U.S. POLAR FLIGHTS

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27861, 9 January 1956, Page 9

U.S. POLAR FLIGHTS

Uncharted Areas

Photographed

(Rec. 9 p.m.) NEW YORK, Jan. 7. A United States Navy Neptune patrol bomber yesterday completed a 2900mile sweep over the Antarctic—the longest Antarctic flight on record—an American Associated Press correspondent reported today from McMurdo Sound.

It was the third flight conducted by pilots of the United States’ “Operation Deep Freeze” in a series of exploratory missions over Antarctic plateaus, never before seen by man. As a result, the correspondent said, much of the white curtain hanging over unknown areas of the Antarctic quadrant facing Australia had been punctured, and thousands of miles of completely uncharted ice cap now were recorded on aerial maps. The twin-engined Neptune returned safely to McMurdo Sound after a round trip from the Ross Sea coast to the Knox coast.

The 14-hour flight carried the plane over Wilkes Land and across the Antarctic circle, skirting the area selected for a base by the current Soviet expedition to the Antarctic. [Moscow Radio reported yesterday that the diesel freighter, Ob. landed the first members of the Soviet expedition on the shores of Depot Bay during the day.] Last Tuesday, a United States fourengined Skymaster circled over the South Pole for 30 minutes before returning to McMurdo Sound. It was the third time in history that the Pole has been conquered by air. The man who did it twice before—Rear-Admiral Richard Byrd—has not as yet made any long flights on the current expedition.

On Wednesday, another Skymaster headed out into completely unknown areas of the western Antarctic and discovered two mountain ranges and a huge ice-covered plateau 13,000 feet above sea level.

The pilot of the Neptune which made yesterday’s flight. Lieutenant-Com-mander John Tobert, said he and his ciew of six found the landscape “completely barren.” Visibility was good, but the scenery had a dull sameness. “We saw nothing but a snow-covered plateau at a uniform altitude of 11,500 feet until we reached the steep dropoff to the coast. Lieutenant-Commander Tobert said. “It was just another dull trip.”