[ARC5] US Morse Exam History...Commercial versus mateur (OT)

[Mike Everette]

The FCC's data base (?) does not go beyond about 1983.

I ran into this when researching the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, for the TIGHAR group.  The question came up as to whether Fred Noonan, her navigator, had held a commercial radiotelegraph ticket, as was apparently required by his employer, Pan American Airways.  At the time of the 1937 Earhart flight, neither AE nor Noonan had any meaningful CW proficiency whatsoever (not much more than character recognition at extremely slow speeds); and I found that hard to believe if Noonan had ever passed the 2nd Class exam.  No information was available from the FCC.  

I concluded that, while he may have had a license with his name on it, for Pan Am purposes, I wondered if he had actually taken the test himself...?  Would have been a lot easier to get away with this, back in the 20s/30s.

No way to prove or disprove, that I could find -- short of discovering the actual license document, and at that time I don't even think there was a requirement for a photo on the license.  The photo requirement came about in the 1980s, I believe....

73

Mike
W4DSE


--- On Fri, 12/21/12, David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> From: David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>
> Subject: Re: [ARC5] US Morse Exam History...Commercial versus mateur (OT)
> To: "ARC-5 List" <arc5 at mailman.qth.net>
> Date: Friday, December 21, 2012, 7:41 PM
> I don't have a "pride" issue with the
> "newer" telegraph exam-
> I'm just glad there still is one.
> However- someone said you must have your original "pass"
> certificate from your Extra to get credit??
> Mine was in 1978!  That's paper's long gone.
> What bean-counting doofuss injected that bit of senseless,
> needless nonsense?  Don't they trust their own
> database, or are they just trying to discourage people?
> 
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