EXPEDITION TO POLE

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 184, 6 May 1925, Page 9

EXPEDITION TO POLE

AMUNDSEN’S AEROPLANE TRIALS COMPLETED ARRANGEMENTS FOR GREAT. FLIGHT By Telegraph.—Press AssociationCopysight London, Alay 4. In a wireless message from Spitzbergen Captain Amundsen says: “By the time this article appears the aeroplane trials should be over and the ships Fram and Hobby should have sailed for the north coast of Spitzbergen, whence they will, by wireless, advise on the weather outlook. They will probably anchor near the edge of the Polar ice or alongside the ice in some fjord. “Once the aeroplanes rejoin them here we will wait, for a forecast of good weather for an extended period. When that is assured we will take off for the Pole at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, when the sun is in such a position that the shadow of the wings will not be cast across the solar compass. “The distance from the base to the Pole is 687 miles, which, if the weather is calm, should be traversed in eight hours. We will attempt the early stages at a speed of 93 miles an hour. “If a head wind arises, endangering the petrol supply, wc will cither turn back, using only one engine, or transfer the petrol from one machine to the other and all return to the base in one aeroplane. If everything is favourable, however, we will land as soon as our observations show that we are above the Pole. If we land at a distance from the Pole, the journey will be completed on skis. “We may be absent several days, making perfectly sure of our observations. If we cannot discover a suitable landing, we shall drop overboard a J\orwegian flag, and then shape a course for Spitzbergen. liven then the geographical results will not be prejudiced, because front a height of a thousand feet we will command an area 125 miles in diameter. “Tests of the apparatus to prevent the engines’ writer and oil freezing have proved most successful. We. are thus safeguarded against difficulty in starting the engines. “The aeroplane N 25 will be piloted by Riiscrlarseit and navigated by myself ; the- other will be piloted by Dietrichsen and navigated by Ellsworth. Films and photographs of the flight arc being taken.”—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.