Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-27
BYRD'S PLANE MAKES RECORD
IN 1O,OOO-MILE RADIO MESSAGE
Graft 5000 Feet Over Antarctic Transmits
to New York on 34-Meter Wave
Length.

A world record in radio and aviation
was established early yesterday morning
when Comdr. Richard E. Byrd's plane
the Stars and Stripes, in fight 5000
feet above the icy wastes that surround
the Bay of Whales, in the Antarctic
conducted two-way communication d.
rect with the New York Times radio
station in Times Square. The distance
between the plane and the receiver was
10000 miles. It was the first time that
an airplane In fight had sent and re-
ceived messages over such long dis
lance.
1t was 1890 pm. in New York when
Operator Carl o. Peterson of the
steamer City of New York, base ship
Of the expedition, called the New York
Times on the 34-meter wave length
He said that Malcolm P. Hanson, radio
chief of the expedition would make a
test fight in the plane Stars and Stripes
at about 3:15 am, Eastern standard
time, which is BIS pm. at the Bay OF
Whales, in the land that Byrd has
named Little America"
Listen in and try to hear the plane, u
said the flash from the Far South. So
while the ether in the north temperate
zone was comparatively quiet, with most
of the broadcaSterS and amateurs fast
asleep, Reginald Iverson, radio engineer
at the Times station, saw that every
thing at his receiver was in shape to
establish a record. He tuned the dial
TO the 34-meter channel, and at 3:15
am, sharp, the operator in the South
Polar region kept his rendezvous with
the metropolis of the world.
Radioed Warning of Take-off.
The plane is now leaving the Ice
was the warning for New York to tune
carefully, because just slight turn OF
the dial over the breadth Of a hair
would cause New York to miss the
plane. Listen for VIC" That is the
call of the Stars and Stripes.
Iverson shifted his dial slightly
around the 34-meter mark. He picked
up signal It was the characteristic
24O-cycle note OF the airplane flying
over the Antarctic.
He eavesdropped as Hanson, an old
timer in wireless, adjusted and tested
his transmitter until the electrical
meters revealed that it was operating to
perfection. Then he called VIVID, the
New York Times, 10000 miles up north
Iverson intercepted the call, which pen
Equator on its flight to Manhattan.
The transmitter on the seventeenth
door of the Times Annex flashed &c
ahead"
The plane heard the dots and dashes
from the Times transmitter. New York
was linked by an invisible channel with
Little America. Hanson said:
Congratulations on longest two-waS
communication with an airplane in
flight. Hr msg No. de airplane Stars
and Stripes to Commander S. G
Hooper, director of naval communica.
tons, Navy Department, Washington
d. c.: Sincere regards to yourself anC
Naval Research Laboratory and entire
Navy Department on occasion of long.
est aircraft communication ever es.
tablished. We are in flight, 5000 fee
over Little America, Bay of Whales
Antarctica. Fine sunny night"
The dispatch was signed Hanson
All Words Picked Up.
The transmission ended at 1928 am.
II minutes after the message reported
that the plane was about to go aloft
IverSon broadcast an acknowledgment
that all words had been picked up. NJ
repeats were necessary because Hanson
sent each word twice and the signal wa.
fairly strong, although nature tried tt
| block the record by an unsuccessful at
tack of fading.
A few minutes later Hanson ad
| vised that he was about to shift thu
planes transmitter to function on thu
65-meter wave. Silence followed. Thi.