Warbird Information Exchange

I suffer sometimes from "foot in mouth" disease so, at the risk of having another bout of it....
Some guy takes a picture in October 1937, 4 months after AE/Noonan disappearance. I would think this would still be big news and at the forefront of most folks minds. O.k. so far?
If a guy is out in a boat and there is an object, on shore, that looks like a landing gear wouldn't that person go investigate? I mean, in the photo, it's a small, blurry object but, to the person actually looking in that direction, I think it would appear larger and more distinct. It would have been visually significant (naked eye) enough that someone would have investigated it, right then and there.
Am I going to be chewing on my Nike's?

Not sure why the photo was taken, but from the story so far, I don't think anyone in 1937 noticed the possible gear strut in the photo. As I understand it, the identification of the strut in the water came from modern day analysis of the original photo.

I think it is a stretch, but as long as they raise private funding and are not using US taxpayer dollars for the search, I have no problem with them searching. I certainly won't lose any sleep over it.

As I mentioned earlier, the thing I find most interesting about this latest news is that Bob Ballard was actually at the press conference to lend some sort of support to their claims. While TIGHAR has a rather dubious reputation, Ballard is a pretty solid dude and not the kind of guy to just throw an endorsement around wildy. He has a pretty solid reputation in the underwater exploration/archaeolgy world and not just some crackpot. I'm not sure if Ballard is going to be directly involved in the operation, or he was just there for moral support, but either Ballard thinks they are legitimately on to something.....or he has gone senile.

The photo in question of the supposed strut is NOT the 1937 photo of the reef/beach but rather a photo taken underwater a yr or two ago by a ROV at a depth of 800 feet. I don't feel like linking to that photo but it isn't too difficult to find on the Tighar forum. My opinion is I'll believe it's a strut when I see it.

To heck with Ballard!! Nothing lends legitimatcy to an investigation more than having Hillary strutting around.

I've seen the photo too. How anyone can say "hey that looks like a strut!" is beyond me. All I see is rocks. Above my pay grade, no doubt. I wish them luck.

Better yet, how about searching for a missing P-38. I hear one went down in Wales on a beach in '43.

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Sure, Charles Lindbergh flew the plane... but Tom Rutledge built the engine!

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I dunno. How much money could someone make if they found and recovered the Electra?

That's assuming
1. They find anything..
2. That there is anything left worth looking at.
We've all seen corroded aircraft wrecks from that part of the world....unless it came down verrry gently and has been preserved under sand or silt...the most that would be left would be a corroded undercarriage leg or crusty engine.
(Warning: Extreme Cynicism Ahead: If they do find an engine, they'll probably try to convince us that the plane underwent a secret re-engining along the way to explain how a P & W Wasp turned into a Wright 1820).

My prediction...
They'll find something that "could be", "kinda", "maybe" off the Lockheed (if you squint hard enough).
Of course it's a field mod not on the Lockheed blueprints...
But with TIGHAR's aversion to giving a definitive answer or finding anything concrete, that's as much as they'll say.
It could be a part off the Lockheed, or it could be a piece of scrap from the war...

We've been down this path before with the "map case" and shoe.

Again...I'd be much more excited if they'd produced something after 30 years. I wish them well but after all this time it's turning into a case of
"Fool me once..."

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

Cared enough to post that you don't care didn'tcha?

Saludos!


Tulio

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Why take the best part of life out of your life, when you can have life with the best part of your life in your life?

I am one of them 'futbol' people.

Will the previous owner has pics of this double cabin sample

GOOD MORNING, WELCOME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Press "1" for English.
Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English.

Sooooo, how am I going to know to press 1 or 2, if I do not speak English????

Ballard is also a realist, and understands pretty well where a lot of his funding tends to come from. In his statements, he's also VERY specific that his backing of the effort is derived from the analysis of the photo provided by the State Dept saying it's definitely an Electra strut.

So IOW, he's left himself a nice big escape hatch to dive out through if (when) nothing comes of this, while making sure that no one can accuse him of not being a team-player.

Makes sense. Any idea what his actual involvement is in this? Is he taking an active role, or was he just a talking head at the press conference in an attempt to lend credibility?

Just a little FYI, Garth has the quote about Ballard credited to me. Although, that is very close to what I was thinking, I didn't write it.

Dan K- Thanks! I always did like Mary Ann better.


Chappie

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Brrring. Dispersal? TWO SECTIONS SCRAMBLE!!

Don't thank me.

Thank El Presidente Scott Rose!

For without WIX, we'd probably all be hanging out at the TIGHAR forum, and every blip on every photograph would look like Amelia! *shudder*

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

The International Group for Hysterical Aviation Rumors...

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Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.

With any luck they will find Amelia and lose Hillary.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Director