Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-01-11
Rome Mechanic Tells
OF Plane Maintenance
In Antarctic Cold
(Mr. Robertson, Is the aviation
mechanic OF the Rome Antarctic
Research Erpedition.)
BY james B. Robertson

Research Erpeditton.)
BY jones B. Robertson
North American Newspaper AlIiones
RONNE ANTARCTIC BASE,
6tonington Island, Jan. 7 Delayed
With . total Of $40 hours of
Antarctic flying thus far, the flight
program Of this expedition is rapidly
drawing to a close. Our three planes
have been used extensively for re-
connaissance work, cache-laying
missions, searching for lost men,
establishing advanced field bases,
geographical exploration over un-
known areas and trimetrogon map
ping work.
A total Of SO landings have been
made in the field in order to accom-
plish the above. The program COW
cred q conservative total of approx
mately 100000 square miles Of ter
rain explored for the first time plus
. total Of approximately 100000
square miles of territory photo
graphed in over $4,000 trimetrogon
WlIlCkl WILL NC uoCu w ulhAC
new and more accurate maps Of this |
area.
Our extensive flight operations
were conducted from the main base
on Stonington Island in Marguerite
Bay. As this island is $500 feet long
and about 1000 feet wide and is
completely covered with boulders
and pebbles, which are exposed dur
ing the summer season, a suitable
landing field could not be found for
our three airplanes on arrival. d.
rectly east of the base, however, a
steep glacier slope leads to a fairly
level glacier surface from which 1t
was possible to conduct our flying
program until the bay ice was solid
enough to become our landing field.
High Winds Recorded.
The LIS, our small reconnaissance
plane, made four flights down King
George vi Sound from this glacier
airport. Glacier winds up to so
miles an hour were recorded, how
ever, and during one Of these blows,
the rudder Of the LIS was torn on.
This was our first major repair:
A special jib had to be made In
order to have the rudder perfectly
lined up with the tail, 50 that 1t
could be welded back to its original
position.
Our next Job was completely to
recover the small planes wings,
which were damaged by freak hail
storm.
The two larger planes, the Beech
craft and Norseman, were left on
the ship until later in the winter
when bay ice should be solid enough
for their operation.
Meanwhile, after installing q 49,
gallon reserve gas tank in the space
formerly occupied by the rear seat
the LIS, We made long reconnais-
sance flights to all parts Of Palmer
Peninsula. Later we used this plane
to make landings in unfamiliar areas
In advance Of our larger and heavier
planes.
CAS- Is Damaged.
As our first Cas- twin-engtned
Beechcraft had been damaged while
loading it aboard ship in Beaumont,
Tex, we secured another like it in
Panama. This plane had to be
completely winterized for Antarctic
use, involving total of 81 struc-
tural and mechanical changes.
Practically all the guides and pulleys
had to be removed, cleaned Of their
heavy grease and q lighter, nom
congealing grease substituted. The
wheels and landing gear legs had
to be removed and . special land
ing gear which would accommodate
skis installed.
The radio equipment, normally
located in the rear Of the cabin was
moved to the forward end, directly
in the rear Of the pilots seat. Two
special long-range gas tanks were
installed which raised the ships gas
capacity to we'll over 400 gallons.
ALI deicing equipment was removed
as icing conditions are very seldom
encountered in normal Antarctic
flying.
But our biggest job on the Beech
craft was installation of the tri-
metrogon cameras and their auxil-
larry equipment. Special skins had
to be made and installed in the port
and starboard sides to accommodate
the two oblique cameras as well as
In the bottom for the vertical CAM
era. A special electrical system was
incorporated 50 that the cameras
could be operated by remote control
either from the pilots seat or by our
aerial photographer, who usually sat
directly forward Of the cameras. A
Western Electric radio altimeter also
was installed with the cameras. to
register the exact altitude above sea
level Of unknown terrain. Two
shelves were built into our wheel
wells to carry all aircraft and per
sonal emergency equipment.
C-64 Equipped for Cold.
Our Norseman GA required prac-
tically no changes, since the plane
was originally built and equipped
to fly in cold climates. This ship
was used primarily for freight haul
ing and carried very large loads on
all our flights. A normal load would
be about $500 pounds, consisting
mainly of gasoline, personnel and
field equipment.
Antarctic temperatures were q
source Of considerable trouble. When
the mercury dropped to 20 or 30
below-and that was often-throttle
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