The Washington times., 1937-06-21
A|RNEN
READY TO HOP
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day. The 5s0-mile flight down
the Pacific CaoSt to San Fran
cisco will be made in the plane
Troyanovsky chartered to speed
him here. .......
At no time during their history
making trip were they in danger.
according to Chkalov.
Speaking through an interpreter
to General Marshall, he said:
"Ice formed on the wings
once, but we expected that and
it soon melted"
Chkalov made q significant
gesture with his right hand, indi'
eating that the ice was the least
of their worries. Co-pilot Baidu-
koff and Navigator Beliakott
shrugged their shoulders.
Tense Drama Is Told
Taciturn and grizzled, the three
revealed the tense drama behind
the radio silences that kept mil
lions on two continents breath
less for further news.
They declared:
"Never once in all manner OF
weather were we off our course
or lost. At times the Arctic tenn
perature sank IS low Is 81 de-
RreeR below zero, Ice coated the
windows Of our plane heavily,
but we were never lost. No, not
even In the blind flying. The
excellent cooperation given by
Signal Corps radio men was
wonderful"
They added:
"Once, we reached rs far
south as Eugene, Ore. Low
hanging clouds and rain became
steadily worse. We knew then
we could not arrive at our
planned destination"
PiloL Valeri Chkaloff then put
his arm around Gen. George c
Marshall, Of Pearson Field, hi
host, and drew q finger along 9
map.
Doubled North, Then South
Turning to the interpreter, Koz
metsky. Chkaloff said:
"There, is Portland. We flew
back here, and then as far north
Is Tacoma. But we tried again.
Yes, and turned south again.
We thought we might get
through this time"
Again he pointed to a dot on the
map marked Vancouver, and said
1--WE saw this green landing
field, and landed"
Dressed in knee length muklukS
heavy sweaters, wool trousers ano
sheepsAin lined flying jackets, the
three aviators looked at each
other and grinned when Genera,
Marshall suggested they might
like a breakfast, then clean pa
jamaS and sleep.
Water Supply Frozen
Interpreter Kozmetsky had no
finished when all three nodded
Chkaloff clasped his hands to
gether in a resounding smack ant
his eyes frightened. The flier
continued:
ave had to suck on ice dur
ing mart Of the trim, Our water
supply frOze solid. This COgnaC
is much different"
Offered whiSkey on their ar
rival, the filters asked for watel
instead, then cognac.
''What was the most danger
Gus part Of our trip?"
The trio conferred, and an
swered:
South Of the North Pole,
when heavy ice formed on the
windows Of the ship. 1t did not
stick to the wing. But the win
dOws! They were SO thickly
coated, visibility was zero!"
Fog Bank Encountered
Pilot Chkaloff added:
"CO-pilOt BaidukOff quickly
put more resistance into our
heat-cOiI and raised the tempera-
ture of the interior to such an
extent that the ice was melted"
Chkaloff again traced his fin
ger along the atlas on the generals
desk. Through Kozmetsky, he ex
planned:
Here, over Queen Charlotte
Island, we could neither climb
over or get under q bank of fog
that began freezing on our wings
and fusilage. We climbed as
high as $4,000 feet. Then we ran
out Of the fog before the ice
coating became heavy. Cold and
Cramped? No, not at any time.
Our quarters inside the cabin
are large.
eve had $50 miles of flying in
our gas tanks. OH line trouble
did not force us down."
All three emphasized this fact.