Evening star., 1934-01-15
ELLSWORTH SAVES
DR|F TING A|RPLANE|
Shelf of Ice Breaks, Setting
Damaged Polar Star
AdOat ON Waves.
DIR. LINCOLN ELLSWORTH.
Leader, Ellsworth Transantarcttc Flight Ex
neditiOn.

Leader, Ellsworth Transantarctic Flight Ex-
pedition.
ABOARD THE MOTOR SHIP
WYATT EARP EN- ROUTE FROM
BAY OF WHALES TO DUNEDIN, New
Zealand, January 14.-(By Wireless.)-I
We have rescued our damaged plane.
the Polar Star, from bobbing slab OF
ice in the Bay of Whales and are on
our way back to Dunedin.
1t was a narrow escape from COM
plete disaster when the shelf ice broke
up suddenly and the skis Of the Polar
Star slipped through crack in the ice.
Our ship was cast adrift. The wings
of the plane kept it from falling into
the crevasse until 10 of the crew. work.
ing manfully under the direction of
Bernt Balchen for six arduous hours,
hauled it back to the surface of the ice.
For hours the Polar Star drifted on
a heaving slab of ice, less than go feet
long. 40 feet wide and about is feet
thick. We rescued it in the nick of
time, as the waves were eating into the
ice block and hoiSted it with ships
tackle to the deck of the Wyatt carp.
The machine in which Balchen and
I planned 3,000-mile nonstop trans
antarctic flight to the Weddell Sea and
return now lies dismantled once again
In the hold of the Wyatt carp.
The rescue was effected without fur
ther damage to the plane. but the dam
age she sustained between the pieces of
shelf ice was considerable and, for the
time being, vital to her flying. The
stream lining about the skis was badly
crumpled. both skis were broken square
across just in front of the metal pedes-
tails, the right aileron was twisted be-
yond repair and 3-foot section of the
leading edge of the right wing tip near
its Juncture with the center section.
was battened at almost right angles to
its normal curve. But worst of all the
repair point of view is the crushed part
of the fuselage at the rear of the fill
leted section of the right wing.
We might make new streamlining an
aileron and skis out Of the material we
carried aboard for emergency, but with
out special jigs, which were far too
cumbersome to carry aboard ship, it is
impossible for us to repair the fuSelage
and the wing.
Since the time it will take to effect
repairs will make it too late to return |
to Antarctica this season, it is probably |
advisable to return the machine to the
factory at Los Angeles. Apparently
nothing can be done this season. not !
withstanding our supply of repair ma
terial and the kind offer of Admiral
Byrd for the use of his facilities. How !
ever. future plans for the time being
must be held in allegiance, although this !
setback has only made our desire to |
fly across Antarctica more determined. |
Plane Rides on Swell.
Once hauled to the top of the ice, |!
the plane rode securely throughout the ,
day Friday and that night OH a swell !
that seemed to have its origin far /
beyond the sheltering point of the BAR
rier. The barrier forming the east
ward side of the Bay of Whales, about |
40 feet above the water. is probably |
300 feet thick. But the swell on Fri |
day seemed to come beneath it, or per-
haps from it, since on Saturday we
noticed it rising and falling a foot or |
more
The wind and current on Friday set !
up circling motion to the broken shelf !
ice and by o'clock Saturday morning, !
although the plane was about a mile
inside the edge of the same hour Fri |
day, it had been borne to the edge of
the milling mass, and from there we
rescued it.
Throughout Friday night and Satur-
day the booming of the barrier like ,
distant claps of thunder, was MAIN |
tanned and many sections at the edge |
OF the bay and westward were seen to |
fall.
There were many sudden happenings. !
At O'Clock Saturday morning the !
wind, which had been blowing moder- |
ately from the northeast for three days, |
suddenly within five minutes changed
to the southwest, bringing with it snow
squalls and fog but by o'clock the
fog lifted. 1t was then that the Polar
Star, glistening in the sunshine, was
h, oF fL<
All hands were called and the snip
cautiously approached the tip of the |
fitting ice mass. Tho waves. eating into !
the ice, were alreC undermining the
skis of the plane a.-d we were just in
time to save it.
As we drew alongside the bobbing |,
block Of ice, several men jumped from !
the ship to the ice and made lines fast
to anchors already prepared. The ships
tackle was soon fastened to the planes
hoisting lines and in 10 minutes she was
safely slung aboard ship and our small |
gear, which lay about her, was re-
covered.
Plane Had Been Moved.
The night before. the plane had been |
removed some distance from the edge of
the ice. Immediately after the ice broke
the plane rested on fairly large sec
ton, but before the men could reach it !
the ice had parted directly beneath one |
of the skis and the machine slipped
sideways into the crack. Then. as the
foes heaved and worked with the pres
sure of the sea, one big section of ice
was forced from the tail of the plane
toward the nose, gripping the skis as
If in a wise and exerting a tremendous
strain on the right wing.
A tube and fabric machine would
have been crushed Immediately. But
the streamlined metal section of our
Northrop proved its tremendous strength
and took the weight of the plane. AS
the foe crushed in the whole plane was
slowly forced up from the vise-ike grip
Of the ice.
BY now the men had tackle fast to
the tail skid. AS the ice pressed for
ward they heaved and heaved until
finally the machine slipped out on an
even keel She was drawn to the CEN
ter Of the ice. ,
It was with difficulty and no little