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[Harbert William Davenport]

Congratulations, Ric, on the good news story on Discovery:

http://news.discovery.com/history/us-history/amelia-earharts-plane-discovered-in-odd-movie-cameo-160222.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Let's hope it generates additional interest and financial support!

[Jerry Germann]

I have been searching for contracts, documents, etc for the use of the plane by MGM but no luck so far....I wonder if any of those scale models would still be around? ..Humm with( Nacelle's painted same color as the Electra)...looked on several antique sites ( including ebay), but no success thus far, wonder if MGM can help?
If Mantz attempted to keep the Electra's use a secret from Earhart/Elliott, It doesn't appear like he attempted to remove the paint job it received for the movie, as it seems it was still in place when Earhart inspected it prior to the Bendix race. 

[Bob Smith]

Thanks Ric. Sounds like a Plan!

[Ric Gillespie]

It doesn't appear like he attempted to remove the paint job it received for the movie, as it seems it was still in place when Earhart inspected it prior to the Bendix race.

Ya know, I have a hunch the cowlings were painted in Purdue colors, black and gold, for Elliot's visit on the the 19th, not for the movie.

[Harbert William Davenport]

I have been searching for contracts, documents, etc for the use of the plane by MGM but no luck so far....I wonder if any of those scale models would still be around?

I've wondered the same things, about documentation and about the model(s), but have no ideas about how to search for them.  But MGM probably does have an Archives Dept...
   

If Mantz attempted to keep the Electra's use a secret from Earhart/Elliott, It doesn't appear like he attempted to remove the paint job it received for the movie, as it seems it was still in place when Earhart inspected it prior to the Bendix race. 

  Christian Santoir, the French reviewer who first spotted AE's Electra in the movie, wondered if the two-tone color scheme was actually black and gold, Purdue University's school colors.  Was it a coincidence that Purdue President Elliott's first viewing of the plane occurred at exactly this time?  But the fancy paint job apparently disappeared before AE parked her "Flying Laboratory" at Purdue for the month of October.  It's easy to surmise that  she may have decided that the decoration was a bit too indecorous for an expensive machine funded by the Purdue Research Foundation, ostensibly for the purposes of scientific research.  Another possibility is that the MGM paint job just did not last that long before fading or peeling off??

[Bob Smith]

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/HURL/
Although a little old, this story is interesting from HURL.

[Bob Smith]

Also, the article about the subs from HURL indicates they may have done some research in the vicinity of Howland and other islands. Is there anything of interest they might have?

[Monty Fowler]

Ya know, I have a hunch the cowlings were painted in Purdue colors, black and gold, for Elliot's visit on the the 19th, not for the movie.

That makes sense simply from the standpoint that it was a very small bone that Amelia could throw Purdue's way, since Purdue was on the hook for an awful lot of airplane with a very uncertain future. And it would have been a nice gesture.

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 EC

[Greg Daspit]

The lighter color (what would be the gold) hardly shows up.  For a black and white movie, why even paint it?

[Jerry Germann]

The lighter color (what would be the gold) hardly shows up.  For a black and white movie, why even paint it?

Greg; Here are some closer images of that paint job .....I think the paint scheme went from nacelles to leading edges of wings as well.

[Jerry Germann]

I wonder the source of the information on the Wiki page ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_on_the_Run_(1936_film) .... concerning the mantz applied fictional paint scheme.

[Monty Fowler]

The Discovery News story also points out that Niku IX is only a little more than a year away. Where do things stand as far as a budget, chartering, fundraising plans, etc.?

LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 EC

[Ric Gillespie]

The lighter color (what would be the gold) hardly shows up.  For a black and white movie, why even paint it?

Greg; Here are some closer images of that paint job .....I think the paint scheme went from nacelles to leading edges of wings as well.

Jerry, do you have a documented date for the first photo?  I see AE and GP, and that's Bo up on the wing. I don't recognize the other three guys.  I don't see Mantz. The little bit of striping on the nacelle suggests that this was taken during the time when the nacelles were painted.  The leading edges seem to have been painted from as early as August 3 (the X16020 photo). The sign on the hangar in the background may be a clue to where the photo was taken.

The AP caption goes with the second photo.  Where did you find the second photo?  I have it from the Larry Inman "Remeber Amelia" collection bit without the notation "prop covers"?  Those are not prop covers.  The back of the blades are simply painted flat black. 

[Ric Gillespie]

I wonder the source of the information on the Wiki page ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_on_the_Run_(1936_film) .... concerning the mantz applied fictional paint scheme.

The "fictional paint scheme" may refer to the altered registration number. That was probably done by the MGM art department, not Mantz (right Russ?).  I suspect that the Wiki article author was assuming that the painted cowlings were part of the set dressing for the film.  Painting the cowlings in Purdue colors for Elliott's visit makes more sense.

[Ric Gillespie]

The Discovery News story also points out that Niku IX is only a little more than a year away. Where do things stand as far as a budget, chartering, fundraising plans, etc.?

Still preliminary.