Evening star., 1926-05-10
Byrd's Flight.

The top of the world has again been
reached by man. this time by Comdr.
Richard +. Byrd and his pilot, Floyd
Bennett, III an airplane named Miss
Josephine Ford. In a century of ef-
fort to touch the limit of north lati-
tude, where all parallels Of longitude
meet and from which point every dl-
rection on tle earth is south, the ad-
venture has been achieved by two ex-
ploration leaders &nd each or them
American. PeaVy on the 9Th OF april,
1909. and Byrd ell the 9th OF May,
1926. At the North Pole it is day from
March q to September % and Byrd
would be able to determine that he
had reached 80 degrees north by using
:, sextant carrying an artificial hori-
Zon. and the position OF the sun IN
degrees and smaller divisions OF the
circle coulG be read from this seXtant'
one-sixth Of the circle, with a possible
error of twenty miles. Before sailing
from the United States Comdr. Byrd
said that he would know he was over
the Pole when the altitude Of the sun
above the horizon equaled the sun s
declination which was given in the
Nautical Almanac.
Two explorers have fallen short of
latitude 90 north by less than four
degrees. These were Cagni, who, April
o5. 1900. reached 86 degrees and "a
who attained Sc degrees and IA min
utes.
Bevond the sentimental thrill OF the
feat there is a practical side to the
adventure. Byrds account of the
flight and of what he learned on the
trim will come later, perhaps today.
He will no doubt tell that Farthest
North is icecovered sea. Peary SO re-
ported. All soundings made in seas
O. few degrees south of the Pole nave
given depths indicating that no con-
tinent is near.
Peary Travelled by dog sled from
TIllesnnere Land on the American side
of the world, taking many days for
the trip. which was then called "a
dash to the Pole" Byrd flew from
Spitzbergen on the European side OF
the world to the Pole and back to his
base in nine minutes less than sixteen
hours. 1t shows the worth of the air
olane in Arctic travel. There is no
foot of the earth that may not be
reached by air. 1t is impossible to re-
stst the temptation to write that BYRD
has lived up to his name.
Byrd was with Macmillan in 1925 in
the latter's attempt to reach the Pole
and it was then reported that the air
plane was not suitable for Arctic ex-
ploration because of lack Of or diff
Guilty in finding, landing places. But
here is the news that plane has
flown from Spitzbergen to the Pole
and back in sixteen hours. In the
matter of speed and endurance this
fight is a feat even though it may not
he a record in sustained and distance
flying.
What Byrd and Bennett have done
others will do. They have shown the
way. When Louis Bleriot flew across
the English Channel from Barraques
to Dover in 81 minutes, July %, 1909,
most persons were amazed and mil
lions said, What use?" Flying over
the English Channel is a common
place now and mail, passenger and
uarcel air service is maintained be-
tween London and Paris.
It is a cross-cut from continental
Europe to Japan and China by way Of
the North Pole and there Will be mail
and passenger service over that route
through the air. Within a century
passengers who have flown over the
North Pole may be as numerous as
passengers today who have crossed
the Equator.