The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1925-10-15
FLAMES TO OPEN
POLAR REGION

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out n the open, exposed to snow
storms and on very irregular, ur1-
satisfactory beach. ! don't see how
they did It.
sThose fellows did not need >
commanding officer to tell them
what to do. Ny hardest job was
to make them get some rest and
sleep. They were almost super
human, and am proud OF them.
Byrd gave Macmillan credit for
getting the men and planes back
safely from their hazardous adj
venture. He said they flew over
six thousand miles while IN the
Arctic regions and surveyed 10000
square miles of polar area.
The flying conditions met, he
added, were FAR the worst ever
encountered IN the history avia-
ton.
One Of Byrdss ASTONISHING revela-
lions Of conditions IN the NSrthland
was that the expedition's planes
flew over the Greenland ice cap.
the iceberg factory" Of the North.
Ice Cap Mile Thick
I'VE flew over the ice cap at an
altitude OF 1000 feet and found
the ice cap as high as the plane"
he said. There was over mile
Of solid ice. getting thicker all the
time
Byrd said the planes also flew
over the spot where nineteen OF
General Greeley's men met their
death from cold and hunger.
fm - aA~aeaWe 80
failure base been the rule up
there" Byrd added, land why 1t
took Peary q lifetime to reach the
pole.
Aviation conditions were far
worse than we had anticipated
both at our main base, at Etah and
out over the fjords and unknown
areas" he continued.
After our first flight out over
Ellsmere Land I got my men to-
gether and told them that / would
never again order any Of them out
to fly over that region.
Always Ready to Go
But they were always ready to
go and were eager to volunteer!
''The idea was not to make a
sensational, spectacular dash but to
do some exploring and to advance
gradually towards the objective,
putting down bases as we went
along.
winter was chasing close on the
heels Of spring and we had almost
no summer.
''Of the flying days only three and
three-quarters were good flying
days. two fair flying days and one
Indifferent.
$50 over half the time the
weather was dangerous or very
| dangerous for, flying. / am tell
ing you this to give you an idea of
the aviation condition in the arctic.
I'VE did not see a single land
! landing place in all the thousands
| OF square miles we covered.
Water Landings Few
GAS far as the water was con-
cerned the ice began a mile from
Etah and filled the sea and all the
bays and fjords, The summer ice
cannot be landed on. 1t is very
rough, and a plane that landed
| on it would be demolished. 1t shifts
however with the tides and the
winds, and occasionally there is a
temporary landing place in the
water.
But they are asf scarce as an
oasis in a desert and blame sight
more welcome.
''We found a great many un.
charted snow-covered mountains
considerably higher than any shown
on the charts, and ninety per cent
Of the time they were covered with
clouds.
''One day we found a landing
/ place In the water and ans opening
| in the great ice foot Of Sawyer
| ford. We landed-put down a
base of fuel and food and continued
on in an attempt to get over the
great mountain ranges and locate
another base in Cannon ford near
the Polar sea.
UnexpIOred Mountains
1--WE got beyond one range and
flight hard to get beyond the
second but clouds that were too
high to get over covered tops COM
pletely. These mountains had never
before been explored.
: "Cut jagged by ages Of great
glaciers their ruggedness. was mag.
nificent and stupenduous-their
! greandeur awful. The air there
was the toughest we had ever ex'