Regarding artifact 2-2-V-1....As per the Al-clad lettering stamped in ink....the artifacts physical description state that the letters AD remain, on the convex/ rivet head bearing side
To be clear, no ink remains on the aluminum. What we see is the imprint of the letters etched onto the surface. Not sure why the etching occurred on only some of the letters.
....that said, can we conclude that if this panel was installed on the under belly or fuselage window opening , that this lettering would be visible looking upon the exterior of the plane?
Forget the "window opening." The rivet pattern is all wrong. The repaired skin was installed with the labeling on the exterior surface. No way to tell whether the ink of the labeling was then buffed off.
In 1937 the Electra had a value of roughly $80,000 dollars during the depression ...all photos give the appearance of it being a highly polished vessel.
They do? The attached photo shows the plane at Burbank on May 20, 1937 - the day after it came out of the repair shop, being loaded for the departure of the second attempt. I would call that normally shiny bare aluminum but not highly polished. The second photo shows the c/n 1015 Finch/Kammerer replica now at the Museum of Flight. That's what highly polished looks like. Earhart's Electra never looked that good.
During the reconstruction of the Electra after the Luke field incident, I came across photos of personal being shown x-raying the structural portions of the plane. To me it appears that quality and value was put into it's repair. With all this said, I wonder as to why lockheed or anyone ..(Miami) would place a panel in such fashion?
The quality of the repairs was governed by Lockheed and the Bureau of Air Commerce inspectors, not Earhart and Putnam. Official correspondence related to the repairs shows that it was a rush job. Earhart was pushing to get a new letter of authorization from the State Dept. to do the second attempt. On May 14, Putnam told the State Dept. the plane had been thoroughly repaired but the day before, the inspector in California said that it would take another ten days to complete repairs and inspections. In fact, the work was completed in five days.
It is my opinion ( though others may not agree) that any such repairs would have been buffed to like quality.....would Putnam and Earhart insist on this considering the electra's value? I don't know that answer.
The photos and documents provide the answer. The repairs were a rush job and cosmetics do not seem to have been a major concern. The skin in question may or may not have been buffed. No way to tell, and it doesn't matter. The presence of the etched A and D on the artifact could well have remained on a buffed surface.