Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-07


weather which precedes the Summer,
| arriving when the warm winds come in
from the north, has been clinging to
Little America for days. AS in the
north polar regions, the best time for
flying here is early in the Summer
and this, it must be remembered, Is
| Summer in Antartica.
Day before yesterday the weather was
| fair and Comdr. Byrd learned from
William c. Cyclone" HaineS that the
slow southerly drift of air up to 10000
feet promised ideal flying conditions.
| So that night he determined to take
! off the next day on the first of the
seasons eastern exploration flights.
| He did not say anything about 1t until
on rising the next morning he found
the sky clear and a light wind from
the southwest. 1t was almost hot In the
brilliant sunshine.
He gave the word to have the plane
made ready and in an hour and half
had hoped of at 1O:49 o'clock.
He took as his pilot this time Capt.
| Alton v. Parker Of the Marine Corps
| Reserves, wiry Southerner, quick as a
cat who has flown all sorts of planes
from pursuit planes to numbering Navy
! craft.
Parker Wins Praise Of Chief.
ChpI. Edrkcr was 50 uellBhIcu AZ the
| opportunity of getting well over to the
eastward that he put on his red and
| black checked lumberman's pants. One
| could not miss him in the landscape
with those red legs.
Parker did his job perfectly" Comdr
Byrd said after the fight. II knew
what sort Of pilot he was, for he was at
| Spitzbergen with us on the North Pole
expedition. He got very low gasoline
| he 10Th Ia
| the plane as only natural flyers can"
The others in the plane, besides the
commander, were Harold June, who
alternates flying, working the radio,
! taking pictures and watching the. gas
consumption, and Capt. Ashley G. Nc
Kinley, the aerial surveyor Of the ex-
! petition.
There was little ceremony to this
take-off. 1t was just part of the days
work, although every one realized its
Importance and hoped the weather
would this time permit the important
| task to be carried out. The big plane
took of easily, and after O sweeping
turn TO the north headed straight for
SCOTS Nunatak.
Route Followed on Flight.
There was a good tail wind at the
elevation to which the plane climbed,
about $500 feet, and it was making
well over 100 miles an hour.
The plane cut across Cape Colbeck
and then across Biscoe Bay, flying at
least ten miles out to sea, where engine
trouble would have brought them down
in the water. The sea was open to
the west, blue and calm under the Sum-
mer sun, the drift ice having been
| blown north.
The Alexandra Mountains were
passed and, after penetrating a short
distance inland, the commander turned
| north, flying between the 15Oth and
l5lst meridians of longitude.
| He was then over shelf ice extendir :
out from the shore line, which was
| marked by O barrier wall similar to
the usual Barrier cliffs. Between it and
the broken pack ice was plain of shelf
ice about IS miles wide, dotted with
ice islands, their tops broken and
crevassed.
Seals on the Thin Ice Below.
The ice was thin in places and water
was seeping through 1t. At one place
place over which to fly, but IL was the
only way to map the coast or Barrier
| line.
Il looked down at that and thought,
| Wen, II we go down here we just 60
right on through like nobody'S busi-
ness, Capt Parker said.
| The air was bunny also, and the
plane was bouncing around in the cur
rents caused by the warmth of the sun.
Once the plane dropped 500 feet and
altitude control and the gasoline feed
was so finely adjusted that the motors
| began to spit
A touch of Capt. Parker's hand and
they hummed smoothly again, but it
shows how rough 1t was and 1t con-
tinued rough most Of the fight.
Rise, Peak after Peak.
The mountains had begun to loom
up at SCOTS Nunatak for the ViSi-
bility was perfect 1t was possible to
see 100 miles. When they first ap-
peared they seemed almost too good to
be true. They stretched far to the
north, and as the plane cruised along
fast with following wind they rose,
peake after peak, from the north
eastern horizon.
The commander followed them for
more than an hour, covering more than
100 miles in that time. The plane was
still far out from them, however. and
flying parallel to the range while Capt
Mckinley got the coast line.
The snoW-coVered land rose from the
Barrier edge toward the mountains,
sloping upward in rolling and smooth
fluctuations. The mountains were in
long groups, rising from small peaks
at each end to towering submits in the
center. Some of them were 10000 feet
high, judging by the way they lowered
above the level OF the plane, which was
then flying nearly a mile high.
Seemed to Hold in Plateau.
There we're breaks between the
groups, so that they appeared like long,
serrated ridges. Between them were
great slopes of ice and snow. leading
up to a plateau behind and to the
east. so that they had that characters
tic If ali the coastal mountains around
the Barrier of seeming to hold in the
almost limitless snow covered plateau
There was no doubt that they formed
the western coast of Marie Byrd Land
When it seemed advisable to turn
toward home the plane was at least
S5c miles northeast of Little America.
Far ahead could be seen the northern
end of the range, and, at some distance
out from it, what appeared 10 De 9
solitary peak or island. Anotner niano
also Law on the horizon 10 the north-
ward.
June Sure He Saw Sea.
The horizon was then more than 90
miles away, as the plane was nynS az
600 feet. and June is sure That he
saw about 60 miles off, where the plane
turned east, the blue line OF tne see
running to the eastward ano IuLning
somewhat south before disappearing
, again in the east. Att,
There seemed no doubt that TINS vast
cape was what held in that asIonisn!ne
accumulation of ice, around which ships
have had to ind their way 70 the West
when sailing out of the Ross sea Ior tne
; Bay of Wales. 1t is anchored py tne
line of ice islands of the coast
grounded ice masses which hem In the