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Author Topic: X16020  (Read 118090 times)

Ric Gillespie

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Re: X16020
« Reply #30 on: October 03, 2015, 07:22:38 AM »

Suppose you were able to get Purdue Univ. to host the event and invite Bendix, Western Electric, Goodrich, Goodyear, Pratt and Whitney, Lockheed, et al and associated aviation organizations e.g. AOPA, NBAA, ASTM, etc.  The purpose of which would be the last fund raiser to complete the “Round the World Flight” begun X years ago by conducting the final search.

You dream big Ted. Nothing wrong with that.   To get Purdue to do something like that I'd have to be the reincarnation of George Putnam. 
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Jerry Germann

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Re: X16020
« Reply #31 on: October 06, 2015, 06:42:28 PM »

Finding several  R 16020 photos out there,...

http://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/earhart/id/3606/rec/126

However; the X designation seems elusive.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2015, 01:48:19 PM by Jerry Germann »
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Ted G Campbell

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Re: X16020
« Reply #32 on: October 06, 2015, 07:29:11 PM »

Ric,

"Suppose you were able to get Purdue Univ. to host the event and invite Bendix, Western Electric, Goodrich, Goodyear, Pratt and Whitney, Lockheed, et al and associated aviation organizations e.g. AOPA, NBAA, ASTM, etc.  The purpose of which would be the last fund raiser to complete the “Round the World Flight” begun X years ago by conducting the final search."

"You dream big Ted. Nothing wrong with that.   To get Purdue to do something like that I'd have to be the reincarnation of George Putnam."
 
I find it hard to believe that Purdue would suggest such a thing!  When did you last propose such a meeting and what was their explicate response?

Ted Campbell
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: X16020
« Reply #33 on: October 07, 2015, 05:33:14 AM »

When did you last propose such a meeting and what was their explicate response?

I have never proposed such a meeting nor would I presume to. For Purdue to host such a meeting would be an implicit endorsement of the Niku hypothesis.  Can you imagine the reaction of Purdue students and alumni who are advocates of Crashed & sank or Japanese Capture?  The university has wisely not taken sides in the controversy surrounding Earhart's fate.
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: X16020
« Reply #34 on: October 08, 2015, 11:10:16 AM »

Okay, I think I have this sorted out and it's pretty interesting.  There seems to be one photograph of the airplane wearing X16020. It appeared years ago in the Letters section of an aviation magazine, I think it was Air Classics.  All I have is a crumby photocopy of a clipping.  See below.  The letter writer found the photo puzzling.
A newspaper clipper reproduced in Carol Osborne and Muriel Morrissey's book "Amelia My Courageous Sister" (attached) solves the mystery. The photo was taken at Alameda on August 3, 1936.
Through the documents, letters, photos, and clippings we have (so far) I've been able to assemble the following chronology.

Sunday, July 19, 1936
Lockheed completes the airplane and has it inspected. Lockheed applies for and is granted registration as X16020 but the airplane is apparently marked NR16020.

Tuesday, July 21, 1936
Earhart’s makes her first flight in the aircraft.  Lockheed test pilot Elmer McLeod is at the controls.
The press is invited and she poses for photos.  The aircraft is marked NR16020.

Earhart gives Lockheed a letter authorizing Paul Mantz to take delivery of the airplane on her behalf in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Friday, July 24, 1936
Lockheed conveys ownership of the Electra to Amelia Earhart in Las Vegas, Nevada (presumably via Mantz) for $10. (???)  A Nevada Notary notarizes the transaction. The document gives the airplane's registration number as NR16020 but the NR is written-over by hand with X.  No way to tell when the correction was made.

Monday, July 27, 1936
Lockheed notifies the Bureau of Air Commerce that Serial No. 1055 has been sold to Amelia Earhart and encloses an application for re-assignment of license number NR16020 "as executed by Miss Earhart." The application applies for registration in the Restricted category but many of the questions on the form are not answered and it says that NR16020 is the registration displayed on the aircraft.  The application is not granted.  The application is incomplete and the aircraft has not been approved for international flight so it cannot carry the N designation. 

Sunday, August 2, 1936
Earhart and McLeod fly the Electra to Mills Field, San Francisco. Until a new application can be submitted the airplane must carry the only registration number that has been approved, X16020.

Monday, August 3, 1936
Earhart and McLeod fly the Electra across the bay to Alameda to see Elmer Dimity’s big parachute and fog dispeller. This is apparently the only time the plane is photographed while displaying the X16020 registration.

Thursday, August 6, 1936
Earhart submits a new application. The registration displayed on the aircraft is listed as simply 16020.

Friday, August 7, 1936
The application is still not right and is stamped VOID. Corrections are made and the application is re-submitted There is a handwritten notation “see corrected application” and another in a different hand “OK 12 mos” with initials.   The application is approved.  Registration number is R16020.

   
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: X16020
« Reply #35 on: October 08, 2015, 11:13:00 AM »

Here's a larger version of the article.
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Jerry Germann

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Re: X16020
« Reply #36 on: October 13, 2015, 02:13:11 PM »

I noted photo credit given to Burl Burlingame ..looking up info on him , it seems he is a historian at the pacific aviation museum, his number is listed as; 1-808-695-2231. I wonder if he could be of any more help in acquiring a good X photo?

http://www.pacificaviationmuseum.org/aboutus/contact
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Jerry Germann

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Re: X16020
« Reply #37 on: October 14, 2015, 01:33:21 PM »

Mr Dimity , the parachute manufacturer sells autographed envelope at auction;

 http://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/13/arts/auctions.html
« Last Edit: October 14, 2015, 02:05:03 PM by Jerry Germann »
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Daniel R. Brown

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Re: X16020
« Reply #38 on: October 16, 2015, 02:17:40 PM »

Jerry, I agree that is a tantalizing lead but he couldn't possibly have been the photographer. I was unable to find any other photo credit for a Burl Burlingame in any California newspaper of the era in the on-line newspaper archives.

Dan Brown, #2408
« Last Edit: October 16, 2015, 02:20:40 PM by Daniel R. Brown »
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Jerry Germann

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Re: X16020
« Reply #39 on: October 16, 2015, 02:24:09 PM »

Jerry, I agree that is a tantalizing lead but he couldn't possibly have been the photographer. I was unable to find any other photo credit for a Burl Burlingame in any California newspaper of the era in the on-line newspaper archives.

Dan Brown, #2408
I don't know the date of this article, ....I was thinking more on the lines of copyright owner.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2015, 02:34:01 PM by Jerry Germann »
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Daniel R. Brown

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Re: X16020
« Reply #40 on: October 16, 2015, 02:36:04 PM »

Looks like a second photographer kneeling in the lower right corner of the photo, but I couldn't find other photos of the event in the on-line archives either. Still, a tantalizing lead.

Dan Brown, #2408
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Jerry Germann

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Re: X16020
« Reply #41 on: October 17, 2015, 11:23:38 AM »

Interesting site;   http://dmairfield.com/people/mcleod_ed/  ....I don't know if it has been referenced here before....log book of Mcleod, and details about testing the Earhart Electra.
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: X16020
« Reply #42 on: October 17, 2015, 12:36:55 PM »

Interesting site;   http://dmairfield.com/people/mcleod_ed/  ....I don't know if it has been referenced here before....log book of Mcleod, and details about testing the Earhart Electra.

Nice find!  Lots of new information there about the first days of X16020. 
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Andrew M McKenna

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Re: X16020
« Reply #43 on: October 17, 2015, 03:35:00 PM »

Interesting stuff.

Ric - Based upon the log book entries, it looks like you need to update your timeline, unless McLeod decided not to log the flights you mention on August 2 & 3.  Maybe he was only logging flights where he was PIC.

Andrew
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Ric Gillespie

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Re: X16020
« Reply #44 on: October 17, 2015, 04:51:58 PM »

Interesting stuff.

Ric - Based upon the log book entries, it looks like you need to update your timeline, unless McLeod decided not to log the flights you mention on August 2 & 3.  Maybe he was only logging flights where he was PIC.

Yes.  There's a lot going on there.
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