Print

[Monty Fowler]

As to the use of the world ALCLAD, I refer interested parties to the patent cited in my brief paper on rivet corrosion "The Case of the Vanishing Rivets."

Now, now, let's not go inserting irrefutable facts into the argument. That's not the way The Earhart Conspiracy Theory Industrial Complex operates. Why try to divert TECTIC's trajectory with things it can't explain away?

All kidding aside - I will go to my grave unable to understand the astonishing level of ill will, invective and outright viciousness that is regularly hurled at TIGHAR by TECTIC, in all its many forms. Some people just can't handle the truth, I guess.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP

[JNev]

Given TIGHAR's own experience with how the media gets things miscombobulated I think Gary deserves the benefit of the doubt here.

...My guess is Gary's remarks were meant to reflect the dating of the "ALCLAD" font rather than Alclad's origin. Although I disagree with him I always appreciated what he added to the forum and I do miss his knowledge and wit.

First of all, I'm not trying to put words in Gary's mouth, or even to give him a hard time - but the article says what it says, and that's what I have to deal with if I choose to address it.

That said, his comment rang a bell from the past - ...

But, you be the judge.

Huh?   

Huh? 

What did I miss, James?

Granted, it is not easy to address the ambiguities of another...

[Ron Lyons]

You didn't miss anyting Jeffrey, I'll bet James was just commenting on how your dissection was so 'deep in the weeds' that it's hard to keep it all straight!  I think I went a little crosseyed trying to understand it.

It's so fascinating how something so minor (literally, a small letter stamped on a piece of metal) can be such a major puzzle piece... and can generate so much heated discussion on both sides of an issue, and it goes on for years without being completely resolved. 

Was that stuff rolled on at the factory, or did some guy have a big rubber stamp that he slapped on each piece several times?  I wonder if he knew how important his bottom-of-the-totem-pole job would end up being 80 years later?

[Bessel P Sybesma]

One avenue of investigation that might provide us with some more clues, that I have not yet seen raised here, is to see what other repair work has been done in Miami in the period leading up to, and shortly after, the installation of the patch.

Logically, the patch was made from stock material available at that location, so obviously, repairs made around the same time period to other aircraft would have used the same stock.

I understand there are no formal records relating to the installation of the patch, but surely there must exist some records of general maintenance and repair work done at that airfield?

It might be worthwhile trying to find records of other airframes repaired there, photographs etc., to see if we can find similarly labelled pieces of ALCLAD.

[JNev]

Ron - weeds - LOL!!!

Well, if my head's not in the weeds on this half the time, hmmm... 

[Monty Fowler]

Bessel - some of the archives and records in Florida have been checked, including the PanAm archives held by the University of Miami and one private collection. Nothing substantive about Amelia Earhart or her stay in Miami was found beyond newspaper clippings; disappointingly, it was noted anecdotally in the PanAm archives that a great deal of material was purged in the 1950s.

The new Miami photo was also found in the University of Miami archives, after someone sent TIGHAR a query about it. Is there more stuff there? I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that there is - this new Miami photo may be the clincher for 2-2-V-1, and NOBODY really knew about it for the past 70-plus years.

It's all about, a) Knowing where to look, and b) Finding someone who has the time to look. The internet is a marvelous thing, but ... there's really no substitute for boots on the ground, and TIGHAR's boots are constantly stretched wayyyyy to thin to cover every possibility. If you fancy a trip to Miami, I'd be happy to join you, seeing as how it's snowing outside my window as we speak 

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 ECSP
 

[Bill Mangus]

Monty, count me in!  It's positively ugly outside right now.

[JNev]

...you guys have me thinking about 'early retirement' - not bad weather here, just looking at vested time... Miami sounds nice, cool crab houses for evening eats.

Seriously, the web is fascinating - and far shorter on a lot of details I am finding.  Of course everything we see on the web means someone put 'boots on the ground' to find and put it there, one way or another.  The latest round of photos wouldn't have come to the web without precisely that.  Here's hoping some new detail emerges...

[James G. Stoveken]

I'll bet James was just commenting on how your dissection was so 'deep in the weeds' that it's hard to keep it all straight!  I think I went a little crosseyed trying to understand it.

Thanks Ron.  I'm glad it wasn't just me.  I can usually follow Jeff's self-acknowledged "bloviation" but this time I kept getting lost about halfway through. Those damn weeds...   

[JNev]

I'll bet James was just commenting on how your dissection was so 'deep in the weeds' that it's hard to keep it all straight!  I think I went a little crosseyed trying to understand it.

Thanks Ron.  I'm glad it wasn't just me.  I can usually follow Jeff's self-acknowledged "bloviation" but this time I kept getting lost about halfway through. Those damn weeds... 

LOL!!!  Point well made, and taken!!!

[Ron Lyons]

Jeff, take it more as an acknowledgement of our shortcomings and not yours   Carry on!

[JNev]

Oh, how I DO carry on, for sure!  My pleasure, of course!

[Jennifer Hubbard]

One avenue of investigation that might provide us with some more clues, that I have not yet seen raised here, is to see what other repair work has been done in Miami in the period leading up to, and shortly after, the installation of the patch.

Logically, the patch was made from stock material available at that location, so obviously, repairs made around the same time period to other aircraft would have used the same stock.

I understand there are no formal records relating to the installation of the patch, but surely there must exist some records of general maintenance and repair work done at that airfield?

It might be worthwhile trying to find records of other airframes repaired there, photographs etc., to see if we can find similarly labelled pieces of ALCLAD.

I think what Bessel is talking about here is not AE's aircraft, but other aircraft repaired in Miami around that time. Saying maybe the same stock used for the patch was also used on other aircraft; maybe the workmanship is similar. If any such documentation or actual planes survive, then they could shed more light, indirectly, on the patch. Ideally, they could at least prove conclusively what kind of Alclad with what kind of font was available at that time and place.

[Bessel P Sybesma]

One avenue of investigation that might provide us with some more clues, that I have not yet seen raised here, is to see what other repair work has been done in Miami in the period leading up to, and shortly after, the installation of the patch.

Logically, the patch was made from stock material available at that location, so obviously, repairs made around the same time period to other aircraft would have used the same stock.

I understand there are no formal records relating to the installation of the patch, but surely there must exist some records of general maintenance and repair work done at that airfield?

It might be worthwhile trying to find records of other airframes repaired there, photographs etc., to see if we can find similarly labelled pieces of ALCLAD.

I think what Bessel is talking about here is not AE's aircraft, but other aircraft repaired in Miami around that time. Saying maybe the same stock used for the patch was also used on other aircraft; maybe the workmanship is similar. If any such documentation or actual planes survive, then they could shed more light, indirectly, on the patch. Ideally, they could at least prove conclusively what kind of Alclad with what kind of font was available at that time and place.

Exactly!

[Dale O. Beethe]

It would seem like a very long shot, but it could prove invaluable if aluminum (with the same font) used to repair another aircraft at around the same place and time matched this piece.  I don't know where you'd even begin to look, though.