“Amelia Earhart went missing in 1937 during her attempted circumnavigation of the globe when she failed to find Howland Island, as intended radio navigation assistance from the Itasca ship was compromised by issues with her plane's radio equipment. Specifically, Earhart had mistakenly designated 7.5 megacycles as the Itasca's beacon frequency, which was too high for her plane's direction finder to get a bearing from. This prevented her from coordinating with the Itasca. Intriguingly, radio signals later intercepted by stations in the Pacific showed Earhart's plane was still operational for hours after she went missing, suggesting she survived the initial landing but could not be reached due to radio problems. Unfortunately, no definitive evidence of her final fate has ever been discovered.”
The article makes no mention of a receive-only antenna mounted on the underside of the aircraft. One source [1] says "...there was a second “V” antenna mounted on the underside of the fuselage and connected in parallel with the top “V” antenna. If so, it was removed or disconnected before the plane left Miami." Note TFA does say the 250-foot antenna was removed in Miami, but does not mention the second V-antenna
More recently there was a lot of speculation the underside antenna broke during takeoff from LAE New Guinea, this being the explanation of the puff of smoke seen in the film [2] of the takeoff. The TIGHAR folk [3] are convinced the underside antenna was present on the aircraft and broke off during the takeoff.
We know enough about Amelia Earhart at this point that we really should spend more time on other woman flight pioneers, and there are many that deserve to be remembered.
- Earhart was a bad pilot and was considered dangerously incompetent by some who worked with her
- She didn't understand how her equipment worked, and would fail to learn how to operate the equipment even after incidents that should have made her take the time to learn
- In many of her 'firsts' she was little more than an observer, with her mechanic or others flying the plane while she rode along
- She had a super wealthy husband who owned media companies, and he would greatly amplify her supposed achievements. This, more than any other fact about her, is why she is so well remembered.
* Encouraged by then-Major Chuck Yeager, with whom Cochran shared a lifelong friendship, on May 18, 1953, at Rogers Dry Lake, California, Cochran flew the Sabre 3 at an average speed of 652.337 mph. During the course of this run the Sabre went supersonic, and Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier.*
Per her wikipedia page: "During her supersonic run, Yeager flew right on her wing."
Analogs of each other. Yeager said as much in his autobiography.
I think the framing here is somewhat important. Your post can make it seem as if Earhart was someone who over-exaggerated her own achievements, however from what I remember, she was generally quite honest and up-front about the limits and weaknesses of her piloting skills.
She frequently described her landings as poor, and also said that learning to fly was a long, drawn-out process for her.
The image she cultivated was one of a gutsy risk-taker who doesn't take no for an answer, not as a master pilot. She is remembered for her attitude and how it relates to gender norms in the broader context, and I would still say, rightfully so.
> In many of her 'firsts' she was little more than an observer, with her mechanic or others flying the plane while she rode along
I can't quite comment on the "many" part, but again, it's something she was pretty honest about when it happened, to my knowledge. E.g. on the (initial) transatlantic flight, her words: "Stultz did all the flying—had to. I was just baggage, like a sack of potatoes."
So you're saying we should give ber credit and pay attention to her because she admitted she doesn't deserve credit or attention? What?
My point is that there are many legitimate woman flight pioneers wbo weren't gifted an oversized (and basically bogus) reputation by virtue of being part of the gilded social class.
> She had a super wealthy husband who owned media companies, and he would greatly amplify her supposed achievements. This, more than any other fact about her, is why she is so well remembered
This applies to many historical figures whose names are widely known. Such stories are often carefully planned beforehand and then widely circulated, usually with political activism as the motivating force.
It's probably generally accepted that she almost certainly had a lot of help writing the book but it's still almost certainly the best of the growing up in the highlands on Kenya memoirs.
Did any of the others go missing without a trace for multiple decades? I'm pretty sure that's the reason she is so remembered. It's the only thing I know about her at all.
Sounds very similar to Sally Ride. Many people who worked with her had complaints about her level of professionalism and behavior. Many believe she was chosen to be the first because her name went well with PR. And this was not a sexism thing - many of the people with legitimate complaints spoke highly of other female astronauts, like Judy Resnik (and history does not cover the other 5 like it does Sally Ride).
> we really should spend more time on other woman flight pioneers
Like Beate Uhse (actually: Beate Uhse-Rotermund), who is much more well-known for the sex shop empire that she built than for her acrobatic flight skills:
On the flight from Brazil to Senegal, Eahart ignored navigator Fred Noonan's course correction and they landed in Saint Louis instead of Dakar, which is 150 miles off. Well, Africa is a big continent but 150 miles is a big deal when you're island hopping in the pacific.
Some of these comments are funny. I am sure there are plenty of mistakes made by plenty of competent people as I read the next article about Boeing. Good to analyze root cause ….to a point. Some of you hate brave women, who probably would all be classed as reckless and less trained in much but cooking/laundry in that era, and it shows.
Now clean up the mud from the reckless 4 wheeling you did before lunch.
You don’t care about incompetent but good people such as Earhart being essentially murdered by a society pushing them to take on a task they’re not properly equipped to do because of PR wins and advertising.
Didn’t the US Navy kill a woman who wasn’t ready to solo jet flying back in the 80s by pushing her to take on the task before she had passed the simulations so they could beat the US Air Force to have the first solo woman jet pilot.
Look at a picture of her face and think of her family she was killed by people like you who don’t think logically and only care for how things make them feel
I am defined as a logical processor in an assessment somewhere. Your activism towards me hasn’t been working since launched by a disinformation actor precisely December 2019. Would be great if someone can tell me where the forum is.
Interesting info about root cause, culture and errors though. Also I might care.
Readit News
“Amelia Earhart went missing in 1937 during her attempted circumnavigation of the globe when she failed to find Howland Island, as intended radio navigation assistance from the Itasca ship was compromised by issues with her plane's radio equipment. Specifically, Earhart had mistakenly designated 7.5 megacycles as the Itasca's beacon frequency, which was too high for her plane's direction finder to get a bearing from. This prevented her from coordinating with the Itasca. Intriguingly, radio signals later intercepted by stations in the Pacific showed Earhart's plane was still operational for hours after she went missing, suggesting she survived the initial landing but could not be reached due to radio problems. Unfortunately, no definitive evidence of her final fate has ever been discovered.”
More recently there was a lot of speculation the underside antenna broke during takeoff from LAE New Guinea, this being the explanation of the puff of smoke seen in the film [2] of the takeoff. The TIGHAR folk [3] are convinced the underside antenna was present on the aircraft and broke off during the takeoff.
[1]. https://earharttruth.wordpress.com/2016/04/12/pan-am-radio-p...
[2]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntkOyDanuRw
[3]. https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Research/Bullet...
- Earhart was a bad pilot and was considered dangerously incompetent by some who worked with her
- She didn't understand how her equipment worked, and would fail to learn how to operate the equipment even after incidents that should have made her take the time to learn
- In many of her 'firsts' she was little more than an observer, with her mechanic or others flying the plane while she rode along
- She had a super wealthy husband who owned media companies, and he would greatly amplify her supposed achievements. This, more than any other fact about her, is why she is so well remembered.
Starting with Jackie Cochran. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Cochran
* Encouraged by then-Major Chuck Yeager, with whom Cochran shared a lifelong friendship, on May 18, 1953, at Rogers Dry Lake, California, Cochran flew the Sabre 3 at an average speed of 652.337 mph. During the course of this run the Sabre went supersonic, and Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier.*
Per her wikipedia page: "During her supersonic run, Yeager flew right on her wing."
Analogs of each other. Yeager said as much in his autobiography.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Coleman
She frequently described her landings as poor, and also said that learning to fly was a long, drawn-out process for her.
The image she cultivated was one of a gutsy risk-taker who doesn't take no for an answer, not as a master pilot. She is remembered for her attitude and how it relates to gender norms in the broader context, and I would still say, rightfully so.
> In many of her 'firsts' she was little more than an observer, with her mechanic or others flying the plane while she rode along
I can't quite comment on the "many" part, but again, it's something she was pretty honest about when it happened, to my knowledge. E.g. on the (initial) transatlantic flight, her words: "Stultz did all the flying—had to. I was just baggage, like a sack of potatoes."
My point is that there are many legitimate woman flight pioneers wbo weren't gifted an oversized (and basically bogus) reputation by virtue of being part of the gilded social class.
She was the fourth woman to earn a pilot's license.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_Ingle (see videos)
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW98Ji6hHmY (colorized, restored)
Uff!
I hope this picture opens:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi...
"Lillian Boyer hanging from right wing boom using right hand, circa 1920s"
Reminds me of the influencer skyscraper climbing videos on YT. I guess it makes sense that people always loved outlandish thrills?
This applies to many historical figures whose names are widely known. Such stories are often carefully planned beforehand and then widely circulated, usually with political activism as the motivating force.
... such as?
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_with_the_Night
Like Beate Uhse (actually: Beate Uhse-Rotermund), who is much more well-known for the sex shop empire that she built than for her acrobatic flight skills:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beate_Uhse-Rotermund
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Witches
http://dupuisww2.weebly.com/wasp-and-night-witches.html
Do you have sources for that and your other claims about her flying ability? I'd like to read more.
Is this true? Even the most incompetent pilot should know at least these basics.
Now clean up the mud from the reckless 4 wheeling you did before lunch.
Didn’t the US Navy kill a woman who wasn’t ready to solo jet flying back in the 80s by pushing her to take on the task before she had passed the simulations so they could beat the US Air Force to have the first solo woman jet pilot.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kara_Hultgreen#:~:text=Death...
Look at a picture of her face and think of her family she was killed by people like you who don’t think logically and only care for how things make them feel
Interesting info about root cause, culture and errors though. Also I might care.
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