The Wrangell sentinel., 1936-02-28
ALASKAN AVIATOR REPAIRS
 MOTOR 2 DAYS ON ICE BLOCK

l ing with an airplans motor for seY- en days while standing on a cake of ice that might float out to sea at any moment, with temperatures 4O degrees below zero, is just part of the experiences recently of John nie Moore. veteran Alaskan air pil- let.
 Thirty-fiye miles out of Unalak- feet the motor blew 6 cylinder and piston. A forced landing was i'm parative It was an overcast day impossible to see what the ground was like. Pilot Moore knew the shoreline was marked by sheer em- bankments too narrow for a land ing. To the left Boring Sea gaped hungrily. The ice along the shore was a mass of gnarled chunks.
 Moore knew that the only chance for a safe landing was a little cove in which there was a space of a. bout 500 to 700 feet of smooth ice. He headed for this secluded cove and landed safely.
 Deserted DugOut
 Pilot Moore had Bob Gurtler of Flat with him. They spent that first night in a native dugout which they found near a hill. It had been deserted for years. There is no timber in that part of Alaska but it happened that in this lone cove driftwood was washed ashore. I The driftwood was gathered and bonfire built inside the dugout. The room filled with smoke but the maTOoned aeronauts, faced with 40-below zero temperature outside, liked it. They had sufficient food rations to last three to four weeks, | if apportioned properly,
 The following morning was spent in meditation as to what they would do next. In the afternoon dog team passed on the way to St. Michael with the mail. The sled was loaded so there was no room for an extra passenger. Moore fol- lowed the sled on foot over the 35 miles of snowy trails to St. Michael. Aside from stopping to make cup of tea, Moore walked steadily from o'clock in the afternoon until 9:3O o'clock that evening.
 Friday the 18th Lucky
 In St. Michael a tent, stove and more food was procured. Moore followed the dog team back to his plane the following day. He and Gurtler pitched the tent in front of the plane and by using the plane's wing covers, erected a par tial covering over the plane.
 There they worked seven days Der 4 until December December 13 Friday the 18th marking their lucky day when they were ready set off for St. Michael. All this inc the temperature was lowering between 30 and 40 degrees below .ero. The men slept on ice at night as the dugout was about half mile from the plane and that was too far to walk each night after a hard days labor The fire pot on the plane was kept going all the time and the carbon mOnoXide fumes be- came so strong in the tent that the men had to stop work and stoop down to avoid suffocation.
 A 5O-mile gale was blowing and there was the continual thought that the piece of ice on which they were standing might be blown out to sea. The tide had cracked -. ice, leaving sharp upturned edges V parties fishing or whaling in this section have found themselves out to sea toward Nome because of the strong winds.
 Rebuild Motor
 The task confronting the strand ed fllers on their ice block location was no easy one. They rebuilt the motor to operate on eight instead of nine cylinders. Because it was the master cylinder that had gone wrong it was necessary to take the parts out of another cylinder and build up the broken one. Arrange ments were then made for operat- ing the machine with one lung out of commission.
 Aviators believe this is the first time pilot has been able to rebuild motor as Pilot Moore did. When the eight cylinder motor was com- pleted the two men made the jour ney to St. Michael.
 Moore stayed at St. Michael until December 20 waiting for warmer weather, then flew to Unalakeet following the coast on to Nome where they remained until January 1o awaitinn new narts for the en-