Apparently it was not a complete bust. The Cousteau Society has been operating the two rotor ship Alcyone since 1985. I suspect in the case of smaller mono-hull boats the rotor adds to the motion due to gyroscopic effects.
Having spent 40 years in engineering I will observe items become a commercial success or failure for more reasons than working well or not. Case in point Kelly Johnson measured significant improvement in fuel economy using the Cambridge Meter. It never seemed to catch on. Was that because Earhart didn't make it, or because the filters seemed to plug a lot, or because according to an article in a Darwin paper Noonan reported Earhart habitually burned 52 gallons per hour or because it used a leaner burn than Pratt and Whitney recommended? I strongly suspect a glittering endorsement form a successful Earhart could well have made the Cambridge Meter a must have item in all airplanes.
Oh well you give your best dress to someone famous who is going to walk the red carpet and take your chances Robert Irwin arriving in patched khakis will not draw more press coverage than your lack of coverage for the model.
Neff
The better mousetrap does not always win, for sure. Ask Lockheed (L-1011 comes to mind).
...52 GPH you say...
I wonder how well Noonan really knew of what he spoke, or how clearly he spoke that. It's pretty heavy. But to the point, who knows why not the Cambridge? Your reasons are probably as good as any possibility. I had a Cambridge lift/sink trend monitor in a Schweizer 126 that was pretty cool, but most folks didn't invest in that level of detail.
Odd thing is I never flew the thing myself and suspect had I done so, it would have trended a nice, slow descent for me, as did most smaller ships; preferred the endurance of a Blanik with a big wing as I was about 60 pounds heavier back then. In the smaller ships I was good for speed but not endurance. I mostly measured sink by my wrist watch - or altimeter, depending on conditions... some days being bladder-limited, others being thermal-limited.
So, the Cambridge gathered dust as a cool but unnecessary extra, as I look back. I guess I wasn't optimizing my flights any better than Earhart may have been.
52 GPH... ouch.