Reef Damage

[Richard Miller]

I recall reading that the reef shelf on Niku looks deceivingly smooth, when in fact it is comprised of deep crevasses and wide gashes.
If AE's plane actually would have landed on that shelf it would have crashed, rather than landed smoothly.
If that is the case, I am wondering if there are still tell-tale signs of the Electra's impact on the shelf. It's hard to imagine something of that size impacting the reef and not causing  a large depression or impact crater where it hit. Granted a lot of time has passed, but is it possible that the damage is still there?

[Ric Gillespie]

The reef flat where the available evidence suggests the plane was landed (just north of the shipwreck) is flat and smooth enough to permit a safe landing in a Lockheed 10 at low tide. The classic "spur and groove" features you refer to as "deep crevasses and wide gashes" are seaward of the area that dries at low tide.  If you watch the video that is now on the homepage of this website (www.tighar.org) you can see for yourself.  As far as any possible remaining scar in the reef surface goes, even if the plane had nosedived straight into the reef flat I doubt that there would leave a scar. The only scar I've seen on that reef is from the keel of the Norwich City - a 5,000 ton freighter - and the scar is only about two inches deep.

Ric Gillespie

[Norman Daly]

Wow. Very nicely done short film on Tighar and the search for AE! Reasoned, logical, and focused...I wish I were going on the 2010 trip!

Norm

[Ric Gillespie]

Thanks Norm. We're pretty proud of that film. Mark Smith and Stephanie Daniels of Oh Seven Films did a great job.

Ric

[Ric Gillespie]

Yes indeed!  Much more to come.

Ric

[Tim Collins]

Speeking of the film (which I've enjoyed several times now), I was quite taken by Ric's hat selections. Oh the possibilities there... Also impressed with his obvious talent for the squeeze box. FYI - should Tighar ever need a muic historian, I'm your guy!

Can't wait to see more footage from Niku.

All the best,

t

[Ric Gillespie]

Thanks Tim,

Hats-R-Us.  My favorite is the cork helmet, often mistakenly called a "pith helmet" (I, of course, also have a true pith helmet). All hats are too hot for Niku but you do need something to keep the sun off.  The cork helmet does that, plus it doesn't blow off in the wind and it provides protection from falling coconuts.  The latter may sound silly unless you've watched a five-pound coconut come down from a forty foot tree.  The biggest drawback to the cork helmet is the commentary from colleagues.

The squeeze box (concertina) is a lot of fun and it's less bulky than a guitar (which I couldn't play anyway).

In many ways these expeditions are, by necessity, a sort of 19th century enterprise and, for me, both the headgear and the music are a connection to that time.

Ric

[Alfred Hendrickson]

The TIGHAR film is great! I have seen it several times myself.

Was that aerial footage shot from the helicopter you encounter there some years back?

[Ted G Campbell]

Ric,
You need to find a Sponge helmet liner that will help keep your brain cooler.  Dip it in water and wa la!
Ted Campbell

[pilotart]

The TIGHAR film is great! I have seen it several times myself.

Was that aerial footage shot from the helicopter you encounter there some years back?

Absolutely LOVED That Video!  Especially the 'FINAL Approach' Shot coming over the Norwich City.
Only need to imagine a slightly lower tide to expect a successful 'Wheel' landing in a 'light' Lockheed 10E.

May you have the best of success on your Twenty-Ten Archeological Expedition!!! :-*

[Ric Gillespie]

Was that aerial footage shot from the helicopter you encounter there some years back?

Yes.  If you'd like to see the entire flight, both around the outer perimeter of the atoll and a low level trip around the lagoon shore, plus a short history of the island, "An Aerial Tour of Nikumaroro" is available on DVD from the TIGHAR Store at http://www.tighar.org/TIGHAR_Store/tigharstore2.html
Well worth the 50 bucks (TIGHAR member price).

Ric

[Ric Gillespie]

You need to find a Sponge helmet liner that will help keep your brain cooler.  Dip it in water and wa la!l

Good idea. The team are always telling me to go soak my head anyway.

Ric

[Rey Jude Barte Albarando]

Hello Ric,

This is my first post. Just wanna say that the video is excellent. Loved especially the 'reef landing'.
I'm a Filipino working as a missionary in Pakistan!... just to tell you that somebody is following TIGHAR (everyday!) even from there!

Jude

[Ric Gillespie]

Hey Jude!  (I'll bet you get that a lot.)

Thanks for your support. We're flattered.

Ric

[Tom Swearengen]

Ric--Just watched the video of TIGHARs search on Nikumaroro, GREAT video---really shows the amount of effort from you and the rest of the TIGHAR team.
The woman from Fiji suggests that she knows of the weckage "north" of the shipwreck. Would it be possible to suggest that storms and wave action either broke the plane up, or floated it off the reef into deep water? If that is the case, possibly there is some part of the plane embedded the ocean floor, or on the side of the slope leading to the reef. I believe that you are on the right track.
Tom

I recall reading that the reef shelf on Niku looks deceivingly smooth, when in fact it is comprised of deep crevasses and wide gashes.
If AE's plane actually would have landed on that shelf it would have crashed, rather than landed smoothly.
If that is the case, I am wondering if there are still tell-tale signs of the Electra's impact on the shelf. It's hard to imagine something of that size impacting the reef and not causing  a large depression or impact crater where it hit. Granted a lot of time has passed, but is it possible that the damage is still there?