Amelia Earhart Page 6

  No one doubted Noonan’s abilities as a navigator. In truth, he was famous, almost legendary, among navigators for his pioneering Pan American Airways work and was regarded as the most accomplished aerial navigator in the world. He soon earned a reputation as being competent with the complexities of celestial navigation and in a short time was regarded as one of the most experienced navigators in the world—when he was sober. Though never noted in his military and professional records, it was well known that Noonan had a drinking problem.

  In spite of his numerous and documented successes at Pan Am, the “official” story was that he resigned from the company after seven years. Another version of his departure from Pan Am, and likely the true one, had to do with Noonan’s well-known drinking problem; the company was forced to let him go. According to author Vincent Loomis, “No one in the aviation industry would touch him . . . because of his addiction to alcohol.” As it happened, Noonan was living in Oakland as Earhart and her team were preparing for the flight around the world.

  At one time or another, Putnam, Mantz, and Earhart all expressed some dissatisfaction with the navigational abilities of Manning. William Miller of the Bureau of Air Commerce asked Putnam how the Oakland-to-Honolulu flight had gone, and Putnam commented on concerns relative to Manning’s navigational problems. Miller told Putnam about Noonan, praised him highly, and suggested that he could set up a meeting between the two men. A conference was arranged a few days later, and by the time it was concluded, Noonan had agreed to assist in the navigation as far as Howland Island. Earhart met with Noonan a short time later. With the passage of a few more days, he would be selected to replace Manning as navigator.

  As preparations continued for the around-the-world flight, Noonan was filing for a Mexican divorce from his wife. Approximately one week later, he and his fiancée, Mary B. “Bee” Martinelli, eloped to Yuma, Arizona, and were married on March 27. Noonan and Bee were driving the Golden Gate Highway near Fresno on the way back to Oakland, Fred at the wheel, when they experienced a head-on collision. The subsequent investigation showed Noonan was driving in the wrong lane of traffic. Acquaintances suspected Noonan was drunk.

  At the time, Noonan held a second-class commercial radio operator’s license that he had earned around 1931. This type of license required “transmitting and sound reading at a speed not less than sixteen words per minute in Continental Morse Code and twenty words per minute in plain language.” In 1935, Almon Gray, a Pan American Airways flight officer, observed that Noonan could send and receive plain language at speeds of only eight to ten words per minute. Ultimately, it was determined Noonan had limited facility with Morse code.

  Some confusion exists today over whether or not Noonan held military rank during the around-the-world attempt. A letter from the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations dated December 29, 1960, dealing with the Earhart disappearance referred to “Commander Noonan, her navigator.” Other references to Noonan in the Earhart literature refer to him as Captain Noonan, and some insist he was a reserve officer in the U.S. Navy. Still others suggest Noonan may have been assigned to active duty prior to the flight with Earhart and was, in fact, under orders from the U.S. military. While a provocative suggestion, it has never been proved.

  • 15 •Reenter Putnam

  George Palmer Putnam was ubiquitous at the Oakland airport. From time to time he received visitors who appeared to be officials or dignitaries of some kind whom he would escort to the hangar where the Electra was being worked on. On those occasions, Putnam would order all of the mechanics and technicians out of the building and tell them not to return until he informed them it was all right to do so. Even Earhart was instructed to leave on occasion. During these mysterious visits, the aviatrix would generally retreat to the coffee shop and visit with Noonan and Mantz.

  Once as he was passing by the table where the three sat in conversation, young Robert Myers overheard Earhart ask of Noonan and Mantz whether they knew who the visitors were and what they thought Putnam was up to. Neither of the two men had any idea.

  During one visit to the airport, Myers walked up on Earhart, Noonan, and Mantz as the latter was showing the aviatrix some camera gear and providing basic instructions on aerial photography.

  On another visit to the airport, Myers observed Putnam grow exceedingly angry with his young son because he “had not washed up well enough.” Putnam yelled at the boy and then hit him. On one other occasion when Myers was seated in the coffee shop near Earhart and Noonan, he heard the aviatrix state, “I don’t care what they tell you, Fred. There is something going on and they are not telling you and they are not telling me. [Putnam] won’t tell me a thing and I know he is up to something. He won’t even talk to me anymore.”

  Referring to a number of government officials who had been coming and going at the airport, Earhart asked Noonan whether he knew who they were. He didn’t. Given the growing and suspicious nature of such activities, Earhart offered Noonan an opportunity to back out of the flight. He declined.

  At one point when Robert Myers was in the coffee shop, Earhart told him she needed to tell him something. According to Myers, Earhart said, “I am on a very secret and dangerous mission and I want you to tell someone if you hear that anything happens to Fred or me, tell your mother or someone else.” Earhart made Myers promise he would.

  Later, as Myers was leaving the coffee shop, he spotted Putnam screaming at his son and hitting him again. The offense committed by the boy that angered Putnam this time had to do with leaving the parked car, where he had been instructed to remain. Putnam saw Myers watching him. He pushed his son aside and advanced toward Myers, an angry snarl on his face. On reaching Myers, Putnam asked him what they had told him in the coffee shop. Myers walked away, with Putnam screaming at him to stay away from the airport.

  In what seems like a far-fetched account, Myers reported that as he was walking home along the road, hoping to hitch a ride, a car approached and he stuck out his thumb. As the vehicle neared, it picked up speed. A moment later, Myers recognized the car as the black Hudson owned by Putnam. Putnam was behind the wheel and was aiming at the youth standing on the side of the road. Myers jumped into an adjacent ditch just in time as the car sped by. When he crawled out of the ditch, he watched as Putnam turned the Hudson around for a second attempt at running him down. At this time, however, another car approached, and Myers waved his arms for it to stop. When it did, he climbed in and left the scene.

  The incidents between Robert Myers and Putnam represent an odd layer of intrigue associated with Earhart’s around-the-world flight, one of many more to come.

  • 16 •Flight around the World: Second Attempt

  As preparations were being made for the second attempt at a flight around the world, Earhart formally announced she had replaced Manning with Fred Noonan as navigator. By this time she had made a final determination on a different route from the one originally planned. Because of the changing seasons she was now forced to accommodate variations in climatic conditions.

  Prior to taking off, Earhart handed her secretary, Margot DeCarie, a large manila envelope and told her, “If I don’t come back, destroy it without opening it.” To this day, no one has any inkling as to what the envelope contained.

  Earhart, accompanied by Noonan, took off from Oakland at 3:50 p.m. on May 20, 1937, in her second bid to become the first woman to fly around the world. Curiously, and in a major departure from previous flights, no announcements were made and thus no throngs of press and onlookers were at the airport to observe the liftoff. Two hours and ten minutes later the Electra landed in Burbank, where Bo McNeely was waiting to service the plane. McNeely, along with Putnam, were to accompany Earhart and Noonan to Miami. From there, Putnam would proceed on to New York, where he would stay until Earhart reached and then departed Australia. At that time he would fly to Oakland to make preparations for her return. Putnam was still busy trying to raise additional sponsors but was having limited success. He was forced to mortgag
e his house in order to raise enough money to finance expenses for the flight.

  Earhart, Noonan, Putnam, and McNeely left Union Air Terminal at Burbank at 2:25 p.m. and landed at Tucson three hours and twenty minutes later. The left engine had experienced backfires during the flight, was serviced, and was determined to be in fine working order. The four spent the night at the Pioneer Hotel and departed the next morning, May 22, at 7:30 a.m. and arrived in New Orleans eight hours and forty minutes later. After spending the night, they left for Miami, Florida, at 9:10 a.m. CST. Most of this portion of the flight was across the open water of the Gulf of Mexico, and Noonan’s navigation proved effective. They landed in Miami at 3:04 p.m. EST.

  Earhart reported that the autopilot’s rudder control was not working and that the radio transmitter was not functioning. Pan American Airways sent a crew of mechanics and technicians to the Miami airport to work on the plane. Earhart was asked how the 500-kilocycle communications had worked, and she replied that she had not used that frequency. She also volunteered that neither she nor Noonan understood Morse code well enough to send or receive on the instrument. The autopilot was declared fixed and the radios examined, tested, and deemed in good working order.

  Some Earhart researchers have claimed that it was during the stop in Miami that Earhart had the trailing wire antenna removed from the Electra. Evidence exists, however, that she more likely had it removed while the craft was at the Lockheed factory in Burbank for repairs.

  It was in Miami that Earhart officially announced she had begun her around-the-world flight and that she would be flying from west to east as a result of weather considerations. She commented that she would not use the Morse code wireless set that had been installed in the plane and that she would rely entirely on voice transmissions and receptions on 3,105 and 6,210 kilocycles. A subsequent examination revealed that the once-repaired autopilot was still not functioning properly.

  When Paul Mantz learned of Earhart’s departure, he was attending an aerobatic competition in St. Louis. He was described as being furious and quoted as stating that Earhart “was not ready” and that he “smelled disaster.” Mantz explained that Earhart had been “pushed too hard, trying to meet the tight schedules set up by her promoter husband.” Mantz claimed too much attention had been given to the moneymaking schemes, advertising gimmicks, books, screenplays, public appearances, and endorsements.

  Earhart and Noonan remained in Miami for more than a week while Bo McNeely and Pan American mechanics worked on the aircraft to make certain it was in condition for the long flight. One of the mechanics recalled closing the cowling on one of the engines and not yet having wiped away his greasy handprints. When Earhart walked out to the flight line to inspect the work, she spotted the mess and cursed the worker with words the mechanic said he “didn’t believe any woman even knew!”

  Mantz, who remained in contact with several of the Pan American mechanics, was stunned when he learned that Earhart had decided to leave the telegraph key and the trailing wire antenna behind. Mantz believed Earhart was taking a risky chance without the equipment.

  Author, explorer, and pilot Bradford Washburn also expressed amazement at Earhart’s refusal to use the communication devices Mantz had installed in the Electra. He explained how this greatly reduced the range of her reception and that “by having that terribly short antenna system, she vastly reduced the number of people who might conceivably pick her up.” This limited ability to communicate was to generate problems in a short time.

  Finally, the Electra departed Miami on June 1 at 5:56 a.m. EST for San Juan, Puerto Rico, where it arrived seven hours and thirty-four minutes later. Once again, a great part of the flight was over open water, and Noonan’s navigational skills proved adept. The following morning they lifted off before dawn, their destination being Caripito in Venezuela, on the northern coast of South America. It took them four hours and thirty-two minutes from Puerto Rico. Strong headwinds and heavy rains forced a delay, and Earhart and Noonan stayed overnight at the residence of Standard Oil Company’s general manager.

  The manager of the Pan American station at Caripito was Harry Drake, an old friend of Fred Noonan. Drake told Earhart and Noonan that he would meet with them in the morning just before takeoff with the latest weather and airport information. According to author Vincent Loomis, Earhart brushed off Drake with a curt, “I don’t need any of that stuff. I got it back in California before I left.” Drake was stunned at the response and explained that her information was already out of date. As he watched the Electra lift off, he wondered whether he would ever see Earhart and Noonan alive again.

  That morning, they took off at 8:48 a.m. Venezuelan time, bound for Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana (today called Suriname). This leg of the flight took four hours and fifty minutes.

  The next stop was Fortaleza, Brazil, 1,300 miles away. They departed at 7:10 a.m. and flew for nine hours and twenty minutes, landing at 5:00 p.m., Brazilian Eastern Time. At Fortaleza, Earhart reported that the overhead hatch was leaking water when they flew through rain, and the Pan American maintenance crew went straight to work to fix the problem as well as provide the necessary routine maintenance and service.

  Earhart and Noonan spent the night at the Excelsior Hotel. They departed the Fortaleza airport at 6:50 a.m. for Natal, Brazil. Earhart paid special attention to the airplane’s functions, since on leaving Natal the following day they would be flying nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. The flight took two hours and five minutes. On arriving in Natal, Earhart inquired about the weather and was told that the next reliable reports would arrive around midnight. She decided to wait but expressed her impatience with the delay.

  While the Electra was being serviced, Noonan conveyed a need for some drinks to relieve what author Loomis reported as “unjustifiable pushing” from Earhart. To those who observed the pilot and navigator, there appeared to be a growing tension between them.

  At 3:13 a.m. the next morning, June 7, they departed the Natal airport, bound for Dakar in the country of Senegal on the western coast of Africa. It would be the first time a female pilot had ever made this transatlantic crossing.

  During the flight, Earhart tried listening in on the Bendix receiver but determined it was not working and therefore useless for navigation. In addition, one of the fuel flow meters ceased operating. Noonan’s navigation had placed them a few miles north of their destination when they reached the west coast of Africa. With a directional adjustment, they located and landed at the Saint-Louis airfield. Saint-Louis was an island just off the coast of and belonging to the confederation of French West Africa, which included Senegal. Touchdown was at 7:35 p.m. local time. It had taken thirteen hours and twenty-two minutes to make the Atlantic crossing.

  The next morning they flew on to Dakar’s Ouakam Airport, 120 miles away. There, the engines were given a standard forty-hour servicing. The fuel flow meter was repaired and reinstalled. A field test showed everything was working properly.

  On Thursday, June 10, at 6:51 a.m. Dakar time, Earhart and Noonan took off headed for Gao, the first of four stops across the interior of Africa. They landed at Gao at 2:46 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time. Gao is located precisely on the Greenwich prime meridian. The plane was fueled and oiled. The next morning, they departed eastward toward Fort Lamy at 6:10 a.m. GMT. They landed at Fort Lamy after six hours and thirty-eight minutes of flight.

  A few hours prior to Earhart lifting off, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Itasca was ordered to begin preparations to proceed to Howland Island by way of Honolulu.

  During a preflight inspection on Saturday morning, June 12, Earhart discovered that one of the oleo shock absorber struts was leaking air. A necessary valve was replaced. Around 10:00 a.m., Earhart decided it was too late to try to make their next stop, Khartoum, before sundown. She decided instead to fly to El Fasher, which was located five hundred miles west of Khartoum. El Fasher was only 695 miles away. Khartoum was more than 1,100 miles away. She and Noonan took off at 12:24 p.m. As usual, using
celestial navigation and dead reckoning, Noonan navigated competently across the sandy wastes of the Sahara Desert, and four hours and six minutes later they landed at El Fasher, Darfur Province.

  The next morning, June 13, they took off at 6:10 a.m. Without incident or navigational problems, they landed at the Khartoum Aerodrome after three hours and fifteen minutes. The following morning at 10:50 a.m. they departed for Massawa. During the flight, they passed a short distance north of Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, in the horn of Africa. Asmara was regarded as a strategic location by the British, who needed intelligence on this facility.

  According to author James Donahue, a former engineer and consultant with the Lockheed and Northrop aviation companies, Earhart had instructions to take clandestine photographs of the airport at Asmara. Donahue claimed evidence exists to suggest that when she landed at the Royal Air Force base at Khartoum, a camera and film were installed in her plane in a compartment under the flight deck. After landing in Karachi, claims Donahue, the film and camera were removed by Royal Air Force personnel. Earhart and Noonan landed at the Otumlo Airdrome in Massawa following a flight of two hours and fifty minutes.

  At Massawa the oil was changed and the plane thoroughly inspected and serviced. At this point, Earhart made a decision to fly to Assab, Eritrea, about three hundred miles to the southeast on the coast of the Red Sea. In addition, it would be three hundred miles closer to their next stop—Karachi, India (now Pakistan). At 7:30 a.m. Eritrean time on the morning of June 14, Earhart lifted off the Electra and followed the coast of the Red Sea to Assab. She landed at an Italian military airfield at 9:56 a.m.