Evening star., 1952-09-21
Star Reporter Flies
Over North Pole and
Every Way Is South
CONTINUED From First Page.>

up as thin. meandering shadow
lines.
With the advance Of winter the
nSureS now exposing open water
will close in to form solid ex-
panse OF sea ice slowly thicken-
ing during six months Of dark
ness.
It was mid-afternoon when we
made our turn-3:17 pm, Wash
ington daylight time. Yet the sun
was only 21a degrees above the
horizon. It is now S or 6 de-
grees. Other oddities give weird,
unearthly impression.
The Slanting sun (perhaps due
to the total clarity of the air be-
tween high StreamerS of cloud)
nevertheless shines on the ice field
beneath us with noon-day bright
neSS.-
In fact, we could never have
seen the sun shining on the polar
plain had we arrived five days
later. BY September 81 the sun
has sunk below the horizon, and
does not reappear until exactly
six months later.
Moon Circles Above.
There are long fall and spring
twilight periods, however. when
enough sunlight leaks over the
horizon to provide excellent visi-
hility. During the depth Of the
Arctic night, the moon and stars
provide Q strong illumination, the
pilots say.
When the moon is fun 1t circles
overhead without setting, and
goes under the horizon as it be-
gins to wane.
The North Star, being overhead,
Is no more of a guide than the
compass, even If the compass
could indicate true south from the
pola
Since all directions are south
from the pole, pilot going due
south might wind up in Spitz-
bergen, Franz Josef Land, Siberia
(of all places, Alaska or the
nothernmost fringes of the Cana
dian Archipelago.
This explains the navigator's
liking for a meridian of his own
selection. We're still riding No.
IS, we hope.
But there will be a short dog
leg to the west. F1etcher's ice
island Is out ahead, but clouds lie
thick in that direction.
White-Out Hides Sea.
Coming north we were unable
to make radio contact with the
Air Force weather station on
Fletcher's (T-3), or to pick up the
island ice cliffs by radar. Al
white-out had obscured the sur
face Of the sea.
Entering the white-out again
on the return voyage. our wing
tips are ghostly shadows in q
world quite devoid of horizons.
There is no difference in the
quality of the light between up
and down, north. east, south or
west.
1--WE might as well be flying
around in bottle of milk" gum
bled a news reel cameraman with
his lenses focused out window.
Again the radio operator could
get no response from the six men
on the ice island which is slowly
drifting with the currents some
130 miles South Of the Pole. No
contact had been made with them
for almost q week. ~
Compasses Temperamental. I
The last communication re-
ceiyed from the weather observers
asked for a new generator. When
we left the great new Air Force
Base of Thule this morning, al
transport was being prepared toI
take off with the required equip
ment.
Unable to get a fix from the
surface, the pilots were unwilling
to descend through the whiteout.
They had no means of knowing
the height of the ceiling. below.
In addition, they did not wish to
circle for fear of upsetting the
temperamental gyro compasses
while out of sight of the sun.
The gyros are given an exact
direction by lining them up with
the runway on take-off. They
must be reset after a plane makes
q complete turn. No two gyros
give precisely the same directional
guidance, and their variations
must be checked by solar observa-
tions II possible. When sun and
star shots are lacking. the riavi-
gator splits the difference between
his two pointers and hopes for
the best.