HISTORIC FLIGHT

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 83, 18 January 1930, Page 3

HISTORIC FLIGHT

OVER THE SOUTH POLE.

BYRD'S THRILLING START. TORCHES TO WARM ENGINES: (By Russell Owen, Copyrighted, 1928. by the "New York Times" Company and "St. Louis Post-Dis patch." All Rights for Publication Reserved throughout the world. Wireless to "New York Times")

(United Press Association—Copyright 'LITTLE AMERICA, Antarctica, ' ; December 3.

A huge grey 'plane slipped over the dappled Barrier, the sun gleaming on its sides, reflecting in bright flashes from its metal wing and whirling propellers, and with a smooth lifting movement rose above the snow in a! long, steady glide. Once in the air, as if liberated from the clinging influence of earthly things, it became suddenly light, a true bird of the air, and with its three motors roaring their deep song it turned southward and was gone into the wilderness of space over a land of white desolation. Commander Bvrd had started on his 1600-mile flight to the South Pole and back, a flight aver' rolling Barrier, through gaps in towering mountains, where the wind whirls in buffeting eddies, and on over that lonely Polar Plateau, the loneliest spot on earth, where somewhere is a tiny, invisible point which, with all his navigator's cunning, he is attempting to reach. The flight came, as does everything here, with thrilling effect. Here, more than anywhere else, flying depends on the weather, and the ,genius of the winds brooding over the mysterious heights above us had teen idly .stirring the conflicting elements into shirting" winds and clouds which blocked the way. nil Then, as if by magic, a deep -hush spread over the rolling plain, shining cream and rose coloured under the flowing rays of a sun so bright in this translucent atmosphere that it seemee 1 to (ill half the sky. ]t was as if Nature said, 'T uiive/ done my part now; there is peace hefore you." ' . , In the glittering silence of such a day, for morning, noon, and midnight are all the same, men scurried busily about, intense with excitement. They knew that s the moment had come "for which they had worked for more than- a year, in black, isolation and in cold that seared and burned, in winds that shrieked and hid the earth in sliroud of numbing and bewildering drift. There was elation in their quick movements, confidence and. eagerness. If they could have done so, they would have pushed the heavy 'plane, oft the ground with their own determination. . Mechanics hurriedly looked with skilled and careful eyes where the huge metal machine rested on the snow like a ponderous big confident bird. It looked so strong, so graceful, even in its bulky outlines, so strange in their environment, as if in itself it had the will to conquer. How different riding this machine from the way men have toiled with aching bodies and troubled minds over the treacherous surface of the snow above which this great creature soars so easily! . . It is hard to believe, as it wheels in graceful curves with long sweeping dips of its wings, that it is not a conscious entity. One never tires oi watching it—is it because it is so out of place here or because in tin's lost land it becomes a prehistoric denizen of the air, this its natural abiding place which by accident we have discovered? x It had come through so many hazards, had been watched with such jealous care. For 10,000 miles it had been transported, through tropics where the sun scorched it and, the sea tried vainly to corrode its metal j members.

It had been lifted and dropped into holds of shins and to docks, hauled ashore in sections on a crumbling shelf of ice with disaster momentarily ahead, and then left to hibernate a long winter njght while the cold closed in around.

Then the day came when it was brought nn into the light, a complete machine, nut together with blistered fnurers and lor.g hours of toil and. with its encines growling a note of satisfaction, had taken the air to soar in its own element. Prepared far the Flight. Those watching the big 'plane being made ready for the flight thought ol all this as they stood by. How much it meant to all who have lived here and worked for this day can hardly ,be imagined by those back home, who can never picture this land as it really is, cold, beautiful, but treacherous, and implacable in its resistance. This seemed the way to conquer it. The 'plane had. been loaded for the flight long before the hour came when the word was given to start. Men bad stowed away in its big cabin food and clothing, extra cans of fuel to be poured into the fuselage tank; sleds had been tucked away in the tail for use if bv some mischance the 'plane faltered on "the way and sought a resting place far inland. Over all the preparations Richard Byrd watched, wrapped in his fur clothing that will keep him warm when taking sights through an open window in temperathres far below zero. * The tiny tables on which he will do his navigating were in place, and his instalments, the sextant securely in its case, the compass lashed in a corner where it is free from deviation.

The radio operator, his chunky figure also wrapped in fur. face* smiling above the thrust-back hood with its rim of soft brown fur, had tested his instruments, made sure that all the means of keeping not only the anxious men here ..at tiie base, but those at home, informed of the 'phne's movements, were in good condition. The aerial surveyor had placed his bulky camera, with its paraphernalia, over' which he will work so rapidly from the time the 'plane leaves until it comes back. One must work quickly and without mistake on such a flight, mind and fingers co-ordinated perfectly that there be no hesitation or lost moments which can never be filled in. The engines were warmed by torches placed under long snouts that reached down from the canvas casing about the. entire motor. Thev were made during the past winter, carefully made, so that they would do the work safely and in the quickest possible time. One bv one they were removed and mechanics with a long crank turned the inertia-starter, spinning it faster and faster until it whined with a shrill sound. They lumped back, one of them thrust home the starting pin which engaged the motor, and with a few jerky movements of the propeller the

cylinders and roared. • Soon all throe engines »4)c tinning over smoothly, and the pilot, sitting in the cockpit, his lace tense and watchful, opened them wider and wider until the whole 'plane shook and trembled under their pull. He throttled them down to idling speed, slowly tested them again at various speeds, and when not a cough or miss in the smoothly whirling mass of machinery showed that they were functioning perfectly, ho nodded his head and smiled. It was a smile of deep satisfaction ; the rhythm of those shrieking masses of steel and aluminium was a music which gave him an inner content too great for words. * On them his life and the lives of those with him might depend; but even beyond this knowledge there is to be noticed in all men who love the air and know their motors a feeling that might almost be called artistic. To them an aeroplane in perfect condition is a well-timed instrument, with a definite and true note. Weather Conditions Gcoo!. Everything was ready. | iiyia uiuicd. ior a leu moments witJi cycione i .milium cj iiaines, lire -stiiiot meteorologist, and with me indications that tne weather was iair ior a long instance iiuana, ana report irom liie geological party tliat mere vvere no custuroances wliere it was, everytning possible was known. . Wnat conditions miglit be over the Plateau was yet to he learned. That was an unknown quantity, the one tiling on which Commander Byrd must gamuie, although if the weather is bad,

ne can land >t the inland base ana wait for the skiies oyer the Plateau to clear.

There was a short conference between him and the crew. "Let's go" was everyone's feeling. They were eager to be off, every man of them showing it in his face, his quick movements, his pre-occupied expression.

There were few handshakes, for Byrd, like most pilots, dislikes lastminute farewells; pats on the back for the others, and the furred and bulky figures climbed into the 'plane. The door was slammed.

The pilot waved his hand and opened his 'throttles wide to break the 'plane loose irom the snow, while mechanics in the wind blast, the snow whirling about them so as almost to conceal them in its smother, loosened the skits of the heavy machine, and it jerked forward and slipped smoothly over the ground. Carefully it was turned and taxied up to one end of the field. The flying field lies in a sort of hollow, a long, fairly level surface with the scattered materials of the camp, and. its snow-buried houses on one side and on the other a long slope. This was apparently at one time an indentation in the Barrier, a sort of hay, and it has been built up through the years until now it is SO feet above the water, but still some distance helow the top of the Barrier. At the end of the runway, although beyond where the 'plane leaves the ground, was a line of "haycocks." The whole field gleamed under the sun, dappled in patches of grey and cream colour, • where the snow lay soft, or blown hard and crushed by the wind. A few little ridges, only inches high, ran across it, throwing %rey shadows in the line of the general wind direction. ' Turns, and is off to South. At the end of the field oil the side of a slope up to the edge of the Barrier the 'plane was turned about and the pilot opened her up.

The motors burst into a crescendo of sound, from a low growl to a deeptearing note. The propellers flashed in circles of fire as the sun hit their invisible blades.

The 'plane began to move and the group of men standing on the snow oblivious to cold, watched like statues. Easter and faster the great machine shot forward, its wing clipping slightly as the skiis met inequalities in the surface.

it seemed an age, although it was but a few moments, before it was sliding with terrific speed, and so smoothly that it was almost imperceptible. The skiis lifted and a small space showed between them and the snow.

Then the big ship leaped into life, and, despite its heavy load, soon lifted high above the held and a hill bevond.

A long, smooth glide outward, and then a slow turn. The great wing grew smaller, the sound of the motors a muffled bum out of the sky.

It diminished rapidly against the clear blue above it, became a thin dark line, graceful as a soaring gull, and then, as eyes strained after it, it vanished into the silent South.