Evening star., 1925-06-19

each. At the rear is compartment
for luggage.
The planes are made of duralumi-
mum, a metal as light as aluminium
and as strong as steel. The material
has been tested down to 100 degrees
below zero centigrade without loss of
strength, so that 1t certainly can't be
affected adversely by any cold that
may be encountered on the flight be-
tween here and the Pole. The con-
tents of the gas tanks will enable the
planes to remain in the air 20 hours.
AS the flying time between the hop-off
base and the Pole is reckoned at seven
to eight hours, this leaves a fuel safe
ty margin of four to six hours. The
boats can land on snow, Ice or water
Floats are fitted on either side Of the
hull to insure stability on water. In
landing on ice unprotected by snow
there might be some danger of break
ing the hull. If forced to make such
a landing, the safety Of the machine
will depend upon the delicacy with
which it's pilot can touch the ground.
108 Miles per Hour in Speed Test.
The total weight of this type of
Dornier Wal machine is 100 pounds,
while 1t can carry a useful load up to
200 pounds. The span Of the grace
full, flying creature Is "A feet, wing
area $50 square feet, and in length,
from tip to toe, 5S feet Its maximum
performance in our speed tests is 108
miles an hour, but it's rate for cruis-
ing is calculated at between IS and
80 miles.
In the motor gondola are two
olls-Royce engines, one tractor
and one a pusher, the one for the for
ward propeller and the other for the
stern blade, each with a practical
horse power of $50. They are timed
to run together. Each has IL cylin-
ders, arranged in two rows inclined at
an angle of 50 degrees.
Our tests show that these engines
eat up gasoline at a rate of 1896
pints per hour and 6.33 pints of oil
hourly. While there is no chance of
either oil or gas freezing-our air
plane altitude flights have shown just
how much cold our oil and gas can
stand-the planes will carry on their
polar flight Thermix lamps, which
heat with a non-combustible fame,
and will be used If the planes land at
the Pole and the engine oil should
thicken.
These flying twins of ours are, one
can see at a glance, just about the
most perfect specimens of the art of
aircraft manufacture. They are all
German machines, built in Italy
simply because the Germans are for
hidden, under a clause of the treaty
of Versailles, to construct in Ger
many any machines of this type.
Pilots Ready and Eager.
Here on the shore of Kings Bay
they are being put together by the
mechanics who made them, and they
will start off toward the pole piloted
by two men who have been flying all
kinds of aircraft for the past 10 years
and have had special training with
the Dornier Wal recently in Italy.
Our pilots and mechanics are all
ready and eager for the hop-off.
hjalmar Riiser-Larsen, dark
haired Viking who tips the scales at
nearly 800 pounds. is a lieutenant in
the Norwegian Navy. During the
war he was attached to the Royal
Naval Air Service in England, and
later, in 1921, studied airship navi-
CATION with the ill-fated American
members of the crew of R-38, the
Zeppelin which crashed over Hull,
England. He is a competent, conf
dent man, a suitable lieutenant for
the intrepid Roald Amundsen, who
will ride with him.
Left Dietrichson, also a lieutenant
in the Norwegian Navy, is slighter,
but still big man. with light hair
and clear blue eyes. His experience
on the water and in the air is as
thorough as his team mates. He,
with his native intelligence and vigor,
will be a trustworthy pilot for Lin
coin Ellsworth in the second machine.
The fight mechanics will be
Feucht, a German, and Omdal, a
Norwegian naval lieutenant. The
former is considered Dornier's finest
mechanic. He saw service during
the whole of the war on every air
front, including even Turkey; was
three times wounded and twice
crashed. Several scars OF these vari-
Gus catastrophes remain on his
swarthy alert face. He is Southern
German, his home being in Friedrich
shafen, synonymous with airplanes
and airships.
Omdal has been with Amundsen
during the past three years on Arctic
work. He was aboard the Maud, the
ship now lying off the Siberian coast.
in which Amundsen tried to drift
across the pole. Later Omdal studied
flying at Mineoia, flew planes in
Alaska went to England to study the
Rolls-Royce motor, and joined the ex-
pedition directly from Pisa, where he
was working at the Wal factory.
1t seems safe to predict that, If
these two polar planes develop any
trouble during the flight, 1t wont be
because of amateurism anywhere.