tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post5847091603519833911..comments2024-03-13T09:47:40.487+00:00Comments on Cockpit Conversation: Amelia Earhart: The Turbulent Life of an American IconAviatrixhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13634111275860140084noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-60052011835913856782011-06-21T04:02:47.844+00:002011-06-21T04:02:47.844+00:00Apologies - the above link doesn't work - go t...Apologies - the above link doesn't work - go to <a href="http://kathleenwinters.com" rel="nofollow">kathleenwinters.com</a>Claire Wintersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-17708013488655807832011-06-20T02:46:45.337+00:002011-06-20T02:46:45.337+00:00I'm the daughter of the late Kathleen Winters....I'm the daughter of the late Kathleen Winters. Thank you for bringing attention to this work. She so esteemed her fellow pilots and wanted to serve the community well. If you're interested in learning more about Kathleen's work and life, you can visit her website <a href="//kathleenwinters.com%22" rel="nofollow">click here</a>.Claire Wintersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-3178376746264931842011-02-18T06:31:44.981+00:002011-02-18T06:31:44.981+00:00It's unlikely the Smithsonian Air and Space mu...<i>It's unlikely the Smithsonian Air and Space museum would replace their Wright Brothers Flyer with a Richard Pearce replica.</i><br /><br />It's near impossible. The Wrights only allowed the Smithsonian to purchase the aircraft on the condition that "Neither the Smithsonian Institution or its successors, nor any museum or other agency, bureau or facilities administered for the United States of America by the Smithsonian Institution or its successors shall publish or permit to be displayed a statement or label in connection with or in respect of any aircraft model or design of earlier date than the Wright Aeroplane of 1903, claiming in effect that such aircraft was capable of carrying a man under its own power in controlled flight."Aviatrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13634111275860140084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-8012684294141406622011-02-18T04:23:34.967+00:002011-02-18T04:23:34.967+00:00@gmc: My point about Richard Pearse wasn't ...@gmc: My point about Richard Pearse wasn't that he was the first to fly controlled aircraft, but that the sheer weight of publicity would work against any cliam counter to the Wright Brothers. I was agreeing with Aviatrix's point about Amelia Earhart.<br /><br />I'm no historian either, and I wouldn't want to try to prove it one way or another. But just imagine this for the sake of argument: <br /><br />Suppose the claims of Pearse's advocates in the far South of New Zealand had really good proof that Pearce had managed controlled powered flight eight months before Kittyhawk. The history books and general perception about the origin of powered flight wouldnt change. It's unlikely the Smithsonian Air and Space museum would replace their Wright Brothers Flyer with a Richard Pearce replica.<br /><br />Pearce's problem was he did his tinkering with his flying contraptions at a time when it took 9 months for news to reach London, in a time when the only history that counted for anything was written in the northern hemisphere.Mike Kearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979170611372732818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-76288142958440514212011-02-18T03:06:19.916+00:002011-02-18T03:06:19.916+00:00I've always liked these verses from Amelia Ear...I've always liked these verses from Amelia Earhart:<br />"Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.<br />The soul that knows it not, knows no release<br />From little things;<br />Knows not the livid loneliness of fear,<br />Nor mountain heights where bitter joy can hear<br />The sound of wings."<br />I found it in Bartlett's quotations.Suehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11376251876216401358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-4791277290897730082011-02-17T09:40:12.302+00:002011-02-17T09:40:12.302+00:00@Mike Kear: Interesting item about Richard Pearse....@Mike Kear: Interesting item about Richard Pearse. I'm not an historian, but from what research I have done, and from reading about Mr. Pearse, I still think The Title rightfully belongs to the Wrights.<br /><br />While many experimentors of the day managed some sort of parially controlled flights, no one seems to have gone about analyzing and solving the intricacies of powered, three-axis, controllable flight as well as did Orville and Wilbur. (At least no one who left any detailed records of their work like the Wrights did). Furthermore the Wrights had to completely re-create the work done by Canute? with respect to the lift-drag tables for the airfoil they were using (the original data turned out to be wrong). To do this they invented a "wind tunnel" rigged to a bicycle that could take reasonably accurate L/D readings for various angles of attack.<br /><br />There's more to the story which one of the Wrights explains well in his booklet: "How We Invented the Aeroplane." This was produced as part of a law-suit against Curtiss who was using ailerons on his aircraft, which the Wrights claimed was just a fancy way of wing warping - for which they owned a patent.<br /><br />Interesting reading.gmchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09588569724644515868noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-49899658064818332192011-02-17T02:01:33.643+00:002011-02-17T02:01:33.643+00:00"I could have an aviatrix of the month and le..."I could have an aviatrix of the month and learn about all these ladies."<br />Perfect for your next list of resolutions! I would love (for you to do) this!<br />~DDeAnnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09476048474730678421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-29946561262794706932011-02-17T01:44:10.259+00:002011-02-17T01:44:10.259+00:00Many Australians do not realise that the Qantas Ai...Many Australians do not realise that the Qantas Airbus 380 that suffered the uncontained engine failure over Indonesia last year was named after on of our great aviatrix Nancy Bird Walton. She wanted to fly from when she was very young, and paid her own way. In her long career, often flying into rough strips in the bush, she never had a major incident. She was one of Kingsford-Smith's first pupils. She died in 2009 aged 93. She has been nominated as one of Australias National Treasures. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Bird_WaltonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-76739808661901253662011-02-16T22:57:47.957+00:002011-02-16T22:57:47.957+00:00This post is well done. Initially, I cringed when ...This post is well done. Initially, I cringed when I saw the title, but was fascinated with how you handled the subject. <br /><br />Very good!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-37473390306897752302011-02-16T21:26:01.561+00:002011-02-16T21:26:01.561+00:00The heated air serves another purpose: a filter by...The heated air serves another purpose: a filter bypass. If something has blocked the main filter it could well have blocked the carb heat air filter too, if there was one. On the motorcycle I'd guess given the choice between having your engine destroyed in an hour and having your engine quit now, you'd choose the latter. Most pilots would want the opposite.Aviatrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13634111275860140084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-11008501157070173482011-02-16T21:19:19.134+00:002011-02-16T21:19:19.134+00:00I can confirm that carb, icing is not the exclusiv...I can confirm that carb, icing is not the exclusive domain of aircraft. <br /><br /> I have had it occur both on motorcycles and cars....back in the days of my callow youth, it took some working out,to remember the school physics lessons, Mr Bernoulli, the "meat-safe" made of perforated-zinc, draped with a wetted lump of muslin.<br /><br /> slightly off-topic, "sophisticated" 60's cars had a dual-source air -inlet often mixed,(hot from around the exhaust-manifold, cold from ambient) by a bi-metal flap....the air was all filtered,the flap could not ever block the air-passage,- imagine my horror to find that piston-engined aircraft do not filter their hot air!<br /><br /> I appreciate that the air is a "lot" cleaner "up there", but I'd bet that filtering it is better for engine-life.<br /><br /> If you consider the lifespan of folk in the early 20th. century, they were probably pretty cavalier about risk,because the probability was that illness or disease would cause premature death anyway. Now, IMHO, the pendulum has swung too far and this young generation is frightened of it's own shadow.cockney.stevenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-52378651052393521102011-02-16T19:52:44.727+00:002011-02-16T19:52:44.727+00:00Joe: One person's technical details are appare...<b>Joe</b>: One person's technical details are apparently another person's lack. I wanted more, but realized that that was the book Winters chose to write and not a shortcoming. You've confirmed that be being happy with the level of technical detail.<br /><br /><b>John</b>: I hope the blog post got across that I share the sentiments of your last paragraph.<br /><br />I didn't keep a list of the mentions of other aviatrices all the way through. I probably missed more. If I were the sort who committed to regular blog features, I could have an aviatrix of the month and learn about all these ladies.Aviatrixhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13634111275860140084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-62284186163301924572011-02-16T17:05:03.091+00:002011-02-16T17:05:03.091+00:00You left out Pancho (Florence) Barnes from your li...You left out Pancho (Florence) Barnes from your list!<br /><br />I didn't know that Laura Ingalls was also an aviatrix. But then I looked her up: she flew over the Andes and around the circumference of both South and North America; she was jailed for being a German agent during WWII; she was not the one who wrote the Little House books(!). Someone should make a movie about her.<br /><br />Finally, it's not that Amelia Earhart wasn't worthy of the attention she garnered, she most assuredly was. It's that so many other women accomplished as much or more than her, but were pushed off stage by a press and public that wanted only one photogenic icon (Pancho would have never been picked for that role.) Also unfortunately, the writing of feminist history has served us poorly by perpetuating the myth that Earhart was the only female groundbreaker (airbreaker?) of her time.johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08344824510190345160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-73906547226902637372011-02-16T15:53:40.667+00:002011-02-16T15:53:40.667+00:00Hello. I cannot agree with you more regarding A. E...Hello. I cannot agree with you more regarding A. Earhart's overpublished reputation. I thought this book to be a very good oen and oen that went into technical details with regard to planning and equipment. I trust yoru opinion as to the icing, however. K. Winters held records with regard to soaring and I am sad to say she passed away recently. I too blog and mine is on aviation history -- it is entitled Travel for Aircraft and is at http://travelforaircraft.wordpress.com/. I found your blog through your review of this book and am glad to say that I did. Thanks, JoeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-36334432413178607862011-02-16T10:05:56.493+00:002011-02-16T10:05:56.493+00:00Publicity is often crucial in getting recognised. ...Publicity is often crucial in getting recognised. Thanks for this post. My mother who is now 90 and lives in New Zealand has always spoken with admiration about Jean Batten, the great NZ aviatrix. As you say, her achievements (and those of others) were overshadowed by the force of the publicity surrounding Amelia Earhart.<br /> <br />There is credible evidence that Orville and Wilbur Wright were beaten to the punch by at least two others. Richard Pearce had a contraption 8 months before the Wright Brothers flew at Kittyhawk, but the publicity machine didnt work for him. The locals thought him just a crackpot, and any attention from the rest of the population would only encourage him with his reckless flying machines. There is at least one of his machines dating 8 months prior to the Kittyhawk flight in the Auckland NZ Transport Museum. It has variable pitch propellors, moving control surface (as distinct from the Wright Brothers method of bending the wings). And he reportedly got it to fly under control for several miles, at several hundred feet altitude. <br /><br />But there is no chance of the world ever putting Pearce on the pedestal currently occupied by the Wright Brothers.Mike Kearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05979170611372732818noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10000144.post-41865643344012980452011-02-16T04:44:48.851+00:002011-02-16T04:44:48.851+00:00Interesting take on an early flyer. Some of the w...Interesting take on an early flyer. Some of the were truly their day's version of Evel Knievel...<br /><br />One of these days, I'll have to dig around for a good text on aviation safety as it's evolved...<br /><br />In teaching newbies, I always pay respect to those earlier fliers who got to 'discover' things like carb ice, airframe icing, aft CG, adverse yaw, mach tuck, retreating blade stall, etc. Perhaps the engineers could predict what was coming, or they had carb icing issues with cars... But I suspect that many things we now know were uncovered by the test pilots with a "What's it doing now?" moment, followed up on the ground with no evidence and disbelieving designers.<br /><br />Then again, these days we're on to the 7th year of design and testing on the JSF, and it still has issues. Ed Heinemann and Kelly Johnson would be shaking their heads.GPS_Directhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00900545332230106711noreply@blogger.com