NavList:

TCM is showing the Jimmy Stewart chestnut "The Spirit of St. Louis" right now and he said something while designing his plane that hit me hard.

"A sextant to an aircraft pilot is useless"  He was most likely right in that presumption.  WWII saw multi-person crews where one man was the Navigator and all commercial flights today use specifically trained navigators. 

But let's digress to the similarities between Lindburgh and Earhart, both employed DR to get from point to point.  Over any Ocean point to point becomes problematic, and once far away from land points, a compass and the stars are about the only navigational guides a person without a sextant could have. 

Compasses are givens, only a foold would set sail or fly without one.  And even Joshua Slocum knew he need one and a beat up clock too.  This site shows how simple it was:  http://mb.nawcc.org/showthread.php?68611-Joshua-Slocum-s-Chronometer

So, Lindy and Earhart used DR to get to Paris and half-way round the world.  However, Earhart lost in that she was lost at sea in what we presume was a downing and drowning. 

Let's now look at the most recent air disater in that vicinity, and the weather vortices which brought Air Asia QZ8501 down in the Java Sea.  I will bet dollars to doughnuts that weather and the attempted climb in a downward thrust brough that plane down. 

and let us conclude therefore that Earhart's DR was what did her in.  If you look at the possiblity of really bad weather just popping up in that region of the Pacific and SE Asia, you have to admit more than not that bad weather and being in the wrong place at the wrong time was Earhart's undoing. 

Lindy has his problems too, but his worse it seems was more fatigue and disorientation.  Earhart was rested she had taken off only hours before she disappeared.  A sudden squall is the sailor's most hated weather occurance and I guess the low-level aviator's too. 

All of which had me doing Google searches to back up my post just to make sure I wasn't fabricating.  The only postion I surmise is how Earhart most likely met her end.  And I guess maybe we can just let rest in peace if this can be proven to be true. 

Thanks,