Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-06-27

Then the polar flight began TO take
definite form.
The -Four Previous Efforts.
There had been four previous at
tempts to fly In the Arctic--two with
airplanes, one with dirigible and one
with a balloon. The balloon was used
by the unfortunate Andre, the first
man to take TO the air in the North,
and his fate is still one of the great
mysteries of the polar sea. Then
came Wellman. with his crude dirigi-
bic. which collapsed before it was
fairly started. | flew on the way to
the Pole past the places where these
men had made their starts. The next
attempt was by Amundsen, when he
tried to get away from Alaska in a
Junker plane, but smashed his land
ing gear i'll a trial flight. Alaska
seems TO have been an unfortunate
place for airplaneS.
AmundSen and Ellsworth made the
next attempt with two Dornier-WalX
seaplanes from Kings Bay, Spitzber-
gen, and came down in a forced land
ing about 1870 miles from the Pole.
Their long struggle to get off the ice
in one plane and their triumphal re-
turn from what appeared to be GER
epics of the North.
It was this record which confronted
me when l made my plans. No one
had entirely succeeded in conquering
the Arctic. Many were skeptical. The
Amundsen failure and MacMillan's
statements had persuaded many peo-
pie that the airplane was unsuited for
exploration in the North There was
what | considered an unjustifia BILE
prejudice against planes for such
work. l was sure that, with the
proper machine and with a reason
able safety factor. the flight to the
Pole could be made. l had had con-
siderable experience in Arctic flying.
Bennett and 1 had flown 5000 miles
with the Macmillan expedition to
Greenland. and / had proved to my
own satisfaction that airplanes could
meet all Arctic conditions, provided
there were any bases of operation.
The Uncertain Weather.
But there was no comparison,
knew. between flying from Greenland
and flying from SpitZbergen. Every
thing was different. When we reached
Greenland we found that it was one
of the worst Summers in many years.
One Of the perilS of Arctic flying in
Greenland is the rapidity with which
the weather changes. In an hour the
sun may disappear and a cold wind
bring snow; or a fog may slip silently
up. enveloping everything in a dim,
cold Shroud which makes flying i'm
possible with our present instruments.
Winds change their direction with
alarming irregularity, for every change
from ice to land has an effect upon
them.
Flying that Summer was at times
disconcerting and alarming. We were
caught and buffeted by storms, drop
ping hundreds of feet and bringing up
with a Sickening jerk, tossed about
like leaf in an Autumn gale, and
underneath, so far as the eye. could
see, not a single place where a plane
could land. We could not use skis
in Greenland in the Summer because
the snow had melted off the ice, leav-
ing it rough, and the land was too
jagged to land on.
But with all these disadvantages,
the great lure of possibly finding some
land in the UNEMPLOYED region kept
us at our task in Greenland until one
misfortune after another made it evil
dent that we would not be able. to
establish a base far enough North
that year to make a long flight of ex-
ploration. The mishaps we had met,
far from convincing me that airplanes
were not suitable for Arctic work, had
given us such knowledge of conditions
that l was sure the next attempt
would be more successful.
Taking OFF on Skis.
Spitzbergen seemed the most logical
place from which to take off. 1t was
nearer the Pole than any other place
we could reach by ship, and from
Amundsens experience the year be-
fore l felt sure that 1 would find
enough ice in Kings Bay from which
to fly. We we're disappointed in that,
for the ice in the bay was broken into
floating cakes and small bergs. 1t
was necessary to take off from the
snow ashore on skis, something which,
so fas as know, had never been done
with so large plane and with so
heavy load-more than four and a
half tons, with fuel and equipment
aboard.
The Arctic presents a different fly
ing problem from any other part of
the world, because different types of
planes must be used in the various
seasons. In the Summer the only type
of plane suitable is the flying boat, as
the 24-hour sun meltS the ice and
makes it soft, with stretches of open
water in the fjOrdS or sea. We found
that was true in Greenland, and we
succeeded in landing twice and put
ting down bases in fjords. But in the
Spring and Fall, when snow is falling.
1t is necessary to use skis, as we did
in Spitzbergen, and we found that we
could taxi in the snow and take off
in almost any part of the Arctic from
the snow with an average load. When
heavy load is to be lifted, however,
special preparations must be made;
the snow must be stamped down, for
the skis sink in and make heavy GO
ing unless this is done.
A Ski for Arctic Planes.
We were successful with skis, al
though our skis were not perfect by
any means. They dished like barrel
stave under the weight of the loaded
plane until we strengthened them. On
the way to the Pole, during a few mo-
mentS of intermisSion in the work of
navigation, l found myself puzzling
over the design of skis for heavy
planes. It is not enough to take
wide boards and turn them up at the
end: the strains and stresses must be
carefully calculated and the skis built
to meet those strains. Before another
flight from snow, I intend to have a
ski designed that will prevent such ag-
gravating delays as we encountered
this year. They should apparently be
built somewhat after the model of the
skis used for travelling on foot over
the snow. with strong center section.
In addition to having to take off
from snow instead of water, there was
an extraordinary contrast in weather
at Spitzbergen. The storms and fogs
which had been continuous in Green
land were almost altogether absent,
although we were wonderfully fortu-
nate in having a stretch of perfect