Deserted Island, Castaways, Survival

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

This is the view from the same model of plane Lambrecht overflew gardner Island in. Notice how the forward view is obscured by engine+prop. If you followed the surf line around Gardner Island you wouldn't see what was directly in front of you. Your observer behind you would have a better view but again, not a forward view. Only by looking over the side of the plane would you see a plane wreck on the surf line but, if you are flying along the surf line whatever was on the surf line would be in front of, underneath or behind you. You would have a great view of the Island, scrub, trees, lagoon etc... IMHO there is a possibilty the plane on the reef was missed by looking for plane wreckage on land and, the limited visibility offered from the search planes flying along the surf line. Compare this view to that of the tour of Niku in the helio with the nice un-obstructed plexiglass panoramic views to the front.IMHO
http://youtu.be/DL9FGsvB3E8

[Irvine John Donald]

Jeff

Don't forget it was a 3 aircraft search party. That's 3 pilots and 3 observers. Lambrecht reported "signs of recent habitation". We don't know what he saw to make him report that. But he saw something. He buzzed the island, for what was later calculated somewhere in this forum, for 15 to 20 minutes. I believe one of the 6 would have seen a plane on the reef flat if it had been there to see. Perhaps not but the point is it wasn't just one plane.

[Heath Smith]

 I believe this was taken from Lambrecht's plane.

It seems that they would have been quite a bit off the coast to take the picture,  from around 400ft I believe (400ft decided after encounter with birds while searching a different island).

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

That's right Irv, there were 3 planes of the same type. I wondered if they were briefed to look for signs of airplane/wreckage on any of the islands they were tasked to overfly so, concentrated on the land, not the reef. They might have mistakenly assumed that the Gardner reef was always submerged in water, as it was when they overflew it? and, were unaware that at low tide it was comparitively dryish and inviting for a plane low on gas to put down so, didn't consider the possibility that there could be a plane mixed in with the surf? Just a possibility IMHO

[richie conroy]

if the shadow that the arrow points to at reef edge, was a plane it would explain why they didn't see it,

if it was high tide

[richie conroy]

its not like, it's just a strange anomaly  :)

[Heath Smith]

Richie, is that the original picture or a clipped version? Can you point me to the original? If the Norwich City was in the picture you might be able to make a guess at the scale.

There is also something interesting at the top left. Picture is inverted and and equalized run on it.

There is another similar object near the bottom of the image but that could be a shark or other large fish.

[richie conroy]

i said shark in a earlier post on Rov topic an was told it weren't

the picture is one that Ric posted page 59 of Rov topic so i think it may have been enhanced by phototec

have u noticed the thing sticking up just behind the plane like anomaly

 

[richie conroy]

i said shark in a earlier post on Rov topic an was told it weren't

the picture is one that Ric posted page 59 of Rov topic so i think it may have been enhanced by phototec

have u noticed the thing sticking up just behind the plane like anomaly

this is the pic that has been used i think

[Irvine John Donald]

Jeff H

I can only imagine that Lambrecht and the other searchers were overflying the islands specifically to look for a crash landed Electra. Pictures of AE's aircraft were plentiful so I am confident they had some idea of what they were looking for. Remember that the Colorado left from Pearl specifically to search for the Electra. Therefore, in a world without computers and faxes the Colorado likely got photos of the Electra while in Pearl Harbour. However this is supposition on my part as I have not seen any evidence to this effect.  Without a picture the searchers would have been looking on the islands for wreckage of any aircraft. The beaches and reef flats being as good a place to search as the body of the islands due to their nature as being a good place to crash land due to the sand, no trees, straight stretches and flat areas. The searchers would be flying far enough apart that the areas blocked in their respective fields of vision should be covered by another searcher.   I believe that the aircraft was likely gone from sight based on the post radio signals stopping on the Wednesday evening. No more signals and no sighting by searchers. BUT this doesn't confirm the fact the aircraft was gone. It justs points to the likelihood.

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

If the Norwich City was in the picture you might be able to make a guess at the scale.

Illustration by Pat Thrasher; copyright TIGHAR.  Context: "Landing on the Reef?"

[Heath Smith]

Thanks for the link. Using the length of the Norwich City at 397ft, I ended up with a 19.6ft measurement on the photo.

How wide was the Electra tail?

Thanks.

[Jeff Victor Hayden]

There's something sticking out of the water in the large red box, bottom right. There's light reflection from it as shown in Heaths inverted image, you can see the motion blur it created. Lot of odd stuff in that red box...

[Martin X. Moleski, SJ]

How wide was the Electra tail?

From the Ameliapedia article on the Electra:

[richie conroy]

thats what i pointed out jeff also in rov topic a while back maybe a photo error or sumthink  :)