its reported the antenna was maybe ripped off on her last take off from Lae hence her not being able to receive tx back. (i think that's correct?)
from what i gather they did not exactly have a notified back-up plan...as such
it was assumed they would find howland and the ship...
but she said to Mr Vidal that she would turn back to try and hit the islands
if it all went wrong.
''Earhart had stated to Gene Vidal, when asked what she would do if she could not find Howland: "I will turn back for the Gilbert Islands, find a place to put it down on the land, find a beach, or ditch close to shore."
In the first attempt she made in March 1937, the plan had been to leave Hawaii with 900 USG of fuel and fly to Howland Island, a distance of 1900 miles. Her contingency was the same..."the Gilberts". Now, that means that 900 USG was enough for the 1900 miles HAWAII-HOWLAND plus another 600 miles, HOW-GILBERTS. That means 2500 miles on 900 USG. For the LAE-HOW flight she carried 1100 USG which then, was enough for 2556 + 600 miles = 3156 miles, at "Cruise" power.
Why would she then, at the last minute, unsure of her position, change her mind and head for Gardner when she was unsure of her position, instead of heading for the North-South spread of the Gilberts which extends for some 500 miles and is difficult to miss ? You cannot navigate from an "unknown" position to another "known" position, you have no means of navigating. Heading for the Gilberts would in certainty gaurantee a landfall.
was it all rather jolly boys own stuff back then?
there is documentary and face-to face evidence of the ozzie patrols and their HQ reports plus a location map in new Britain of where the wreck thought to be her a/c was found in 1945, all of which is Dave billings's expeditions.
there is another threads going
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...ane-found.html
http://www.pprune.org/non-airline-tr...rts-again.html