The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1945-01-05

OH northeast Sdnada, tnen
couple of hundred miles inland
on the Hamilton and Goose
rivers, out of the fogs and gales
of the coast, and you'll find one
of the most important stopping
points on the air ferry line for
combat aircraft going to Europe.
Until now, il has been under
the wraps of military secrecy.
But the part ii has played in
getting the big bombers and the
combat ships TO Europe can't be
ignored, and it may be on the
keeps, even if il is surrounded
by hundreds of miles of second
growth timber and is no place
near a railroad.
The Canadians and British pi-
oneered the field with one grav-
g. runway. over three years ago.
When the United States got into
the war the Army Air Forces
enlarged it, put in big concrete
runways and parking strips for
hundreds of planes. hangers and
shops and a complete base. The
Canadians own the field, under
lease from Newfoundland, but
Is {, joiNSnS operated TOR the
duration by Royal Canadian and
L S. Army Air Forces.
WEATHER is LICKED
When newspaper correspond
ents inspecting North Atlantic
bases of the Air Transport Com
mand arrived at Goose Bay.
they found big wide concrete
runways more than a mile long,
thanked by snowdrifts four to
six feet deep. A few days before
there had been many hours Of
continuous snowfall which had
put the drifts up to the caves
Of the one-story barracks. Goose
was closed down tight while the
snow fell and not a plane flew
in or out. Then rain fell on top
of the snow and froze. leaving
the field covered with more
than four feet of snow-ice.
AS soon as the precipitation
let up a fleet of snow-plows,
snow shovels. scrapers, BULLDOG
ers. drags. scoops and other me-
chanized snow removal appara-
tus went to work to clear the
runways. Within 70 hours Goose
was again in operation.
The fact that a major air base,
capable of handling more than
Sdu planes a day, could be put
back in operation after this
sAert period of time shows how
completely the Arctic wifMer
has been licked as a flying haz-
ard. Planes can fly on bright
sunlight above the winter over
cast, even above the storms,
without too much difficulty.
They can even fly through
storms on instruments. B u I
what ties planes down are
storms on the ground. Even far
Their south. US airports are
from time to time closed down
for periods of even longer than
~ hours by fog or blizzard or
freezing conditions.
BETTER BETS
Goose Bay and similarly To-
Gated farnorth air bases with
clear dry weather between the
storms are frequently better fly
ing bets, with more good fly
ing weather, than bases in mild
er climates. Sometimes they
don't even bother to remove
the snow at these northern bas-
es. They merely roll the snow.
packing it into ice, and land on
the solid crust.
All this perfection OF Arctic
flying weather is beautiful vim
dication for the theories ad-
vanced years ago by 1t. Col. B.
r. j. Fish" Hassell. Today as
commanding officer at Goose
Bay. he is merely seeing his
early dreams realized and get
ting a lot of satisfaction out of
it.
Back in 1923 he proposed that
the best way TO get from the
middle of the United States 20.
Europe was to fly across the
Arctic. Everybody said he was
crazy then because everybody
knew that Europe was east OF
the United States and 10 fly
north was waste of time. Fish
knew better. He says he knew
better because as a boy in school
his geography teacher had al
ways used a globe. never a mer-
Gators projection which made
the earth look flat.
Colonel Hasscll isn't predict
ing what the future of Arctic
flying will be. but he does in
dictate that il is just beginning.
He is, incidentally, pioneering
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