Evening star., 1935-11-20
ELLSWORTH antarctic Flight
Rated One of Most Hazardous
BY RUSSELL OWEN.

AltdICLlC
NEW YORK, November 20 (N.A.N.A.).
Lincoln Ellsworth's flight across the
Antarctic continent is probably the
most dangerous bit of exploration
which could be attempted in that des-
olate land. He must depend on the
perfect functioning of his engine, must
take the chance of ice forcing him
down. or Of being caught in storms
of which he will have no warning,
because his proposed landing place
is now deserted and he must navigate
for long distances over territory where
nobody has even been, handicapped
by the vagaries of the magnetic COM
pass in high latitudes.
If he succeeds he will have per-
formed a feat which can only be &C
complished with great good luck, a
flight comparable to that which Sir
Hubert Wilkins made across the North
Polar Sea from Alaska to Spitzbergen.
Ellsworth has the advantage of being
able to land on the frozen surface in
an emergency, either to wait for q
storm to blow by or to repair his en-
gine. but experience has shown that
landing plane in the Antarctic Is
accompanied by many complications
and danger.
The great thing in Ellsworth's ia.
vor this time is that he found q suit
able starting place early in the season,
before the snow surfaces of the Far
Northern Archipelago became softened
by the Summer sun. At this time of
the year, also, he is less likely to en-
counter the fogs and quick forming
clouds in the interior which make
flying there impossible for long in
tervals.
Bay of Whales Foggy.
His greatest handicap is that he has
no way Of determining the weather at
the Bay of Whales, his goal, and, in
the past. pilots have found it difficult,
even with the aid of radio guidance,
to reach and land safely at that often
foggy spot. Unless he has sufficient
fuel at the end Of his long flight to
turn around and get back into the
clear interior, he may find himself
caught in a position where he can
only feel his way down to landing,
with no indication Of what the surface
is below him. And so quickly does
the sky become overcast for long dis
tances near the Ross Sea that even a
hasty flight toward the interior might
not extricate him.
The reason for this danger is that
when fog sets in, or the sky Is heavily
overcast, 1t is impossible to see the
surface Of the snow. 1t is a condition
which exists in the barren lands Of
Northern Canada and in a few other
places around the North Polar Basin,
where the terrain is fat and land
marks are obliterated. But in the
Antarctic the entire surface, except
in the mountains, is white and when
the sky is covered with low clouds
nothing shows below in the diffused
light and often pilots of Admiral Byrd's
expeditions were prevented from flying
out to sea only by glimpse Of a
SldAOW DCAUW tAlCll AAdA hAl6 OpCAl
water at the edge of the barriH.
Ellsworth's course Is almost a
straight line between Dundee Island,
where he takes off, and the Bay Of
Whales. It will carry him over about
900 miles of territory which has never
been seen and should extend to the
east the survey Of the plateau and
mountains explored by Chief Pilot
Harold June Of Byrds last expedition.
When June was forced to turn back
he could see high, isolated mountains
along the coast to the east and many
peaks farther inland. North of them
was a plateau which apparently
reached an altitude of 5000 or 1000
feet and extended to the Queen Maude
range, at the southern edge of the
high polar plateau.
Trough Theory Held Disproved.
Ellsworth's original intention was
to determine whether there was
frozen strait or trough south of the
Queen Maude range, and running be-
tween the Ross and Weddell Seas.
But the discoveries by Byrd and June