My impression is that AE tried to control the aircraft by tweaking the throttles instead of being swift and decisive on the rudder........
I've been reading - trying to figger out how you got that impression.
Ric presented this quotation to the Forum in 1999: "Mantz certainly didn't shoulder any blame for the Luke Field wreck when he talked to his biographer Don Dwiggins (
Hollywood Pilot, Doubleday, 1967), He blamed AE's throttle-jockeying on takeoff, a dangerous practice which he had often warned her about. As he put it "She didn't listen to Papa."
Asynchronous thrust is a great help with turns when taxiing in close quarters, when the rudders are ineffective. Once the tail comes up, the rudders gain authority--and it's time to use them.
My understanding is that she was taking off on wet psp. Slippery stuff. Real slippery.
I used to think that was the case, but the review board said that was not an issue. See references in the
wiki article.
My impression is that she tried to correct with the yoke. At least that would explain the eye witness account of the accident. She probably would not have ground looped had she provided some right rudder before lift off. I'll have to search and try to find her accident interview.
The review board says there was no accident interview.
Part of
their finding reads: "On reaching the end at the at Miss Earhart turned and after a brief delay opened both throttles. As the airplane gathered speed it swung slightly to the right. Miss Earhart corrected this tendency by throttling the left hand motor. The airplane then began to swing to the left with increasing speed, characteristic of a ground-loop. It tilted outward, right wing low and for 50 or 60 feet was supported on the right wheel only. The right-hand landing-gear suddenly collapsed under this excessive load followed by the left. The airplane spun sharply to the left sliding on its belly amid a shower of sparks from the mat and came to rest headed about 200 degrees from its initial course."
Nevertheless, I will respectfully disagree that she was "capable" of a decent landing on the reef. There's a whole bunch of difference between landing on a prepared field and setting down safely on an unknown surface - and I still think she should not have been flying outside her comfort zone - she was not that capable a pilot.
Once she left Miami, every airport she went to was "an unknown surface." Off-airport landings were not uncommon during her career (1921-1937). I think she could have made the landing without too much difficulty.
I hope that, once the Electra is located, a determination may be made as to a gear up or gear down landing.
It would take great luck to be able to determine that. You'd need a pretty intact wing.
And Marty - thank you for your reply. And links. And patience with this new comer.
You're welcome.