Since my previous post,
http://tighar.org/smf/index.php/topic,1426.msg30451.html#msg30451 , seems to have struck a chord of interest I'd like to take a few minutes to expand upon the scenario I presented and at the same time address some of the responses to it. "If you give a mouse a cookie...".
I have no background in metallurgy, aviation or historical research. At best, I have some knowledge in several areas of photography having been professionally employed in such for about 40 years. So pretty much all of my projections are based on entries I read on this forum, which I have hopefully remembered and applied correctly.
I am not trying to make up some grand new vision of what might or might not have occurred. I am trying to stay within the framework of supposition and fact already presented. It is after all, a puzzle still. One piece fits the another only when placed in the correct orientation.
I don't see 2-2-V-1 as having been used for cooking, primarily because of the illustration Ric provided in Reply 450. James Champion reply,
http://tighar.org/smf/index.php/topic,1426.msg30453.html#msg30453 , makes a good point that the outer edges of a cooking surface would get hotter than the area directly below the foodstuffs. But I offer a couple of counterpoints:
--The food also acts as a heatsink and would introduce some limitation in spread of heat.
--How would an islander of little means and even less possession build a fire to cook on?
--On Gardner Island, was the cooking done communally or individually?
--How do you handle a sheet of hot metal?
Traditionally a rock lined pit is used in many, if not most, South Seas cultures. The rocks were heated by a fire. (Whole, drained coconuts are often used as a coal.) After the flame self-extinguishes, food wrapped in leaves is layered on top of the rocks/coals and then the entire pit may be covered with sand or more leaves. If 2-2-V-1 were used in this fashion, either as a bottom sheet or top cover, the heating would have been fairly consistent across the entire dimension. Cooking in this manner could also be the reason no signs of scraping seem to be present on 2-2-V-1. (see Greg Daspit Reply
http://tighar.org/smf/index.php/topic,1426.msg30457.html#msg30457 )
Alternatively, a fire pit could be built and 2-2-V-1 was suspended in some manner above the heat source and used as a cooking tray, the food being placed directly on the metal. In this fashion, as James Champion suggests the outer edge could become substantially hotter. But then, why did only one edge of 2-2-V-1 lose ductility? To account for this 2-2-V-1 might have originally been scavenged and used in a much larger size, or, a more complex "oven" built that only allowed a smaller portion of the metal to reach temperatures high enough to effect ductility. Both of these ideas represent substantially more complex scenarios. As a side note, a wood fueled fire (according to sources easily found on the inter-web) reaches temperatures of 575f to 1100f (300c - 600 c). Now assuming that 2-2-V-1 was used in one way or another as a cooking surface over a direct flame and assuming further that I am the guy doing the cooking, I am not about to touch, much less remove, a flaming hot sheet of metal from a fire after I serve the food... I'm going to leave that sucker there and the let the fire "wash" the dishes for me. And now, after only a few minutes the entire sheet of metal reaches a consistent temperature.
But ultimately, how much does it matter if it was used for cooking? Of more importance is how was it introduced to a tiny speck of an island in the South Seas and how did it's present condition come about --torn, bent, flexed, heated and subjected to explosive force?
Based on the ideas and theories presented by TIGHAR I see the following as being worth at least a little consideration. Earhart and Noonan land on Gardner during a low tide cycle. The aircraft may be stuck in the reef, it may be crippled in other ways, in any event, it wasn't going to leave. Enough fuel remains to run an engine and keep the Electra's batteries charged sufficiently to allow radio distress calls. Eventually the rising tides eliminate this avenue of communication when the water levels prevent the use of the motor. Were it me, I would have then used every amp of remaining electricity in the batteries to make final, radio mayday calls.
Earhart seems to have a been a practical person, some might say to a fault. The Electra is now, for all extents and purposes, worthless. It provides no shelter and anything that can be easily be removed with tools no more complex than a pocket knife, and the necessary strength to use it, have been excised. How else can you use it?
With each high tide cycle the aircraft is battered and will soon disappear. Will anything remain in pieces large enough to be seen by rescuers? And that's why I think she may have tried to burn it, one final use. I have no idea how she would have started a fire on the aircraft and I was no Boy Scout, but I'm sure there were several potential sources of ignition and tinder within the aircraft's hulk available to her.
But perhaps fate had still more bad intent for her. If she had been able to start a burn, how long would it last? Jeff Victor Hayden mentions the batteries,
http://tighar.org/smf/index.php/topic,1426.msg30465.html#msg30465 , implying (I believe) the potential for fire and explosion. Even if the radio was used for as long as possible, there would still be a substantial store of electricity remaining. The batteries aren't dead, they just no longer provide enough juice to power the radio. How much fuel might remain in the tanks? How long would it take for a fire to reach and react with the batteries or the remaining fuel and what might happen when it did? Was the overall condition and position of the Electra's main frame such that it was lying or tipped on it's side in a flooded orientation partially exposing the area 2-2-V-1 is thought to belong?
I think it possible that an unexpected explosion occurred as a result of trying to set a signal fire. The fire may have may have been short lived but long enough to affect the portion of 2-2-V-1 above water. An explosion may have snuffed the fire as well as further fragmenting and perhaps separating portions of the Electra's structure and causing some of the stresses observed on 2-2-V-1 . Was it not suggested that Richie's Anomaly shows a potential debris field that was dragged behind the main object (thought to be the size of the Electra's fuselage)? It would be interesting to know if the area in the photo posted by Ric,
http://tighar.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1426.0;attach=7398;image , showing the loss of ductility is as sharply defined as the illustration indicates as I fail to see how a camp fire could be so resolved.
I've gone on long enough. My apologies if I have taken too much "what-if" license, as well as for being too verbose.
Cheers, d.a.
edited 3/9/14 to include links