"Flying low and slow over.... around that part of PNG..."
Joe Crazyhorse: If you did that after around mid-1996 you were "in the dark" just as we were "in the dark" then, up until 2011 when we started to hear that it had been buried on purpose.
It is a cruel thing to find out, I can assure you, that when you hear of that event caused by tribalism and possibly dislike of "other folk" it is a daunting prospect to contemplate. However, then in 2011, the truth won out eventually. The Tolai Brother-in-Law of the Baining bulldozer driver held the secret and felt bad abut the fact that we kept going back. His Christian beliefs came to the fore and he started to tell the Pomio man that he knew and who knew us, what had actually happened.
I have the utmost respect for Tribal beliefs and Customs but I will say that a couple of the Bainings that I have met have been truculent and a little hard to deal with. Against that, the Pomios are happy and easy to get along with.
The news was daunting because it meant that every expedition we had made since 1996 was completely wasted except for our knowledge of the area and experiences. Over such an important subject matter that bit deep.
I hear what you say about the actual Pilot's tendencies and agree there was an amount if irrational behaviour. That is why, as I say in the website, in the knowledge of the groundspeeds obtained up and until the S.S. Ontario; it does not make sense that Earhart could be anywhere near to Howland at 1912 GMT.
David Billings