Warbird Information Exchange

Supposedly, due to being concerned about the humidity, temperature, and strip conditions at Lae, she stripped some additional radio and nav gear out of the Electra prior to blasting off for Howland. I've heard that it included her trailing antenna for the HF. Can anybody confirm this?

Dan

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Defending Stearmans on WIX since Jeff started badmouthing them back in 2005.

you are correct, that fact has been addressed & confirmed in many theories & conjectures. as to why, other than adding fuel economy, who knows why??

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Regarding the 'faked' moon landing..............If you really want to get some great laughs wait till you see a story on some web site like Yahoo about the moon landing then go to the comments section and read the words from those who think it was faked. You will still be laughing the next day. The one I remember most is a guy who claimed the moon was a source of light.

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Always looking for WW2 Half-Tracks and Parts.

There are numerous reports that the H F long line trailing atenana was left behind. I don't even know if the Itasca was using H F radio.

Tighar, I think, has a theory that her anteana under the fuselage broke off on takeoff, and so she had even more radio trouble, that this really a grasp at straws.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

It's been said by many that she had only a pretty thin knowledge of how her radio/nav gear worked. Getting rid of her trailing antenna would have rendered her HF useless. I'm assuming she had a direction finder or at least a DF loop antenna, but if she didn't know how to use it...

Does anybody know what her actual flying experience was? I know I'd be wide awake trying to find Howland from Lae even with a Herc.

Dan

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Defending Stearmans on WIX since Jeff started badmouthing them back in 2005.

It really frustrates me that some folks on this site cannot seem to let a discussion go on without injecting something derogatory politically.

Walt

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If God had intended airplane engines to have horizontally-opposed cylinders, Pratt & Whitney would have built them that way.

To support TIGHAR's theory, on the Discovery program had grainy film of her departing Lae. On the takeoff, there is a visible 'puff' of dirt underneath the midships of the plane as it's bouncing down the runway. The expert (not sure what the qualifications to make him the expert, mind you) theorized that if the antenna broke at the leading edge, it would have snapped backwards and down, striking the ground and possibly producing the puff of whatever it is.

I don't know how high strung that antenna is/was on a Lockheed 10. If it was very taught and snapped, then most certainly a reaction like that is possible. But if it is just supported by masts on both ends and is kind of loose, I doubt that you would see anything.

When I saw the footage along with the theory it was at least enough for me to take into consideration and give a 'hmmmm....interesting'. Might explain some things.

But then, I'd also heard that they had dispatched with the antenna on purpose before-hand, not understanding what they were doing.

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Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......

I saw that too. It would be interesting to see an equipment list for the airplane and cross reference it to whatever they stripped out at Lae and know just what all she had to work with on that flight. Does anybody know what the next leg of the trip was going to be?

Dan

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Defending Stearmans on WIX since Jeff started badmouthing them back in 2005.

I think the next flight would have been nonstop to Hawaii.

I would also like to learn how many hours she had on her logbook. While flying about the US giving talks, there was another person - not her - flying the plane. Mantz, who flew with her on the initial round-the-world flight, which flew westbound and ended with an accident in Hawaii, was surprised that her flying skills were not better than they were. She flew in "powder puff" (for females) races in the US, and while she in general had by far the best plane, she tended to finish in fifth place.

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Kevin McCartney

In Mantz's biography "Hollywood Pilot" (how accurate a source that is I don't know) he doesn't seem to think much of her flying skills. Apparently she would try and control the swings of the Electra on takeoff mostly with the engines instead of her feet. Was there even such a thing as a multi-engine rating in the early thirties?

Dan

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Defending Stearmans on WIX since Jeff started badmouthing them back in 2005.

You silly silly boy,
Dont you know that the Amelia question was answered long ago by Mr.Gillespie and his crack team of aviation historians and experts at the world renowned and well known organization we all know and love called TIGHAR?He and his team of experts all sailed down to the south pacific to the Rat infested island that used to be known as Gardner Island(now called Nikamorro or something similar) He and his crack team found not only the bottom of a shoe that Amelia might(Or might not) have worn.They also discovered some items made out of aircraft grade aluminum that had to be from Amelia's plane.This is known for a fact because neither the U.S. nor Japanese forces were ever anywhere close to this point ever during the war.It had to be from Amelia.Are you not aware of the fact that Mr.Gillespie and the Tighar team then held a press conference and showed to the world that they had single handedly solved the mystery and could prove it?They have also solved numerous other aviation quandry's and have recovered many valuable wrecks.They have also set out to stop numerous people who have spent fortunes rebuilding wrecks from flying and showing and enjoying their investments in order to preserve them for future generations.I suggest that you do your homework in the future.Remember,TIGHAR is the FUTURE in aviation history.I sleep better at night knowing they are on the job.

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"WHAT ME WORRY?"