Evening star., 1944-11-18
BY w. H. SHIPPEN, Jr.,
Aviation Editor of The star

ABOARD AN ATC PLANE BOUND
FROM GREENLAND TO ICE
LAND, Nov. is Delayed The air
tourist of tomorrow undoubtedly
will become familiar with the ave-
some beauty and mystery of the
great icecap of Greenland, now
known only to Arctic explorers, mil
itary airmen and EskimoS.
When the weather is favorable, /
airplanes flying the Great Circle
route from New York to Europe can
pass over this strange land of snowy
mountains, icebergs and glaciers
without deviating too far north of
the shortest course. The Air Trans
port Command already is operating
bases on both coasts Of Greenland
which, some day, could serve trans
Atlantic passengers as alternate
stopovers.
Unlimited Visibility.
Our party of correspondents tour
ing ATC installations along the rim
of the North Atlantic crossed the
icecap today just north of the
Arctic Circle in sparkling clear
weather permitting almost unlimited
visibility all around the compass.
This is by no means an all
weather scenic route from New
foundland to Greenland and Ice
land. Rather, it is one which can
be selected as conditions permit on
the basis of accurate weather in
formation collected through sys-
tenn now in operation. We knew at
all times what the weather was at
various attitudes in any direction.
Our four-motored Douglas trans
port left BLUE West No. base in
Southern Greenland as the first
light of dawn whitened the snowy
headlands and climbed through a
narrow, twisting ford for altitude
to cross the pinnacled rim of the
icecap.
Illusion Provided.
The first rays of the sun strik-
ing across leagues of icy wastes
veiled by wind-blown snow pro-
vided an illusion which has fooled
many pilots new to the Arctic.
Snow sweeping across the barrens
looks from above like the top of
a cloud layer and obscures the dis
tance to the surface.
Several pilots have landed in
voluntarily with their wheels up
without knowing they were skidding
along on ice and snow until they
lost air speed. Almost a million
square miles of ice and snow has
accumulated between the coastal
ranges in ages past. Vast areas are
relatively smooth and others brok-
en- by rock walls, castles and pin
nacles that rise over 10000 feet.
Sections streaked with crevasses
which extend to unplumbed depths
have claimed many lives and are
avoided by the few explorers who |
have made successful crossings of 1
the icecap. The cracks show up
mostly around the rim, where pres
sure is forcingsice and snow through |
gaps in the mountains. At these
points glaciers creep downward and |
drop icebergs into the fjords.
Like Sahara Sands.
The winds which model the
snowy top of the icecap like the
shifting sands of the Sahara, al
ternately bury and expose the high I
dorsal fins of Flying Fortresses
downed with Lockheed Lightning
fighters in the summer of 1912. /
The bombers and fighters got I
lost in stormy weather and ran out +
of gasoline in the days when little /
was known of flying conditions in
the region and the need for tao
tical aircraft was very urgent. They
landed with wheels up as near !
together as possible on smooth |
surface.
None of the flyers was injured
and they eventually were rescued
by Coast Guardsmen who worked
their way over the mountains and
some 40 miles inland.
AS we approached the eastern
coast of Greenland, huge icebergs
were breaking from the glaciers and
floating out toward the Atlantic,
their bases sparkling a clear aqua
marine in the bright Arctic sunlight.
Cliffs of newly exposed ice glinted
blue and green, and sheet ice in the
fJords varied from dun to jet black.
Circled Out of Fjord.
On the east coast our plane low
cred between the walls of a narrow
ford for a winding approach to
ATC Base BLUE East No. 2, whose
snow-whitened runways lie between 4
the sheer, rocky walls of the coastal
range.
Leaving, we banked and circled
out of the ford, heading for Iceland
across the Strait of Denmark. The
flight lasted between dawn and dusk
C>--:-I c..