Evening star., 1946-10-18
Air Bases Are Feasible
On Greenland Icecap,
Dreamboat Pilot Says
By W. H. Shippen. Jr.
Aviation Editor of The Star.

Clarence s. Irvine on his arrival a
Boiling Field in the Pacusan Dream
boat, after a l0,000-mile fight from
Hawaii to Egypt across North Polal
regions.
The surface of the icecap is com.
paratively level in places and shoule
be no more difficult to smooth int
runways, in the opinion of tn,
Army's long-range flyer, than Pa
cif1c island jungles, where cargo
planes crash-landed with grading
machinery and crews during the
war.
Col. Irvine feels the Dreamboa
demonstrated among other things
that extensive Arctic operations car
be carried on all year around by air.
planes now in service, especially
when navigational aides are de.
signed to fit conditions peculiar tt
: the Far North.
Decorated by Spaatz.
The pioneering mission over 9
new route for military aircraft was
discussed at press conference after
Col. Irvine and nine members Of
his crew we're decorated by Gen
Carl Spaatz, commander of the
Army Air Forces, as they stepped
from their Boeing Superfortress.
Today the crew went to the White
House to receive the congratulations
of President Truman, who told the
flyers they had done fine job fol-
the country. Col Irvine said the
President declared he had watched
the progress of the flight and he
was interested in the possibilities
of future trips of the sort.
Oak Leaf Clusters to the Distin-
guished Flying Cross were awarded
to Col. Irvine, st. Paul, Nebr.; Col
Beverly H. Warren, Omaha, Nebr.
second pilot, and Maj. Norman P
Hays, Senaca, Mo, navigator.
Oak Leaf Clusters to the Ali
Medal went to 1t Col Frank J
Shannon, Philadelphia; Mai James
R. Dale, jr., Wise, Va, flight engi-
neer. and M Sergt. Gordon S. Fisk
Appleton, Wis. crew chief.
Air medals we're received by Maj
James T. Brothers. Knoxville, Tenn.
second navigator; Master Sergt
Edward G.. Vase. Huntsville. Mo.
second radio operator, and R. B
Snodgrass, Seattle, Wash, second
fight engineer and service repre-
sentative for Boeing Aircraft.
Worlds Worst Weather.
Col. Irvine pointed out the sue
cessful fight through the worlds
worst weather at the worst season
was carried out in B-29 with al
most no special modification for
Arctic conditions.
The Superfort, the same one COM
manded by Col. Irvine year ago
on 7,929-mile nonstop fight from
Guam to Washington, had less
deicing equipment than standard
airliners flying in and out of Wash
ington.
Minus conventional rubber de-
icing boats or thermal heating units
along the leading edges, the B-29
dooged perilous icing areas which
cost the crew a bad moment when
engines began to backfre at 10000
feet over Iceland, Col. Irvine said.
During the flight of 80 hours and
So minutes, the airmen encountered
several storms and winds from many
points of the compass which were
in surprising conformity, however
to forecasts issued as long as SO
hours in advance. Avoiding icing
layers was especially difficult in the
Arctic where ground temperatures
frequently are far below those aloft
Col. Irving said.
Tense Moments in Flight.
Although less powerful than new
Superforts nearing production, the
Dreamboat took off easily from
Hickman Field on October 4 with
almost Is tons more weight than the
designers intended, Col. Irving said
: The tensest moments came after
the Dreamboat crossed Alaska and
headed over a desolation of ice and
snow with only a siX-pound dlrec-
tional gryoscope to point the way
through region where magnetic
compasses swing in wide circles and
static cuts off radio fixes on land
stations to the South.
The least flaw, like a Speck OF
dust or rust, in the delicate me-
chanism of the gyroscope, Maj. Hays
said, could have headed the Dream
boat for Boston or some other point
on the horizon.
Straining their eyes through dark
ness for the firsts hint of dawn, the
men in the office of the B-29
thought they were far off course
when the sun appeared to be rising
at an unexpected point on the horl-
zon behind a weird, green light
spreading over the Jagged headlands
and glaciers of Baffin Land.
Error" Proves Illusion.
The error proved an illusion,
however, because of a DETECTION OF
light. and the slant of the earth's
axis as it appeared at that latitude.
The gyroscope course was checked
with a solar observation and found
to be only miles off.
After running through a sta
tionary front between Iceland and
the British Isles, the Dreamboat
picked up a tail wind and crossed
to Europe ahead of schedule, al
though storms over the Mediter-
ranean, Col. Irvine said, proved as
turbulent as kansas cyclones.
Col. Irvine said the Dreamboat
required almost no servicing at
Cairo except gasoline and oil for
the return journey via Paris and
Westover Field, Mass. where the
plane landed Wednesday.
Carrying gasoline instead of ex-
plosives in her bomb bays, the
Dreamboat has been modified for
long distance missions with a REIN
forced landing gear, and a stream
lined fusilage from which gun blls-
tiers and tail turret have been re-
moved.
The distance record, however, is
still held by the Navy with flight
of more than 1000 miles from
Perth, Australia, to Columbus, Ohio
completed a few days before the
Dreamboat took off from Honolulu
Four Killed, 40 Hurt