TIGHAR

Amelia Earhart Search Forum => The Islands: Expeditions, Facts, Castaway, Finds and Environs => Topic started by: Ted G Campbell on April 06, 2010, 07:09:16 PM

Title: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ted G Campbell on April 06, 2010, 07:09:16 PM
Ric,

I know that you have to be very busy today getting ready for the trip back to Niku.

But, could you give us ( the contributors to the expedition) a sense of what you are going through?

I think it would give us a sense of ownership of what you are about to do.

Thanks,
Ted Campbell 
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ric Gillespie on April 07, 2010, 01:54:55 PM
"But, could you give us ( the contributors to the expedition) a sense of what you are going through?"

Well, let's see .. today I'm:
- Coordinating the shipping of the Ground Penetrating Radar which will need to be in Samoa to meet the second boat on June 2.
- Juggling airline schedules to figure out how to get our Advance Team to Samoa about two days before the rest of us get there.
- Ordering scanned imagery from Oxford University in England which may help us evaluate what could be a major discovery in an old photo of Nikumaroro.
- Coordinating with FedEx on sponsorship of the expedition's shipping needs.
- Reviewing and negotiating the final details of a major media deal for coverage of the expedition (this has been going on since October).
- Adding scuba diving capability to the expedition due to the increased possibility that we'll have shallow water targets to check out.
- Reviewing new research results on the post-loss radio signals.

This has been a fairly slow day.
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: John Joseph Barrett on April 16, 2010, 10:52:32 AM
Ric,  Not to put the cart before the horse but when this mystery is solved, as it will be, if not on this trip then on a future one, what is next? I would guess that funding would probably materialize from somewhere to recover as much of the plane as possible, search for human remains, etc., but what about Tighar? Any more unsolved mysteries waiting in the wings? I would think that solving the Earhart riddle in a logical and scientific manner would hopefully open other avenues of funding and support for further Tighar projects. Actually solving this one would be almost anticlimatic if there are no more mysteries. Just wondering.  LTM
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Martin X. Moleski, SJ on April 16, 2010, 11:28:29 AM
... what is next? ...
If you look down at the bottom of this page (and every page on the Forum), you'll see a lineup of icons that deal with TIGHAR's projects.

You can click on any of the icons to get a description of that project.

The Maid of Harlech (https://tighar.org/Projects/P38/welshlightning.htm) and To Save a Devastator (https://tighar.org/Projects/Devastator/tosave.htm) are probably the most active projects that TIGHAR has been working on in addition to The Earhart Project (https://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/AEdescr.html).
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ric Gillespie on April 16, 2010, 11:36:47 AM
We have plenty of other irons in the fire - the Devastator Project (http://tighar.org/Projects/Devastator/tosave.htm), the Maid of Harlech (http://tighar.org/Projects/P38/welshlightning.htm), and I'd really, really like to find the White Bird (http://tighar.org/Projects/PMG/PMG.html).
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Monty Fowler on May 02, 2010, 08:48:01 AM
Yes, the White Bird - if for no other reason  that it doesn't involve flying halfway around the globe!
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ted G Campbell on May 04, 2010, 07:27:46 PM
Ric,

This is a repeat of an earler post but now that the time is getting short would you please give us a responce?
Ted Campbell

"I know that you have to be very busy today getting ready for the trip back to Niku.

But, could you give us ( the contributors to the expedition) a sense of what you are going through?

I think it would give us a sense of ownership of what you are about to do."

Thanks,
Ted Campbell 
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ric Gillespie on May 04, 2010, 09:12:43 PM
You're right.  Time is getting short and i am terribly busy getting ready for the trip.  In two days all of the expedition gear has to be ready to be shipped to Samoa so that it will be there for us to collect and load aboard Nai'a when we arrive on the 19th.  There are roughly twenty crates being shipped from TIGHAR HQ in Delaware, another twenty or so being shipped from KRN Aviation Services in Arizona, and another 15 crates of underwater search technology being sent from SeaBotix in Washington.  Making sure we have everything we'll need and knowing what crate it's in and making sure it's properly packed and labeled is pretty important.
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Andrew M McKenna on May 06, 2010, 10:13:39 PM
Ted

While Ric is orchestrating things on a grand scale - the rest of us worker bees are trying to prepare not only our own gear, but also parts of the expedition we've been assigned on behalf of the whole team.  

Each of us has a recommended list of gear to put together that includes everything from 4 inch Marshalltown masonry trowel for digging at the 7 site, to batteries, GPS, camera, machete, file, hats, tape measure, reef shoes, hiking boots, shirts, pants, shorts, swim suits, meds, Satellite phone, etc etc.  Things like the manual to my camera or GPS are important to remember since I won't be able to google it from Niku.

On behalf of the team, I've been tasked with sourcing hand held marine band radios, radio base station, antennae & wire, lopper parts, dive regulators for the loppers, hose, fittings, camp table, and swim ring floaties we use in the lagoon as markers.  I've been able to get Cobra to donate some of the radios, EDAK to donate some aluminum crates for our gear, and Digital Globe to donate the 2009 satellite image of Niku, so there is some missionary work going on as well.

Other folks are sourcing the chain saws, hand saws,pruning tools (all 3 donated by Fiskars), loppers, poles, screens for sorting the stuff we dig up, the kite gear, shade canopies, metal detectors, shovels, buckets, gloves, knee pads, rakes, flags, plastic bags, tarps, parachord, etc etc.  The list goes on and on.

There are a lot of little things to think about so that we don't get caught short out there. The Home Depot is a long way from Niku.  

Thankfully, the Naia is provisioning the ship and providing the meals so we don't have to try to organize that.  And the Naia brings the Fiji Bitters that makes a sweaty day of hard work end with a smile.

Andrew
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ashley Such on May 07, 2010, 01:38:19 PM
 
Each of us has a recommended list of gear to put together that includes everything from 4 inch Marshalltown masonry trowel for digging at the 7 site, to batteries, GPS, camera, machete, file, hats, tape measure, reef shoes, hiking boots, shirts, pants, shorts, swim suits, meds, Satellite phone, etc etc.  Things like the manual to my camera or GPS are important to remember since I won't be able to google it from Niku.

On behalf of the team, I've been tasked with sourcing hand held marine band radios, radio base station, antennae & wire, lopper parts, dive regulators for the loppers, hose, fittings, camp table, and swim ring floaties we use in the lagoon as markers.  I've been able to get Cobra to donate some of the radios, EDAK to donate some aluminum crates for our gear, and Digital Globe to donate the 2009 satellite image of Niku, so there is some missionary work going on as well.

Other folks are sourcing the chain saws, hand saws,pruning tools (all 3 donated by Fiskars), loppers, poles, screens for sorting the stuff we dig up, the kite gear, shade canopies, metal detectors, shovels, buckets, gloves, knee pads, rakes, flags, plastic bags, tarps, parachord, etc etc.  The list goes on and on.

There are a lot of little things to think about so that we don't get caught short out there. The Home Depot is a long way from Niku.  

Thankfully, the Naia is provisioning the ship and providing the meals so we don't have to try to organize that.  And the Naia brings the Fiji Bitters that makes a sweaty day of hard work end with a smile.



Sounds like a good plan! Good luck to each and every one of you! Especially Ric! Let's hope this trip is the trip that'll fully solve Earhart's fateful mystery.
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ted G Campbell on May 07, 2010, 06:59:30 PM
See, this is exactly what I expected.  Such an expedition would involve the little things that most of us wouldn't think of.  It’s not just a bunch of guys and gals going off to a far away Pacific Island to poke around on the beach.

The response to my question gives us – those that contribute but can’t be there- a sense of what it takes to launch a program such as what TIGAR has in mind.  This project is a serious attempt to uncover the real truth of what happened to AE/FN on that fatal flight.

Those who have come to conclusions basis hypothetical what ifs, the most likely outcome, what else could have happened, etc. need to watch TIGAR and its methods regarding the solving of problems that have a logical explanation of the facts available to those who seek them out.

That is why I give to the program and I urge others to do the same.  Every little bit helps – the cost of a “ hat, file, etc.” – adds to the overall project cost.

Ted Campbell
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ashley Such on May 11, 2010, 04:48:21 PM
Ric,

Are you going to have the news do a cover story of this expedition? Or no?
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ric Gillespie on May 11, 2010, 04:55:31 PM
There will be daily reports on the expedition posted on the TIGHAR website.  For the "dailies" from the 2007 trip click here (http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/dailies3.html).
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ashley Such on May 11, 2010, 04:58:24 PM
There will be daily reports on the expedition posted on the TIGHAR website.  For the "dailies" from the 2007 trip click here (http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Expeditions/NikuV/dailies3.html).

Ric,

Ah, gotcha. So, no tv news coverage, newspaper coverage, etc.? Cause, it would be cool to promote the expedition that way (for those out in the USA or wherever that are interested in Earhart's disappearance)... My opinion, though.
Title: Re: Up Coming Expedition
Post by: Ric Gillespie on May 11, 2010, 05:06:44 PM
We haven't hyped the departure because, frankly, doing newspaper, radio and television interviews takes up time that we need for expedition preparations.  We have reached an agreement with a major broadcast network (who would prefer to remain unnamed for the moment) and the expedition will be filmed for a planned two-hour special that will air nationally later this year.