Middletown transcript., 1922-08-19
'AIRPLANE USED
TO HUNT SEALS
Winter Aviation Proves Of Great
Utility Along Newfoundland
| Coast.
aid TO SEALING INDUSTRY
.AirpIanes Used to Locate the "Maln
Patch" as II Drifts Down With
Arctic current-keeps Com.
munication Open.

st. Johns, N. F.-Hunting seals by
airplane Is the thrilling job that Is
being performed in Newfoundland this
winter by +. Sidney Cotton, Australian
airman.
Tie seals come down on great pans
of Ice with the Arctic current to the
Newfoundland coast regularly every
March, and nearly dozen specially
constructed ships fit out In st. Johns.
capital port Of the island. and proceed
to the great fields Of Ice where the
seals ewarm by thousands and hun
dreds OF thousands. and the crews Of
the ships, called "sealers," engage for
two or three weeks In slaughter of
the "whitecoats" The ships are load
ed, often to the matches, or even the
gunwhales, with the pelts of the seals
On reaching st. Johns the several
inches Of fat are removed from the
skins and rendered out for the valua-
Bile Oil. The skins are dressed for
leather, often the furs are stuffed and
made into imitation seals. The In
dustry has turnover Of millions OF
dollars.
But the seals do not come all to-
gether. There is what is known as
"the main patch," which contains the
great bulk of the seals. There are
minor pans which have broken off,
and also carry seals. II the main
patch is missed by the ships 1t may
mean loss for the owners and the
men. These men sign on only for the
hunt, and are paid by share in the
total catch Of the ship Everything,
then, is contingent on striking the main
patch. This Is sometimes missed, and
sometimes located.
Where the Airplane Comes In.
1t is here that the airplane comes
In. Major COtton's plan is to set out
from base at Botwood, on the main
land, fly yer the vast Ice fields, with
an experienced sealing captain as OBJ.
server, and locate the main patch and
wireless to the ships.
There may be many miles Of thick
Ice between the ships and the main
patch. The airplane scouts around
and locates channels in the Ice. In
this way, according to the plan. the
great sealing industry OF Newfound-
land will be made certain and scien-
tific.
Cotton had many difficulties to over
come. In the first place, 1t meant win.
ter flying. He was told by aviation
experts in England that 1t could not
be done. There was the matter of
freezing of the radiator, for instance.
How was he going to fly in very cold
atmosphere without his radiator freez-
ing solid?
Then, how was the plane to take
off from the snow? How was ne to
conquer the gales and snow billiards
of the interior Of Newfoundland, not
to speak of the ice fields, where many
ships had gone down In storm and
many hundreds of sealers had per
ished.
Flying in Newfoundland In the win
ter means, often. flying In temper
ature 20 degrees below zero F. 1t
means being up In storms and bliz-
yards and gales. 1t means taking Off
from and landing on deep and uneven
snow, often snow banks ten feet deep.
First Achievement.
The first achievement was the dis
covery of liquid that obviated freez-
Ing trouble without damaging the en-
gine, and he can now fly in the cold
est weather without fear of his radi-
ator freezing. Then he devised serv-
iceable skid to replace wheels, which
are useless in deep snow, and pom
toons are useless except In open wa
ter. With his skids Cotton can rise
from any kind Of snow and alight on
the toughest and most uneven snow
banks. The skids can take the ma
chine safely over bitches, or even logs.
A small skid for the tail keeps the
airplane completely out Of the snow,
as both fore and aft skids sink only
few inches into even the softest
snow.
Cotton has two hangers and a cou-
pie of canvas sheds, stationed at va
riOus points. One canvas tent tas
been placed at st, Anthony, away down
by the Straits of Belle Isle. Sy the
Labrador coast. There Is hangar at
Botwood midway between the north
and south Of the couLtry, and one at
St. Johns. At that there are not half
enough hangers, sz all of the interior
of the country Is uninhabited and ex-
posed to the stgors of winter. A crash
there meaIs tp be maroOned perhaps
for weeks, unless 1t be near the trans
insul0r railway.
TIE right kind Of a,splane mechan-
les have to be brought out from Eng
land. In some instances, after paying
all expenses, Cotton has found the
man untitled for work. The hardy,
dare devil type Of pioneer mechanic L.
the type needed for winter flying In
Newfoundland, and he ID hard to get.
Neither the insurance companies
nor the government wip insure Cot
tons machines, so that II q machine
crashes the loss falls entirely on him.
self.
Bridging Ice Barriers.
Cotton and his companion in flying.
Capt. V. 8. Bennett, son Of the New.
fOundland statesman Of that name.