Evening star., 1937-07-24
BY GEORGE BAIDUKOV,

pidilc
The altimeter shows 5000 meters.
We travel with a tail wind and our
speed reaches 200 kilometers an hour
Chkalovs left leg begins to pain him
again from the heights and from
fatigue, and he asks to be replaced
At $40 am. slide almost un-
willingly into the pilots seat. And as
soon as sit down feel the need of
oxygen. MY pulse accelerates sharply
and I breathe with difficulty, my
lungs taking in the air spasmodically
pull on the oxygen mask and set it
for the intake Of oxygen required for
5000 meters. This is enough to pour
fresh stream Of courage into my
body Everything goes dark before
>Valery's eyes, and he also grabs for
the oxygen. At the same time the
sea OF clouds rises higher and higher
and. in order to keep above it, I am
forced to climb to $500 meters by
10:40
At II o'clock the plane reaches its
maximum height with the given load,
$500 meters, and the slightest vacilla-
ton sends it downward. At times we
manage to break through the crests
easily. while again we are flying so low
that the plane is caught in a trap OF
clouds.
Wall Of Clouds Appears.
At one point I notice that on the
left the clouds are lower than usual.
Taking a course OF about 10 degrees
less, have the advantage Of from
100 to $50 meters over the top layer
OF clouds, and am terribly pleased.
But my satisfaction is destroyed in
20 minutes. I find myself before
wall OF clouds reaching up to $500
meters altitude, an impossible hurdle
, for our plane at that moment.
do not want to go into the clouds.
in spite of the very low temperature
80 degree below. Experience has
taught us that, even at 30 below, We
cannot always avoid the formation OF
ice. l turn back, and in another 20
minutes approach the mountain Of
clouds on the left, but that does not
help either.
Willy-nilly, have to swim into that
hell and, fixing the course at l80
degrees, I begin to fly blind. I head
into the clouds, and after every bump
the Ant-25 loses several meters in
altitude.
After an hours flying in these
clouds, q layer of ice centimeter
thick Is forming and I drop down.
ward, counting on either the swift rise
in temperature or break in the
clouds near the ground to thaW out
the ice.
For the first time in SO hours the
engine receives an unexpected rest.
Apparently because it Is not used to-
it, it begins to spatter small quantities
OF partly used fuel into the mufner.
At 5000 meters find myself beneath
the upper layer Of the mass Of faky
clouds. The temperature is close to
zero Below is still another layer Of
clouds, through a break in which we
seem to see an island But what
island and whether it is really an
island at all it is impossible to tell.
Just then something suddenly spouts
up from the forward part OF the en-
gine. The windshield in front Of me
becomes even more frosted. There
Is an odor Of alcohol. Trouble and
trouble of the worst kind. Apparent
ly, the steam-letting pipe has frozen
during a sharp turn in plotting the
plane and now, after an abrupt move,
the cylinder caps are without water.
Cold shivers run down my spine.
Chops Ice From Window.
shout with all my might for a
knife. valery. somewhat pale, hands
me a sharp one. I quickly begin to
chop the ice away, thrusting my hand
through the side window OF the cabin
and the front headlight and that way
make 4 little opening through which
can see that there is no more water
in the expansion chamber. The red
float has disappeared. I begin to
work the pump madly, but take in no
water. Could our pipe line really be
frozen, could all the alcohol mixture
be gone? push the plane to the
limit Of its speed. II only 1t drops
no loweri
Water, water-let me have water
or the engine will burn Up" I
shout to Valery.
Chkalov throws himself on the re-
serve tank and, with the help of the
excited Beliakov. begins to examine
1t. There are plenty of pieces Of ice
but not bit of water. Where to
get water?
There is drinking water in the rub
Der sack, but that also is frozen
Beliakov cuts the bag, and breaking
through the icy surface. joYously dis
covers there is still water inside They
pour the water into the tank and shout
jubilantly to me.
My pump actually draws up water,
and began to feed it into the expan-
sion chamber. Soon the float appears.
Carefully warming up the engine with
increased revolutions, gradually heat
the pipe and begin again to make
altitude, in order to get away from
the dangerous zero temperature. But.
after climbing to 5000 meters, ice
begins 10 form, and I have to drop
down again.
But now I decrease the speed only
slightly so that the exhaust collector
may warm up the steam-letting pipe
well. At 5000 meters the clouds clear
and we see some islands below us.
Ahead, as tar as the eye can see, are
large islands. In the straits is solid
Ice, rejecting many colors in a bright
mosaic pattern.
A good time to think of poetry But
three hours of stubborn struggle with
the last Arctic cyclone are not con-
ducive to thoughts of beauty.
Islands Are Sighted.
$40 pm. Ahead lot of sun. below
lot Of brown earth cut through by
many ravines and rivers. In the
ravlnes layers OF snow, and, instead
OF rivers, ice The shores of the islands
are high and steep, and they are very
like the northern part Of our Kola
Peninsula. But what are thes,
islands, Is this Greenland?
~h ,tor bo he, ,pl,{ l.