The identification got an unexpected boost when Jeff Glickman noticed an indentation in the artifact that suggests the presence of a stiffener running vertically behind, but not riveted to, the metal sheet.

One edge of the artifact failed from metal fatigue after cycling back and forth against a rigid underlying structure. If the artifact is positioned in the overlay with that edge against the known underlying structure to which the window had been riveted, the implied vertical stiffener corresponds exactly with the standard Electra vertical stiffener at Fuselage Station 307. 

This new correlation between the artifact and the Electra prompted further investigation that revealed a possible explanation for why the window was replaced.

The photo below was taken in January or early February 1937 shortly after a special window was installed in the starboard-side of the lavatory compartment.

The Miami Herald photo of Amelia with her husband’s daughter-in-law Nilla Putnam (left) was taken on Saturday, May 29, 1937. It was on this day that Earhart announced that she had begun her second world flight attempt, reversing her course to west-to-east. When she departed for Puerto Rico early on the morning of June 1st the window was gone, replaced with a shiny new aluminum patch.

On May 29th the special window was still in place but false color analysis of the photo shows skin separation at the lower part of the weakened area – possibly caused, or made worse, by Earhart’s hard landing upon arrival in Miami a week earlier.

It now appears that the replacement of the window with a patch was a last minute attempt to restore the structural integrity of the aircraft after the hard landing in Miami revealed the weakness in the fuselage.

The structure of the patch, as implied by the features visible on 2-2-V-1, re-connected stringers to restore longitudinal strength. Stiffeners were added to prevent “oil-canning” of the patch, and the vertical stiffener at Station 307 was re-installed to restore circumferential strength. The vertical stiffener was not riveted, possibly because there was no need, or perhaps they simply ran out of time.

As compelling as all this may seem, there is more we need to do before we draw any firm conclusions. 

Hyperspectral imaging is an expensive but potentially revealing analytical tool. The human eye and conventional color photography see visible light in three bands – red, blue, and green. Spectral Imaging divides light into many more bands including some beyond the visual range. Hyperspectral imaging covers a broad range of light wavelengths and makes it possible to identify specific materials and substances based on their unique light signature. The Surface Optics SOC710-VP is the only portable hyperspectral camera capable of imaging 128 wavelengths. The company agreed to rent us a unit at a discounted price and the TIGHAR membership responded with donations that made it possible to do the work.

In two long days Jeff was successful in acquiring hyperspectral data on 2-2-V-1 and dozens of other artifacts collected from Nikumaroro. The data will take time to process and we have no way of knowing what we’ll find but we’re confident that we’ll know much more than we know now.

The likelihood that 2-2-V-1 is a broken-out section of the Miami Patch raises many questions about how it came to be broken out, how it came to end up where we found it, and what clues it may give us about what happened to the rest of the airplane.

This is an exciting time. There is much more to do but with your help the answers are coming.