Evening star., 1924-11-02

Editors note: This is the first sf six
articles by Capt. Amundsen. in which he
will tell of his plans for flying across the
North Pole. Second article will be pub
lished next Sunday.)
BY CAPT. ROALD AMUNDsEN.
The air performances Of the Shen-
andoah and the IRIS have surprised
the public. but there was nothing
especially startling to me. as / have
been predicting just such develop
ments for long while. The helium
gas will add immeasurablyt to the fur
ther triumphs of the ZR-3. Every
advance in air navigation has direct
bearing on the mysteries of the Arc
tic area. as I pointed out when
went there in my ship. The Maud.
In these personal articles of mine.
wish to clear up one or two points
about the return of The Maud from
the Arctic to Seattle three years ago
When The Maud started North, the
Norwegian Parliament had unani-
mously and without discussion. grant
ed me 100000 crowns for my Arctic
exploration. AS time progressed I
discovered that this grant was en-
tirely insufficient for such an ex-
pensive undertaking and for a time
I was nonplused. l literally did not
know what to do. My country had
granted me a sum far surprising MY
highest expectations, so l could not
ask them for more. l had to find
another way out Of it. So did Have
you ever seen a rat caught in a trap?
He runs around with his nose in the
air trying to smell way out. So did
/, and ! thought l had found the right
way. 1t was the air.
Purchased Plane for Trip.
1t was in January. 1922. when I
passed through New York on my way
to Norway that the German Junker
plane made its remarkable endurance
flight of 27 hours and broke the
world record in a most astounding
way. Here was something for me!
If l could get one Of these aeroplanes
and capable pilot l saw great possi-
bilities. 1t was possible to render
the geographical knowledge of our
globe an immense service by eXplor-
ing the enormous unknown area be-
tween Alaska and the North Pole.
knew that The Maud in, her drift
across the Polar basin hardly would
touch upon this territory. If I. there
fore. could explore this area from the
air it would give very much better
scientific result.
AS soon as this thought had enter
I'D my mind the decision was taken.
l bought one of the Junker all-metal
aeroplanes. This one was especially
we'll adapted for the purpose. made of
nothing but aluminium, and extreme
ly light and strong metal, capable of
resisting the hardest weather condi-
tions, rain or sunshine. heat or cold
would not affect it. and I knew that
an aeroplane taken into the Arctic
regions would have to put up with
the toughest treatment imaginable.
Pilot Eager to Go.
After three weeks stay in Norway
/ returned to New York and then
started the preparations for the
fight. This was a rather difficult
work as it had to be done secretly
I knew most people would condemn
it on account of it's hazardous nature
against it that I would have to give
it up. Now began a very interesting
time The first man I took into my
confidence was the pilot. engaged to
take part in The Maud expedition.
Lieut.. Oskar Omdal of the Norwegian
navy. Besides being an excellent
pilot he was a highly experienced
mechanic. 1t was very satisfactory
to me to see how eagerly h. accepted
the proposal-Fate had been against
us. When l left New York for Nor
way there were ten aeroplanes to
choose among but fire had destroy
ed the nine and only one remained
Thus there was no longer any choice
We had to be content with the one
left. The first serious question was
what landing-gear we were going to
use.
Under the most fortunate conditions
we might be able to make it as nom
stop flight, but we had u be prepared
for landing. To take off was oues-
ton OF just as important nature. We
might have to take off from the bar
rem ground-ice, snow or water and
land in the same way. We had to be
prepared for all eventualities. Thus
it was necessary to have both wheels,
skies and pontoons. While Lieut..
Omdal was busy in practicing flying,
I was busy with a thousand other
things. 1t was highly encouraging to
me that the Curtis aeroplane factory
in the meantime offered me another
aeroplane, the Oreol. This plane was
intended to be used in small scouting
expeditions from the ship, while the
big ono had to leave the expedition
at an early date to make its flight
alone.
Preparations Completed.
In the last part Of the month Of
to an end and both machines ready
for start. I decided to pack the Oreol
and send it by rail to Seattle, while
| thought it a good practice to fly the
big one across country.
1t was a fine Sunday morning in the
first part of June that we started from
Long Island with Seattle as our point
of destination. We were five men in
the plane, a pilot and mechanic from
the factory, Lieut.. Omdal friend OF
mine, and myself. We passed over
New York in the most ideal weather
and everything seemed fine. Our speed
was very good and we expected to land
in Cleveland, Ohio. early in the after
noon However, as soon as we had left
New York behind we were met by a
strong gale right against us and prog
ress became slow. BY IL o'clock we
passed over the United States mail field.
Up to this everything had worked
satisfactorily, but from now on trouble
started. The motor showed signs OF
overheating and the water in the radia-
tor became dangerously hot. We were
then at height of about 1000 feet.
What was to be done? Personally, I
think I would have chosen to return to
the mail field, make a landing there and
overhaul the machine to find out what
was the matter, but as the aeroplane
was left in the hands of the pilot, fur
nished by the factory, had no choice
but leave it to him. His view of the
conditions was another than mine and
the mechanic, also furnished by the
factory, supported it.
Engine Refuses to Run.
Instead of returning to the mail
field he decided to try to get into a
colder layer of air by climbing. I
will not try to argue his way of act
ing, as he'had by far more experience
than any of US others, but the result
he reached was quite opposite to