Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-16


darkness of an Alaskan night. without
a star above nor light below to
A guide him, was the narrowing ex-
perience OF Lieut.. Carl Ben Eielson,
who, as an airmaM pilot. made the first trip
ever an experimental route between Fairbanks
and McCSrath, Alaska, on February 81, 1924,
and who only recently met heroic yet tragic
death in the snow-covered Wilds of Siberia.
Like Col. Charles A. Lndbergh, Lieut.. Eiel-
son gained his first practical knowledge of n.y.
ing as an airmai pilot, and has achievements
and feats Of bravery, even under adverse cir
cumstances and In the face Of most trying
weather conditions. are emblazoned on the
pages Of the oficial records of the Post once
Department
Eielson was picked to carry the first mail by
air in Alaska because of the knowledge he had
gained of the country, its streams and terrain,
and because of his determination to make this
experiment complete success despite the
hazards and risks which he knew were before
him.
TT was on the morning OF February Il, 1924,
that Eielson started forth on his air
journey from Fairbanks to McGrath. The
thermometer registered 5 degrees below zero
and the landing field from which he took OF
was covered with feet Of snow. It was Just
GAS am. when he began his ascent
'I carried 1874 pounds of mail, . fun set Of
tools, q mountain sheep sleeping BAG, 10 days
provisions, i've gallons Of oil, snow shoes. q gun
and an AK" said Eielson in report Of his first
flight made to the then Second Assistant Post
master General, Paul Henderson, in charge Of
the Airmau Service.
MY clothing consisted Of two pairs Of heavy
wooden hose, Q pair Of caribou socks, o pair
Of moccasins reaching over my knees. one
suit Of heavy underwear, pair Of khaki
breeches. heavy shirt, . sweater, o marten
skin cap. goggles and over that . loose REIN
deer skin parka, which had hood with vol
VERNE skin around it. wolverine skin is nne
around the face because It does not frost. On
my hands wore pair of light wooden gloves
and . heavy fur mitt over them. ! found I
had boo much clothing on even when had the
exhaust heater turned on. At below zero I
was too wsrm could hy In 40 below zero
weather in perfect comfort with this outfit and
the engine heater"
The Post Once Department had perfected a
special heating arrangement for the cockpit Of
EieIson's plane. A A-inch pipe, open at the
front end was strapped on to the exhaust pipe
and run to the cockpit Cold fresh air, enter
ing the pipe became heated and on reaching
the pit was directed, through three connec-
tions, at the pilots feet, his hands, his face
or to any portion Of his body suffering from
the cold.
Eielson declared that as he took of in his
flight he noticed that his compass was of about
40 degrees on account of magnetism in his
engine. AS he was well acquainted with the
country over which he was flying, he did not
depend on MS compass except 70 follow relative
readings by pointing the plane at landmarks
which he knew.
sSeTTHE first SO miles followed the Tanana
\ River which is a fair emergency field though
the ice Is a little rough in places" Eielson re-
ported. Eat Nenana, town of 100 inhabitants,
I left the Tanana and steered across the
country. I veered to the left of a straight
course in order to follow the fiat country and
stay near the road houses which are located
on the mail trail at intervals Of some IS miles.
After an hour and a half spotted Lake
Minchumina to my right. I was then half way
between the lake and Mount Mckinley, each
of them probably 80 miles away
"I passed to the left Of the Munsatli Noun
tafns and little later saw the main Kua-
kokWim River, which followed in to McGrath
my destination. landed on the Tacotna River
at McGrath at 1i:35 am. It took me 2 hours
and SO minutes to cover the $50 miles, straight
course" It had taken q dog team from 16 to
18 days to cover the same distance.
While Eielson completed the first leg Of his
trip without mishap. he was not so fortunate
on the journey back to Fairbanks. Rather
than face a cold motor in the morning and
with q full realization Of the danger of being
caught by the early descending darkness Of an
Alaskan February night, be began the return
trip at 2:35 pm.
ct expected" said EieISon In his report, "to
get home by $40 pm. That is just at dusk.
few over Appel Mountain and hour and is
minutes later reached Lake Minchumina,
which is nearly the halfway point This was
on schedule, 50 thought was all right.
Later. passed over stream which was