[CW] another earhart blurb

[HSHK]

Though I am not in on this discussion, I have been following it=0D
with increasing interest.=0D
=0D
You points below make valid arguements and are well thought=0D
out.=0D
=0D
73,=0D
=0D
Bill  KA8VIT=0D
 =0D
-------Original Message-------=0D
 =0D
From: rb=0D
Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2003 04:48:36 PM=0D
To: cw@mailman.qth.net=0D
Subject: [CW] another earhart blurb=0D
 =0D
Think we should give a bit more credit to American aircraft radio enginee=
rs=0D
of the mid to late 1930s.=0D
The ARC-5 transmitters are of that era, and there is no way they could be=
=0D
tuned up on second and third harmonics without extensive electrical and=0D
mechanical modifications.=0D
The crystal controlled transmitters of the day used in civil aircraft wer=
e=0D
channelised and fixed tuned with usually only antenna loading adjustable=0D
within the aircraft.=0D
They were set up before flight and operated by the pilot via a control bo=
x.=0D
As you say, one can visualise scenarios whereby the radio was damaged in =
a=0D
forced landing and somehow came to put out signals on a harmonic but this=
 is=0D
stretching the bounds of plausibility.=0D
I am puzzled by hypotheses about running an engine to charge the batterie=
s=0D
after a forced or crash landing.=0D
One would assume that the aircraft came down with the batteries fully=0D
charged.=0D
Assuming the batteries survived the landing, then there would have been=0D
capacity to run the radios for some time with full power from the tx.=0D
There were plenty of ships and aircraft around listening on known channel=
s=0D
and it seems very unlikely that Earhart would not have been heard loud an=
d=0D
clear if the equipment was intact.=0D
As I recall the note in Old Timer's Bulletin suggested that Earhart may h=
ave=0D
been confused by procedural directions from the US Navy that used both=0D
frequencies and wavelengths with the consequence that she neither=0D
transmitted or listened on the correct frequencies.=0D
Earhart had learned to fly during the barnstorming era when flight traini=
ng=0D
was sloppy by modern standards.=0D
She never had experience as a pilot under discipline in either the servic=
es=0D
or in scheduled airline operation.=0D
In these areas pilots learn that standardised procedures and drills are=0D
everything.=0D
Taking into account the accumulated fatigue, questions about Earhart's st=
ate=0D
of health, (amongst other things, it has been suggested she might have be=
en=0D
pregnant at the time) and the lack of drills and rehearsals of radio=0D
procedure before she left Lae it is likely that pilot error was a factor.=
=0D
If Noonan had been allocated the radio operating tasks things might have=0D
gone better, but this was impossible due to the layout of the Electra as=0D
modified. The actual navigation tasks were routine, no problem for Noonan=
,=0D
but pushing the limits of precision on a long flight.=0D
If the radio procedures had worked as planned then there would have been =
no=0D
problems: the US Navy ships would have got a fix on them and they would h=
ave=0D
been able to RDF on the homing beacon set up for them or on MF transmissi=
ons=0D
from ships. With good RT communications they would have been talked into=0D
their destination with the greatest of ease.=0D
Sad.