Evening star., 1929-11-30

tanks when it left and what ground
speed it was making.
There was some gloom as the slow
progress inland was recorded and then,
as long interval came between mes
Sages before the Pole was reached,
every one wondered what was keeping
June so busy.
Finally came the message that the
plane was in the vicinity of the Pole,
and there was a sigh of relief and men
lay down on their hunks and tried to
get little sleep.
ReaSsured by Whine Of Radio.
The whine Of the planes transmitter
from the loud speakers in each house
was reinsurance rather than an an
noyance, and II the sound had ceased
probably evey one would have started
up instantly. AS it was, the fluctua-
tions in the signals made sleep almost
impossible.
The other two expedition pilots in
camp, Capt. Alton U. Parker and Dean
Smith, were flying the plane all the
way. showing by their tense expressions
how they were linked with the men in
the cockpit of the Floyd Bennett. fight
Ing their way through the mountains.
One man lay down on a wooden
bench under the loud speaker and went
to sleep. and when the signal strength
died down at one time he jumped up as
II pricked with q pin. It was an
anxious night in camp, for every one
here realized what those men in the
plane were facing in their climb
through the riffs in the mountains.
Weather Improves as Plane Speeds.
There was a pleasant omen in the
weather, however. It had been some
what overcast to the north when the
plane took off and there was a strong
wind, but William c. (Cyclone) Haines
and Henry Harrison, the meteorolog-
lists, after taking balloon runs and re-
ceivi.fg' Ecrd from the geological party
inland as to the conditions near the
mountains. decided that the flight
could be made.
After the plane started the conditions
steadily grew better and there was
dead calm at Little America and clear
sky with only thin line of sea smoke
to the north over the sea. Better land
Ing conditions could not have been
asked for.
Byrd Sets Daring Course.
In the meantime the plane had taken
off at the mountains and Comdr. Byrd
few east for time so aS to see over
into Carmen Land. Then he set q
course for Little America and, in addi-
tion to navigating all the way, new
the plane himself for a time.
BY starting so far east Of the course
for the camp he placed himself out of
reach Of any aid from the flags laid
down by the geological and supporting
parties on the dog-team trail
There was constant tendency to fiy
to the east. but Comdr Byrd was sure
that his course lay farther west and
held the plane In that direction.
He hit the trail about 40 miles north
OF Little America, on q direct course
for the camp, and word was sent in
from the plane that they would arrive
In a short time.
Everybody here tumbled out of the
houses and clustered on the snow near
the Fairchild plane, where two deep
trenches marked the resting places of
the Floyd Benefits skis.
Great Dream Is FULFILLED.
They watched the horizon. After
what seemed to be hours q thin line
appeared in the Southern sky and grew
rapidly to the size where 1t could be
identified as the plane.
With a tail wind 1t came booming in,
flying high and then sliding down
rapidly to a few hundred feet over the
camp. The men below waved their hats
and cheered, jumping up and down and
yelling with joy.
The plane crossed the camp at 8
minutes past 10 o'clock and two minutes
later had made a wide circle over the
bay and landed. 1t TAXED up to its
resting place, mechanics beckoning to
Balchen and June in the cockpit to
steer them, and slid into its hole.
One of the most difficult flights in the
history of aviation had ended and the
conquest of both Poles by air had been
accomplished.
The adventurous thought born in the
mind of a young Virginian several years
ago had been fulfllled--the North At
lantic had been spanned and the North
and South Poles encircled by airplanes.
and the st. Louis Post t-Dispatch. All
rights for publication reserved through.
out the world.