There are some interesting FAQs regarding flight times and fuel consumption here: http://www.ameliaearhartbook.com/new_page_6.htm
This is the site of a lady who has researched Earhart and does not believe TIGHAR and its Gardner Island theory.
Thanks for your posts # 7 and 12. I will explore those links.
The Cracked story links to: http://news.discovery.com/history/amelia-earhart-resting-place.html — I hadn’t noticed that before.
With the site
http://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html
I calculated the distance between Howland Island and Gardner Island to be 653.1 km or 352 nautical miles.
Now some of the comments on the discovery.com page have her with 26 miles of fuel left at Howland; others have her with 1 hr 5 minutes of fuel. If I understand your link correctly
the 1 hr 5 min would be 119 nm at average wind and 141 nm at no wind — not enough to make it to Gardner.
However your site makes it sound like there might have been as much as 4 hr of fuel left? If so that would be 440 nm at average wind, with Gardner Island well within range.
But this page from your site makes the Cracked claim very dubious:
http://www.ameliaearhartbook.com/new_page_14.htm