Evening star., 1926-05-09
Continued from First Page.)

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thusiasm and the highest hopes of
success.
There Is no man in the world I
| would rather make such IL flight with
! than Bennett. lie has just the right
| qualities-a cool head, a steady nerve
a daring but not a rash temperament
a perfect knowledge of his plane and
a spirit quiet but firm in determine.
tion. Beyond all that, he is a loyal
| compani0nable friend.
And so we are off. But before the
| motors start my thoughts must dwell
moment on the men who made this
flight possible. First of all, think
back to the days of planning and as
| sembling our material resources-tc
| those who by their advice and others
by their generosity made the plan
| feasible.
Praises Men Who Aided.
| Then there was the departure from
| New York and the ENCOURAGING
| cheers and handclasps of our we'll
| wishers. Finally, there is the hard
work of the so devoted men. who have
gone at times without sleeping or eat
| ing to bring the expedition to the cul-
minating point.
Whatever the expedition may ac-
complish, / can regard myself as only
a titular head and a trustee for these
men, for it is they who have done the
work and should get the credit Those
| who have watched as at close hand
| can attest that 1t is not q One.man
expedition. 1t is a 50-man expedition
and every one Of the so has as much
| right to be proud OF 1t as any other .
| Must Make Wide Circle.
| Comdr. Byrd's sensational change
| Of plan means that he will attempt q
continuous flight of fully 1900 miles
to the North Pole and back to Spitz
! bergen by way Of Peary land. The dis
| tance from Kings Bay TO the Pole is
| 500 miles. At the Pole Comdr Byrd
would have to use at least 100 miles
In making a wide circle to insure that
his plane had flown around the Pole
| His instruments cannot locate the
| Pole with exactitude. There is a mar
| gin Of error Of about 20 miles. anC
the flyer will have to make a big loor
| to be able to show that he circumnav
gated the Pole.
He would not descend 70 make sure
Of reaching the Pole unless, by q
/ 900 TO l chance, he found smooth
patch of snow on which he coulC
land with safety TO make accurate
observations and then carry out q
dash on foot to the exact spot located
After covering 700 miles in reach
| ing and circling the Pole, COmdr
Byrd win still have more than SOC
miles to travel to fly over Peary
land on his return to Spitzbergen
The cruising radius of the Jose
phine Ford. when loaded, was previ
ously estimated at 1.400 miles. or 100
less than the contemplated flight
On it's motor tests at Mineola, how
ever, the big Fokker made q much
that it should have a cruising radius
of upwards Of ] 500 miles. when fully
loaded. and over 1000 when lightly
| loaded.
Safety Margin Scant.
The cruising radius of 1900 miles
however, would leave Commando
Byrd only the scantest margin witt
which to face adverse winds ant
other difficulties. On the other hand
II he lost any headway on his triI
to the Pole, he could cancel the flight
to Peary Land, and fly straight bacl
to Spitzbergen. This would save 20t
miles. making the round trip to tho
tpole 1900 miles.
Several factors might have contrib
uted to Commander Byrd's decision
besides the apprehension that delay
might result in his being beaten tC
the Pole by Amundsen. FoGs begir
to rise in May, and are a bane tC
explorers, both on land and in the
air. The sooner the flight is made
the less the risk from this source.
1t is the plan of Commander ByrC
to try for the Pole first. and to make
brief inspection of Peary Land fron
the air on his return to SpitZbergen
If he locates open. level fields Of snow
he Will be able. Immediately after hi
return from the Polar trip, to TAX
up the search for unknown land. H
would make one flight for the purpos,
of depositing supplies on Peary Land
The fly back to Spitzbergen for fur
ther SUPPLIES and then to the Pear.
Land base. Then he would be al
prepared for flights to the Northwes
for the purpose of exploring in tn
unknown area.
| Under this plan. after leaving Pear.
Land behind Commander Byrd woul
have q chance to discover new lanC
Part of his fight might overalp tha
of Amundsen last Summer. One frag
ment Of It would cross the path O
Peary in 1909.
Land Never Before Seen.
But most Of his flight would be owe
part Of the Arctic which has neve
been seen by human eye from eithe
the air or the surface of the ice.
The excellent performance of hi
plane is probably one cause of Comdl
} Bryd's decision. With the third me-
tor in reserve he reckonS that hi
1 e -
of many hundreds.
The Byrd expedition has with it