Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-01
BYRD R|SKED ALL
IN BLIND FLIGHT.
"CIimb and Pray" June Said
as Plane Dodged in Icy
Gorge of Peaks.
CONTINUED From First Page1

Continued From First Page)
being seen through breaks in the ram
part around them.
II looked around at Mac and he was
fighting that camera all over the place"
grinned Balchen. The commander, who
had been busily watching the course
and making notes of the mountain ter
rain about them, went forward and
stood in the doorway of the pilots cock
pit so that he could confer with Balchen
and make quick decisions upon which
depended the lives of his men. The
walls of stone were closing in around
them and still the plane labored up
ward. ahead fringe of clouds lay over
the edge of the plateau where the
glacier ended. On one side little knoll
stood up above them. on the east was a
higher slope of mountain ending in the
cloud below, but far above the plane.
Everything hinged on those next few
minutes. There was no room to turn,
no assurance that there was a gap
where that fringe of clouds lay and
the plane staggering at its maximum
ceiling with the load it then carried.
squashed along sluggishly. Perhaps it
would make the grade with two or three
hundred feet to spare.
Hole Opens in Cloud.
Bernt headed for the knoll to the
west, in the hope that an up current
there would help them over, while Byrd
beside him. stared ahead at the sides
and listened to the smoothly running
motors. If one of them had stopped
then
Then, even as they watched. a tiny
hole opened in the cloud and the sur
face of the glacier could be seen. The
plane could just make it. With its final
effort, riding up the current from the
side of the knoll lit just ballooned
over" as Balchen put it. He shook
his head and smiled at the recollection
of that moment.
But the end of that long effort at
maximum height was not yet over, for
flying at 1880 feet or 10000, the
plateau stretching fiat under them and
only a short distance below, they still
had to flop along June still was
emptying gasoline and taking movies
and Mac Juggling his big camera, weigh
ing so pounds, back and forth. Their
movement made the flying more difficult
for with every change in distribution of
weight at that height that stabilizer had
to be adjusted and it was stiff from the
cold. Balchen was winding it with one
hand and pumping with the other
alternatively, shifting hands on the
controls.
Sweat Streams From BrOws.
The others begin to feel the effects
of their rapid movements at such an
altitude and, emptying the gas tanks,
made fumes in the cabin which were
almost overpowering. Sweat streamed
OF them and Mac frequently wiped his
forehead with his arm.
II could feel my heart pumping away
and was gasping for BREATH" he said,
land wondered what was the matter
with me till looked at Harold and
saw him with his mouth wide open
like a catfish gulping air. 1t was
warm in the plane all the time, so
warm that Balchen few with bare
hands the entire trip, and the others
only put on gloves when they worked
near an open window.
Clouds Hang Over Horizon.
The plateau stretching ahead of them
was covered in spots by drift snow, and
in the Southeast and for time in the
South clouds hung on the horizon.
Again things did not look SO good. If
the weather changed too soon, and it
undoubtedly was changing, they were
again out of luck. June relieved
Balchen at the controls for a while
and Bernt dumped seven more cans
of gasoline into the fuSelage tank, SO
it could be pumped to the wings or
dumped if necessary. Ahead was still
another hump which had to be crossed,
although the plane was holding its
altitude and climbing a little. The mo-
tors hummed steadily, like three cats
purring," said Balchen.
The weather and this hour of strain
on the engines made another anxious
time. 1t is difficult to guess weather
over an 800-mile course without
weather stations. That is as far as
from New York to Chicago on the mail
run, where there are emergency land
ing fields on the way and weather bull
letins for guide and where pilots still
crash when caught in fog or storms.
Ride Back on Storm.
Not only were there no weather sta
tons here but half the route was at a
tremendous ELEVATION. The radio from
the geologic party near the foot of the
mountains that the weather was clear
there was the decisive report which,
checking with the observations of the