her death not her success.

 

[mikewint]

it happened because she had some big bucks backing her up!

Joe, with your background you know better than I that flying and maintaining your own plane takes BIG bucks today just as it did back then. $500 for a used Jenny doesn't sound like much today but the average yearly income in 1921 was under $1000. If you wanted to fly or even learn to fly the price was high. Earhart's family was not poor but her father was a alcoholic who eventually was unemployed. Her mother took the children to Chicago where they lived on a trust fund left by her grandmother. If she wanted to fly she'd have to earn the funds. Working at a variety of jobs, including photographer, truck driver, and stenographer at the local telephone company for almost a year, she managed to save $1,000 for flying lessons. Then in order to reach the airfield, Earhart had to take a bus to the end of the line, then walk four miles.
Joe, consider that at the time there was nothing like commercial aviation. Once you were a pilot and had an airplane the only way to keep both was barnstorming OR just as today become famous for something and find sponsors. Earhart took her Airister biplane to 14,000 feet and set a record and had her first fame.
From the Kiplinger Magazine 2015:
During the summer of 2014, Amelia Rose Earhart and co-pilot Shane Jordan spent 18 days flying around the world in a Pilatus PC-12 NG plane. Successfully completing the journey at the age of 31, Earhart became the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engine aircraft.

How did you afford your trip around the world? It would have been tough to raise enough money by trying to save or asking people to donate. So I asked sponsors to take part, and the sponsorships were my sole source of funding for the trip. I considered every manufacturer that had put something on the plane I flew—the wheels, the engine, the avionics inside the cockpit, the propeller, the brake system. I asked myself, What value would these companies get out of being associated with this story?

What major expenses did the trip entail? We had to find an airplane to use, as well as pay for training, fuel, permits to fly through the airspace of other countries, landing fees and visas. Plus, there were travel expenses leading up to the trip, including open-water survival training in Connecticut.

My public relations team was the biggest investment. I wanted to give my sponsors an awesome return on an inspiring aviation story, so I needed to get immense amounts of media coverage.

How did you approach the sponsors? I made sure that I had done all my homework on the companies, learning how they got started and what their founders were passionate about. I also had a mission statement. I think everybody has a calling for a hero's journey, and a lot of aviation companies stand for adventure. That's what I played up in the face-to-face meetings—an aviator's journey to chase horizons and cross boundaries that haven't been crossed before. I got financial support from 21 of the 22 companies I approached.

How did you publicly recognize your sponsors? I put logos on the outside of the aircraft and wore a flight jacket that had all the sponsor names on it. Another component was a massive social media campaign. On a daily basis, certain sponsors would get recognition on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. I tried to post authentic explanations of something relevant to the flight. For instance, when talking about the engine manufacturer, I included a photograph of the inner workings of the engine.
Also, we got exposure on television and radio and in newspapers. The final press kit showed that over the course of 18 days, we generated $18 million in ad value for all of the sponsors. I was able to show my sponsors how much they got in return for their contributions.

What was the most challenging part of gathering enough funding for the project? The nerves that came along with making that first phone call to a sponsor. I told myself that the greater impact of my flight was giving people a story to follow and getting other young women interested in aviation. Right now, only about 5% of pilots [in the Air Line Pilots Association] are women. I reminded myself to keep that passion and heart in my voice when I made the phone calls.

What advice would you give to young people who want to finance a big dream? Be humble, and be willing to meet your partners and sponsors halfway. There were certain things about the flight that I would have loved to do bigger or smaller or bolder or a different color. But if people are willing to contribute to you financially, you may have to bite your tongue. That's okay, because once you're done, you realize that the petty discrepancies along the way mean nothing.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Joe, with your background you know better than I that flying and maintaining your own plane takes BIG bucks today just as it did back then. $500 for a used Jenny doesn't sound like much today but the average yearly income in 1921 was under $1000. If you wanted to fly or even learn to fly the price was high. Earhart's family was not poor but her father was a alcoholic who eventually was unemployed. Her mother took the children to Chicago where they lived on a trust fund left by her grandmother. If she wanted to fly she'd have to earn the funds. Working at a variety of jobs, including photographer, truck driver, and stenographer at the local telephone company for almost a year, she managed to save $1,000 for flying lessons. Then in order to reach the airfield, Earhart had to take a bus to the end of the line, then walk four miles.
Joe, consider that at the time there was nothing like commercial aviation. Once you were a pilot and had an airplane the only way to keep both was barnstorming OR just as today become famous for something and find sponsors. Earhart took her Airister biplane to 14,000 feet and set a record and had her first fame.
From the Kiplinger Magazine 2015:
During the summer of 2014, Amelia Rose Earhart and co-pilot Shane Jordan spent 18 days flying around the world in a Pilatus PC-12 NG plane. Successfully completing the journey at the age of 31, Earhart became the youngest woman to circumnavigate the globe in a single-engine aircraft.

How did you afford your trip around the world? It would have been tough to raise enough money by trying to save or asking people to donate. So I asked sponsors to take part, and the sponsorships were my sole source of funding for the trip. I considered every manufacturer that had put something on the plane I flew—the wheels, the engine, the avionics inside the cockpit, the propeller, the brake system. I asked myself, What value would these companies get out of being associated with this story?

What major expenses did the trip entail? We had to find an airplane to use, as well as pay for training, fuel, permits to fly through the airspace of other countries, landing fees and visas. Plus, there were travel expenses leading up to the trip, including open-water survival training in Connecticut.

My public relations team was the biggest investment. I wanted to give my sponsors an awesome return on an inspiring aviation story, so I needed to get immense amounts of media coverage.

How did you approach the sponsors? I made sure that I had done all my homework on the companies, learning how they got started and what their founders were passionate about. I also had a mission statement. I think everybody has a calling for a hero's journey, and a lot of aviation companies stand for adventure. That's what I played up in the face-to-face meetings—an aviator's journey to chase horizons and cross boundaries that haven't been crossed before. I got financial support from 21 of the 22 companies I approached.

How did you publicly recognize your sponsors? I put logos on the outside of the aircraft and wore a flight jacket that had all the sponsor names on it. Another component was a massive social media campaign. On a daily basis, certain sponsors would get recognition on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. I tried to post authentic explanations of something relevant to the flight. For instance, when talking about the engine manufacturer, I included a photograph of the inner workings of the engine.
Also, we got exposure on television and radio and in newspapers. The final press kit showed that over the course of 18 days, we generated $18 million in ad value for all of the sponsors. I was able to show my sponsors how much they got in return for their contributions.

What was the most challenging part of gathering enough funding for the project? The nerves that came along with making that first phone call to a sponsor. I told myself that the greater impact of my flight was giving people a story to follow and getting other young women interested in aviation. Right now, only about 5% of pilots [in the Air Line Pilots Association] are women. I reminded myself to keep that passion and heart in my voice when I made the phone calls.

What advice would you give to young people who want to finance a big dream? Be humble, and be willing to meet your partners and sponsors halfway. There were certain things about the flight that I would have loved to do bigger or smaller or bolder or a different color. But if people are willing to contribute to you financially, you may have to bite your tongue. That's okay, because once you're done, you realize that the petty discrepancies along the way mean nothing.

Mike, you're beating to death cut and paste facts that most of us already know for gods sake. Mr.Porter said it perfectly;

"the big bucks were attracted by the novelty for the time of a female aviator. Not because she was a highly proficient aviator."

Amelia Rose Earhart is a reporter in my home town. After her adventure shes now doing hourly 5 minute traffic reports on the hour on FOX 31.

Forget the poor child BS, she was a victim of her own fame. Personally I believe she flew that aircraft until she had BOTH engines just about flame out and either landed in the water or on a coral reef. She would have done anything to make sure that aircraft stayed in one piece after she pranged it at Ford Island.

And Mike - again, if you're flying a twin and both engines are feeding from the same tank, you're going to flame out both engines almost at the same time. If you're in a twin and you're running low on fuel, I don't believe flying one engine is an economic option, maybe unless you're in a Cessna Skymaster.