9. Familiarizing herself with the new airplane
Earhart, with Putnam and Manning aboard, flew the new Electra several times to learn the aircraft and evaluate its capabilities. On one such cross-country fight, accompanied by Putnam and Manning, Earhart navigated by following familiar landmarks on her flight path. At the same time, Manning performed navigational fixes. Manning’s computations put them within the acceptable margin of error for the day, but exactly following his navigation led them several miles off-course, acceptable over land, but not over large expanses of water. A concerned Putnam, supported by Mantz, lobbied for the addition of a second navigator.
Fred Noonan offered experience as a navigator on both ships (he held a Captain’s license) and aircraft. While with Pan American World Airways Noonan trained the company’s navigators for the San Francisco – Oakland overseas routes. The flight plan changed to travel west from California to Hawaii, thence to Howland Island, and on to Australia. On the first leg, Earhart planned to fly, Noonan and Manning to navigate, with Mantz on board to monitor the aircraft and advise Earhart on the proper response to potential problems. Plans called for Noonan to accompany the flight only as far as Howland Island, after which Manning would navigate onward to Australia.
