Evening star., 1934-01-20
TAKES
COURAGE IN DELAY
Considers Plans of Making
Up for Setback After
Rescuing Plane.
BY DIR. LINCOLN ELLSWORTH

Leader ElIsWorth 1ransantarctlc Flight
Expedition
ABOARD THE MOTORSHIP WYATT
EARP. EN- ROUTE TO DUNEDIN, New
Zealand. January 20 (NANAD-We
are 43 miles north of where We left
pack ice on our southern journey. but
there is now no ice in sight and none
has been seen since We left the Bay of
Whales on the evening of January IA,
after reSculng our wrecked airplane
from bobbing block of ice
We are, however. about 40 miles east
ward of our southerly course and, as
Admiral Byrd on his way South along
l72 west longitude saw no pack, it seems
that this year at this season there is
not any band of pack ice across the
eastern entrance to the Ross Sea.
The Wyatt Earp's position is latitude
67.44 south. longitude 1924 east. and
1 am heading direct for New Zealand.
It is rather tough to build dream castles
only to find them shattered so easily.
but I am not dismayed by the setback
received because l realize that 10
achieve success in these latitudes al
ways means a battle.
Two Plans Considered.
have not yet determined my future
plans, but there are two possibilities
worth considering If not delayed by
the ice pack or the weather, it might
be possible to rush the damaged air
plane BY passenger ship from New
Zealand to Los Angeles, have it re-
paired at the factory, and fly it 5000
miles along the coast of the Americas
to Punta Arenas, at the Straits of Ma
gellan. where it could be picked up by
the Wyatt carp en- route from New
Zealand to the Graham Land sector of
the Antarctic.
l could expect to reach Deception
Island or farther South before the
freeze-up. establish Winter quarters and
make a flight from Graham Land to
the Weddell Sea and from there across
Antarctica to the Ross Sea early in the
Antarctic Spring. which means October
or November of this year.
Such a fight would not be longer
than our projected nonstop hop from
the Ross Sea to the Weddell Sea and
back and it would in fact cover more
new territory
If delay is experienced in reaching
New Zealand it might be possible to
have the Wyatt carp take the airplane
to Los Angeles and return with it to
the Bay of Whales for a flight next
season. But it is too early yet to say
whether I will be able to follow either
nection with transantartic flight
Byrd Offer Not Accepted.
decided 1t would not be advisable
to take advantage of offer made by
Admiral Byrd in q message received
the day we rescued our plane, the Polar
Star, from the Ice He said, You are
welcome to use my Fokker plane for
your flight It has the same Widespread
as the North Pole plane and a Hornet
engine If you accept this offer I will
also lend you personnel to help get the
plane ready for flight"
Assuming the plane offered to be the
one tested by Bernt Balchen. our pilot,
shortly after it was built, it has not
the range in still air to complete
nonstop flight from the Bay of Whales
to the Weddell Sea and return; and
even if its range in still air were sufh-
cient it would be necessary to have some
margin in case of meeting headWinds
Also, If the range were sufficient its
slow speed would mean long period In
the air, which, because Of the uncer-
tainty of the weather, would greatly
increase the hazard. Then a high
winged Fokker type machine. although
excellent in many respects, is not easy
to take care of in case of a forced
landing or blizzard 1t will be re-
membered that it was q machine Of
this general type which was lost during
q blizzard on Admiral Byrd's expedition
IN 1929.
paper Alliance, Inc, and the New York
Tmes)