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Platapus · 07-11-17, 04:47 PM

Lets look at some of the factors in this final flight

1. It could be said that she was not that skilled a pilot, more of a publicity grandstander (thanks to Putnam). Most of her recognition was because of her sex and not her pilot skills. Most of her records were doing something for the first time, not necessarily doing them the best. During her career she never won any competition where she was competing against other pilots.
2. She had limited experience with multi-stop trans ocean piloting, especially over the distances involved in the Pacific
3. She had limited experience with this particular aircraft
4. The aircraft was ill-suited for this type of trip
5. In order to make the fuel stretch, important survival and commo gear was removed.
6. The aircraft was highly modified and the modifications were untested. The added fuel tanks drastically altered the flight characteristics and she did not have enough time to fully test this.
7. She was unfamiliar with the radio navigation system which was brand new to the aircraft. Noonan, an experienced navigator, reported earlier in the flight deviations using this new equipment. Not good when you are trying to find a sliver of an airstrip in the middle of an ocean. This radio direction finding equipment was damaged in Darwin and repaired.
8. The RDF equipment on the Itasca could not tune into the frequency she was using so there was no back up radio navigation capability.
9. The aircraft, after being involved in a ground accident during the first attempt, was repaired quickly and there were no test flights to determine how the accident/repairs may have affected the modified aircraft.
10. Itasca was onsite and started the search north of Howland island where the signing was estimated as being. All told there was one battle ship, one aircraft carrier, and two Japanese ships involved in the search. After that, there was a privately funded search of the surrounding islands. All with no evidence of any aircraft nor personnel found.

Given all this, it seems most likely that her aircraft simply ran out of gas and crashed into the ocean.

As United States Navy Captain Laurance Safford wrote after his research of the accident, it was a result of "poor planning and worse execution".

07-11-17, 04:47 PM	#17
Platapus Fleet Admiral Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 18,971 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 0	Lets look at some of the factors in this final flight 1. It could be said that she was not that skilled a pilot, more of a publicity grandstander (thanks to Putnam). Most of her recognition was because of her sex and not her pilot skills. Most of her records were doing something for the first time, not necessarily doing them the best. During her career she never won any competition where she was competing against other pilots. 2. She had limited experience with multi-stop trans ocean piloting, especially over the distances involved in the Pacific 3. She had limited experience with this particular aircraft 4. The aircraft was ill-suited for this type of trip 5. In order to make the fuel stretch, important survival and commo gear was removed. 6. The aircraft was highly modified and the modifications were untested. The added fuel tanks drastically altered the flight characteristics and she did not have enough time to fully test this. 7. She was unfamiliar with the radio navigation system which was brand new to the aircraft. Noonan, an experienced navigator, reported earlier in the flight deviations using this new equipment. Not good when you are trying to find a sliver of an airstrip in the middle of an ocean. This radio direction finding equipment was damaged in Darwin and repaired. 8. The RDF equipment on the Itasca could not tune into the frequency she was using so there was no back up radio navigation capability. 9. The aircraft, after being involved in a ground accident during the first attempt, was repaired quickly and there were no test flights to determine how the accident/repairs may have affected the modified aircraft. 10. Itasca was onsite and started the search north of Howland island where the signing was estimated as being. All told there was one battle ship, one aircraft carrier, and two Japanese ships involved in the search. After that, there was a privately funded search of the surrounding islands. All with no evidence of any aircraft nor personnel found. Given all this, it seems most likely that her aircraft simply ran out of gas and crashed into the ocean. As United States Navy Captain Laurance Safford wrote after his research of the accident, it was a result of "poor planning and worse execution". __________________ abusus non tollit usum - A right should NOT be withheld from people on the basis that some tend to abuse that right.