She's no Chuck Yeager.....

[WILCO]

But I'm enjoying her story:

http://www.ameliaearhartproject.com/

[Jr.]

I read about this last night. I think it is pretty cool that she is following the footsteps of her namesake. Hope all goes well for her.

[Bad Water Bill]

Way the winds be always at your back young lady.

[rockrat]

Beautiful woman and beautiful plane she is flying.

[dtknowles]

Blah, now if she was making the trip in a Lockheed Electra.

Tim

[Bad Water Bill]

Blah, now if she was making the trip in a Lockheed Electra.

Tim

WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?

With all of the advancements in technology a much larger aircraft was lost somewhere in the Pacific back in March.

Untold millions have been spent using everything from satellite tracking sonar etc and lost in the Pacific has not changed in the last 70+ years.

If you go down there you are still in deep trouble no matter what you are using tor transportation.

It is still a very small plain in a very big ocean.

[richhodg66]

I recently watched a documentary about Robert Ballard locating the wreck of the PT-109. Seems if they could find something that small, they ought to be able to find that Lockheed Electra, but I guess they had a better idea of about where the PT-109 went down.

I wonder of they'll ever find anything that tells the real story of what happened to her?

[nagantguy]

That's pretty cool

[BruceB]

Back in the mid-'60s, I flew as a civilian spotter on a search for a missing airplane in the Northwest Territories. I even knew the pilot of the stray Beaver.

In those days, military aircraft were brought North for searches, and civilian volunteers were a major part of getting "eyes" into the search areas.

That particular aircraft was found.... FORTY YEARS LATER. It was on the brushy edge of one of the hundreds of thousands of lakes, and simply wasn't seen.

That was ON LAND, in an area that, although vast, is a small fraction of the size of the Pacific. Mother Nature is still "a mother", and she takes no prisoners and tells no tales. It's no surprise to me at all, that an aircraft can disappear without trace...... after all, I've personally seen it happen, and looked for it.

[waksupi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9KLJsvjPXM

I've played this one a lot over the years.

Bruce is right, spotting a plane down in the mountains or bush is hard to do.

[Bad Water Bill]

As someone who has answered the "MAN OVERBOARD" call even if only in the Med trying to find him was a hopeless task.

Just to many square miles of water out there to find anything as small as a plane or a bobbing head.

Yes that young lady is flying a better plane BUT the square miles of empty water has not changed.

Good luck and God speed young lady.

[WILCO]

Looks like she'll be flying over the Serengeti National Park.

[tja6435]

^What difference does it make? It's like saying you're going to travel the Oregon Trail in a self driving Google Pruis.

Now if she were to do make the flight non-stop, in a solar powdered plane/glider hybrid, alternative fuel aircraft, etc---at that point I'd be interested. As it is currently, it just seems like a publicity stunt to further her 'traffic reporter' career I've been subjected to on one of the local Denver television stations.

[Echo]

^What difference does it make? It's like saying you're going to travel the Oregon Trail in a self driving Google Pruis.

Now if she were to do make the flight non-stop, in a solar powdered plane/glider hybrid, alternative fuel aircraft, etc---at that point I'd be interested. As it is currently, it just seems like a publicity stunt to further her 'traffic reporter' career I've been subjected to on one of the local Denver television stations.
I'm with you, tja. Too much production for it NOT to be a publicity - well, not stunt, but - well, OK, Stunt. BFD... but Godspeed.

[WILCO]

^What difference does it make? It's like saying you're going to travel the Oregon Trail in a self driving Google Pruis.

Now if she were to do make the flight non-stop, in a solar powdered plane/glider hybrid, alternative fuel aircraft, etc---at that point I'd be interested. As it is currently, it just seems like a publicity stunt to further her 'traffic reporter' career I've been subjected to on one of the local Denver television stations.

If your not a fan, your not a fan. :groner:
I'm still enjoying her efforts. [smilie=s:

[oldred]

I wish her the best of luck but these guys are right it's basically just a stunt and comparing it to the original Earhart flight is comparing apples to rocks! Back in 1937 that Electra might as well have been navigating the back side of the moon, well maybe not quite that bad but not far from it, while this flight will be monitored every inch of the way and will have on-board electronics that will tell the pilot within yards of her true location at all times. When Amelia went down she was lost to what little contact she had and even they had only a vague idea of where she MIGHT be, if this plane suddenly lost all engine power rescuers would be on their way to the EXACT spot before she ever hit the water! Sure it's interesting but hardly amazing and little more than a publicity stunt that takes money to finance far more so than skill and bravery to pull off!

[Surculus]

^What difference does it make? It's like saying you're going to travel the Oregon Trail in a self driving Google Pruis.

Now if she were to do make the flight non-stop, in a solar powdered plane/glider hybrid, alternative fuel aircraft, etc---at that point I'd be interested. As it is currently, it just seems like a publicity stunt to further her 'traffic reporter' career I've been subjected to on one of the local Denver television stations.

Well, it may be a bit of a publicity stunt, but I still give her kudos: she's not doing it in an airliner like her forebear, but a single-engine private plane (iirc.) Just to jump over the bureaucratic hurdles and arrange fueling, etc. is a major logistical headache, so getting sponsors & publicity to make those sponsors' contributions pay off in advertising terms is just all part of the game.

I think it's cool that after growing up w/ the name she had, she's willing to finish the job that got her relative killed 80 years ago. Easy on the eyes, too. It's ALL good! ;D

[oldred]

That "single engine" plane is a modern Pilatus PC-12 turboprop outfitted with modern avionics and satellite global navigational gear and with a cruise speed of over 300 MPH along with an unmodified range of over 1500 miles! Comparing that to a clunky 1935 Lockheed Electra piston engine plane with a cruise speed of around 190 MPH and primitive avionics and vacuum tube radios having to navigate by the sun and stars is WORSE than comparing apples to rocks! That's like comparing a Lincoln Town car to a horse cart!

Of course it would be just plain reckless and silly to attempt such an undertaking under the same conditions as the original attempt and it would be just as reckless not to avail themselves of all the modern technology they now have available, which I am certain they will. Like I said before it's interesting in it's own right but trying to compare in any way to the original attempt is just ridiculous, this is a walk-in-the-park compared to the original attempt. It is what it is and that is nothing but a long over-water trip that, in this day and time given the plane and other resources she has, is nothing more than a stunt requiring neither unusual skills or bravado, just lots and lots of money!

[Surculus]

That "single engine" plane is a modern Pilatus PC-12 turboprop outfitted with modern avionics and satellite global navigational gear and with a cruise speed of over 300 MPH along with an unmodified range of over 1500 miles! Comparing that to a clunky 1935 Lockheed Electra piston engine plane with a cruise speed of around 190 MPH and primitive avionics and vacuum tube radios having to navigate by the sun and stars is WORSE than comparing apples to rocks! That's like comparing a Lincoln Town car to a horse cart!

Of course it would be just plain reckless and silly to attempt such an undertaking under the same conditions as the original attempt and it would be just as reckless not to avail themselves of all the modern technology they now have available, which I am certain they will. Like I said before it's interesting in it's own right but trying to compare in any way to the original attempt is just ridiculous, this is a walk-in-the-park compared to the original attempt. It is what it is and that is nothing but a long over-water trip that, in this day and time given the plane and other resources she has, is nothing more than a stunt requiring neither unusual skills or bravado, just lots and lots of money!

Didn't realize she was using a turbo-prop: that does relieve some of the "single-engine" concerns for long over-water legs. And yes, w/ modern sat-nav and electronic cockpits, she's under much less stress than flying w/ steam guages. Still, she is flying solo, not with a navigator/co-pilot who can take the stick when she's feeling tired [another whole human bean is qualitatively different from auto-pilot.] I guess the best thing I can say is that "it sounds like a fun trip" & that her utilizing her built-in publicity value due to her familial relationship with one of the last century's most well-known "missing persons" cases is a good thing for flying, which AFAIK, is suffering from the same "graying" demographics issues as motorcycling.

Why we're discussing this in a shooting forum, I have no idea! :D But wouldn't it be great if shooting had some modern-day equivalent to Annie Oakley to popularize [read "un-demonize"] our preferred pastime?

[oldred]

Still, she is flying solo, not with a navigator/co-pilot who can take the stick when she's feeling tired [another whole human bean is qualitatively different from auto-pilot.]


Nope not even that!!!!

She WILL have not only a co-pilot but one who is a long time CFI (certified flight instructor) and who has nearly 5000 hours of flight time in that aircraft type alone! This guy is not only a high time pilot in the type but is actually the demo pilot for Pilatus Business Aircraft in Broomfield, CO, I would hardly say she is flying alone!!!


The fact is she could be a pre-solo student and still it would be little more than an expensive stunt given all the particulars of this flight.

[SharpsShooter]

Yes, Amelia will fly in the left seat of the Pilatus PC-12 NG. Shane Jordan will fly right seat with Amelia, acting as co-pilot and co-adventurer.

Autopilot, satellite navigation, pressurized cockpit, continuous Internet connection and a copilot.

Whoop tee doo!

When she does it in the correct aircraft type, then I'll be impressed. Until then, she's just taking a flight around the world and somebody else is paying the bill.

SS

[oldred]

She will fly 17 "legs" of around 1400 miles average, it's done many times each day over water in a lot lesser aircraft than that! The fact is the only thing remarkable about this stunt is the fact of who she is, the rest is just a bunch of hype given the equipment and the aviation technology of today. It is not at all unlikely that she will encounter other aircraft along just about every leg of the route, in all likelihood she will probably encounter aircraft that fly some of these routes on a regular schedule and I would not be at all surprised that every stop will be on a paved runway with the aircraft hangered for the night. As much as some might want to believe this is some kind of big adventure the fact is it "just ain't 1937 anymore" and while traveling the Oregon trail, for example, was once a very hazardous and adventurous undertaking it is of course nothing in that respect today, except for the costs involved this flight is little more than that.

[WILCO]

I think it's cool that after growing up w/ the name she had, she's willing to finish the job that got her relative killed 80 years ago.

She's not related to her namesake, but she is an inspiration to others.

[oldred]

She's not related to her namesake, but she is an inspiration to others.


Didn't know that, I "assumed" she was a relative but since she's not that removes even more of the interest, at least for me.


I love flying and wish I could do it more often but unfortunately it has become pretty much for the wealthy and us "little folks" find it a very expensive luxury anymore. When I first began flying back in '73 I could rent the 172 Cessna at our local airport for $18 an hour "wet" (gas included) and the 1968 model 150 for $14 an hour "wet", wow have those days gone! I was lucky enough to have a good friend with a Piper Cherokee Six and a Hughes 300 Helicopter that I got to log some substantial (for me anyway) time in, at least the Cherokee but I never got to solo the Hughes. I think the most amazing REAL aviation adventure pulled off in recent years was the non-stop "round-the-world" trip by Dick Rutan and Jenna Yeager (no relation to chuck) from a few years ago, about the only thing left now is going to be space flight! Most anything else anymore is just going to be mostly hype but I sure wish I could afford to join in on some of this hype!

Like I said before, I wish this very pretty lady all the best and I hope this turns out to be even better than she hopes!