Amelia Earhart

[DaryllB25840 1]

Amelia Earhart's Fate : It seems appropriate with Microsoft's up-coming release of FS2004 "ACentury Of Flight" to mention Amelia Earhart. The search for Amelia Earhart has been called the "Holy Grail" ofaviation mysteries. It is a very controversial subject and it boils down to what you believe is what you believe. I belong to the AES (Amelia Earhart Society). We are a group ofresearchers (among a few other groups) who have studied the subject for many years. I hope to inspire a simulator aircraft designer to build a detailedLockheed 10E with the NR16020 registration number . I personallywouldn't be satisfied with anything less than the quality of MAAM's C-47 or their B-25 "Briefing Time". A Cambridge Fuel Analyzer would be a must to be included in the panel if we expect to even come close to simulating the performance of Amelia Earhart's 10E. It was in Feb of 2002 that I finally acted on a theory that had been in my mind for a long time. It was even before I had a computer to runFS2002. The historical archives contained a post loss message thought to be from Amelia Earhart. The Navy at the time (July 5, 1937) had even dispatched the Coast Guard Cutter Itasca from the search area and the freighter SS Moorby converged on a point 281 miles NW of Howland island, her and Fred Noonan's destination. As history records, nothing was found at that point. The post loss message that was received in Wailupe HI, was fragmentary in nature and it required an interpretation of what was heard. Using the FS2002 simulator, I "hind-casted" the navigational problem.The simulator worked in a "round" world as opposed to using flat charts. It also kept track of time, speed and wind conditions that the aircraft encountered. Mili Atoll in the Marshall islands has been a "published" splash downpoint for Amelia and Fred Noonan since the late 1960's. It was fromcitizens of the Marshall islands that the story comes forth. Because of the number of intervening years, some believe the accounts and somedon't . History records Amelia's fate as a crash & sank event. Providing a logical link between Howland Island and Mili Atoll (aJapanese Mandate in 1937) was the biggest problem. Some researchers have even included a spy overflight to make that link work. I think I have found the link, to my own satisfaction anyway, and it can be duplicated using FS2002. I used the default Baron to fly it. I would prefer to have used an accurate 10E to duplicate the fuel consumption. The Itasca's radio log indicates that Amelia & Fred tried to use an LOP (Line of Position) to find Howland because they did not have two way radio communication for radio direction finding. Their radio call sign was KHAQQ. The LOP, line of position, was 337 deg / 157 deg for that date & time of day. The LOP was obtained from a sun shot that Noonan obtained that morning, July 2, 1937. He then plotted the line to pass through Howland. It was a Pan Am Clipper navigator's technic and known to air navigators of that timeperiod. The researchers accept the idea that Amelia & Fred searchedalong that line for Howland island. What happened to them after that is a mystery. On July 5, 1937 COMHAWSEC, Commander Hawaiian Sector, sent a message to Itasca to get under-way for a point 281 miles NW of Howland. The order was the result of the fragmentary message that they had received. It is referred to as the "281 message".The "281 message" ********************************************** July 5th, 1937, from the Hawaiian Sector to Itasca: from Donahue'sbook FROM : COMHAWSECTO : ITASCA 8005 FOLLOWING COPIED NAVY RADIO WAILUPE 1130 TO 1230 GCT QUOTE 281NORTH HOWLAND CALL KHAQQ BEYOND NORTH DON'T HOLD WITH US MUCH LONGERABOVE WATER SHUT OFF UNQUOTE KEYED TRANSMISSION EXTREMELY POOR KEYINGBEHIND CARRIER FRAGMENTARY PHRASES BUT COPIED BY THREE OPERATORS 0242 ********************************************** The fragmentary message required interpretation. It was believed that281 referred to miles. The message contained their call sign KHAQQ. The credibility of the message AND the credibility of the Navy operators that heard it would lead to radio "hoax" theories when nothing was found 281 miles NW of Howland. To me it wasn't a great leap of the imagination to understand that 281could be degrees in a compass bearing. I don't think the Navy could have missed that point either. It was trying to put 281 degrees into the overall scheme of the navigation problem that was difficult. What I did was "hind-cast". This is a technic that is used in aviationaccident investigation. I took the recip of 281 degrees (101 degrees)from Mili Atoll and ran it back to the LOP. The intersection point Ilabelled as "Point AE". This I presume, was the point that Amelia & Fred abandoned their search for Howland island and implemented their "Plan B", back to the Gilberts. Flying back to the Gilberts was a percentage play, hoping to find land in the number of islands available there. The only problem with the plan was that it took them into the Marshall islands (approx 120 miles north of the Gilbert chain) which was a Japanese Mandate. I will not go into the Japanese motives for keeping their rescue a secret. If you want to fly what I believe was Amelia's last leg in her around the world flight, you can by using the simulator. 1. Set the wind (very important) to around 081 deg. at 17 kts. It is a"best guess". I know because of the distance involved that the windwould have changed over that distance but historical records haven'tbeen found to make it any more accurate. 2. Fly your aircraft with a True airspeed (TAS) 130 kts. If you get low on fuel just open the fuel window and fill 'er up. A Cambridge fuel analyzer would be the preferred cruise controller to use. Most people haven't ever heard of one. 3. Start at Howland island so you can see where they were supposed toend up. It helps to orient yourself in the vast ocean. At one point intheir search for Howland they were flying at 1000 ft, I think for Noonan to get some drift information by reading the ocean or using a drift meter on the ocean surface. Howland Island = N 00 deg. 48 .00 min. --- W176 deg. 38.00 min. 4. Fly a heading (on autopilot) of 337 degrees to "Point AE". Hit Shift Z and watch the Lat & Long readout so you know when you get there. Come as close as you can. Twenty miles NW of Howland I set the Baron's tanks at around 55%. Point "AE" = N 02 deg. 30.10 min. --- W 177 deg. 14.20 min. 5. At "Point AE" turn to 281 degrees on autopilot and wait. It's a long ride if you don't speed up the simulation. I didn't go over 10,000 ft on this leg. 6. Keep your eyes open for the aqua blue waters around Mili Atoll.SURPRISE! The Baron did run out of gas and I did have to make a deadstick landing on one of the islands in the Atoll. Mili Atoll (Marshall Islands) = IQ9 N 05 deg. 59.06 min. --- E 172deg. 04.82 min. Daryll

[Guest]

Hi Daryll,Great post. I have actually built the scenery for Howland Island using historical info and maps from the time that the U.S. had a small base there. The only thing I need is a good lighthouse that looks like the one that was there at the time.On another note I was going to order the CD from the Tighar Group and build a comprehensive adventure for the flight with actual weather that Emilia would have flown in.If anybody wants to visit a simply fascinating and exciting site check this out. http://www.tighar.org/http://www3.telus.net/midget_ice/Radar_small.gifThis ain't no game kid!http://www3.telus.net/midget_ice/Radar_small.gifhttp://www3.telus.net/midget_ice/dansig.jpg

[DaryllB25840 1]

Hi Dan, I'm very familar with Gillespie and TIGHAR. The CD would be a good source for facts up until the search was called off. He and his theory are a relative new comer to the search for AE compared to the AES. He has an entirely different agenda concerning what he thinks happened to AE. He makes a living by keeping his group focused on Niku (Gardner island). If there was a sim aircraft designer who wanted to tackle the 10E, TIGHAR would be the best source for any aircraft facts or specs. Concerning Howland island scenery, there wasn't a lighthouse there at the time AE & FN were to arrive. The runways were ready and there were a few tents that were pitched. Drums of fuel also. There are pictures available. They did put together a makeshift shower for her to use when she got there. Some time after her disappearence they erected an small monument, I think it kind of looked like a minature light house. I'm not really sure what was there during WWII, I know the Japanese bombed it in the opening days of the war. The Itasca was drifting off shore on July 2nd '37' so it would have to be part of the Howland island scenery.I downloaded the recent "ships" file that were taken from CF2. It seems there would be a better alternative to having a corsair cockpit as a bridge. I know nothing about building scenery, but I was wondering if different textures could be used on those ships to turn them into an Itasca, Swan or Ontario CG cutters. What would really be interesting would be to position the ships that were involved into a simulation and let the computer move the ships on a 24 hr clock. The time (00:00 GMT/GCT) AE lifted off from Lae would start the motion or lack of motion of the ships. Can't CF2 move ships in a simulation? I wonder if CF2 scenery goes to Howland? What is really needed is a good quality 10E w/reflective textures, built with the dedication that MAAM has. I was hoping that Microsoft would have done it for FS2004. They do have a Lockheed Vega that could be re-textured to match the plane that she flew the Atlantic and Hawaii to Oakland trip in '35'. Daryll