Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:35 pm
She ran out of gas (probably flying in circles at about a thousand feet) and kept flying until her fuel was completely exhausted, then deadsticked it into the water, blew it, and the wreckage quickly sank. I'll bet all of you a cold, Oshkosh beer that if Ballard finds it the props aren't even feathered and the two of them are still in it.
Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:44 pm
menards wrote:Dan Jones wrote:I'd just about bet the farm that she's somewhere within a hundred miles of Howland, in any direction. If she had the gas to fly 350 miles down to the Phoenix Islands then she certainly had time to be transmitting that information in the blind, over and over again instead of there just being... silence. She ran out of gas (probably flying in circles at about a thousand feet) and kept flying until her fuel was completely exhausted, then deadsticked it into the water, blew it, and the wreckage quickly sank. I'll bet all of you a cold, Oshkosh beer that if Ballard finds it the props aren't even feathered and the two of them are still in it.
I think you're spot on here. Howland was pushing the max range of the electra She was close, but with no way to communicate with the Itasca, and flying at 1,000 ft with scattered clouds, she was helpless.
Now factor in that her water ditching skills were un-polished, at best. If the plane broke apart upon landing, it would have quickly sank. I dont think that its outside of the realm of possibly that pieces of the electra washed up on Gardner Island years later, (like we have seen with MH370) but i think its unlikely that they flew the extra 350 miles to get there. Their fuel ran out shortly after the 8:43AM transmission they were flying the 157/337 line...
Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:11 pm
Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:34 pm
Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:48 pm
I fully understand that saying this is like convincing a Trump supporter to vote for Ocasio-Cortez
Fri Jul 26, 2019 5:52 pm
Dan Jones wrote:I'd just about bet the farm that she's somewhere within a hundred miles of Howland, in any direction. If she had the gas to fly 350 miles down to the Phoenix Islands then she certainly had time to be transmitting that information in the blind, over and over again instead of there just being... silence. She ran out of gas (probably flying in circles at about a thousand feet) and kept flying until her fuel was completely exhausted, then deadsticked it into the water, blew it, and the wreckage quickly sank. I'll bet all of you a cold, Oshkosh beer that if Ballard finds it the props aren't even feathered and the two of them are still in it.
Fri Jul 26, 2019 6:50 pm
This is not my first rodeo. I have been writing about the Earhart search since before some of you were born, for both Air & Space Smithsonian and Aviation History Magazines. In fact I'm collecting some of your sillier posts for use in my next Earhart article, so keep 'em coming.
Fri Jul 26, 2019 7:38 pm
Fri Jul 26, 2019 7:44 pm
Fri Jul 26, 2019 8:35 pm
Sat Jul 27, 2019 10:48 am
David Billings wrote:Feathering Props - NOT.....Dan Jones wrote:I'd just about bet the farm that she's somewhere within a hundred miles of Howland, in any direction. If she had the gas to fly 350 miles down to the Phoenix Islands then she certainly had time to be transmitting that information in the blind, over and over again instead of there just being... silence. She ran out of gas (probably flying in circles at about a thousand feet) and kept flying until her fuel was completely exhausted, then deadsticked it into the water, blew it, and the wreckage quickly sank. I'll bet all of you a cold, Oshkosh beer that if Ballard finds it the props aren't even feathered and the two of them are still in it.
Constant speeding Hamilton Standard props - Yes; but they could not be feathered. Feathering props were an 'after-market' Modification to Electra's (a la Linda Finch 10E - which was a 10A originally, now in the San Diego Museum with Cigar tube shaped nicely chromed pitch change domes at the hub).
David Billings
http://www.earhartsearchpng.com
Sat Jul 27, 2019 1:01 pm
Sat Jul 27, 2019 3:09 pm
Sat Jul 27, 2019 5:16 pm
Stephan Wilkinson wrote:No. Ric would have told if he was.
Mon Jul 29, 2019 11:30 pm