ANTARCTIC AIRMAN

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 22, 28 January 1929, Page 9

ANTARCTIC AIRMAN

.TRANSMISSION FLYING

IN TOUCH WITH NEW YORK

United Press Association—By Electric TeloErsiph—Copyright. Australian Tress Association. NEW YORK, ■ 25th January. A record for radio and aviation was established early this morning, ■when Commander Byrd's 'plane, flying at 3000 feet altitude, conducted two-way communication direct with the "Now York Times" radio station, a distance between 'plane and receiver of 10,000 miles. It was the first time an aeroplane in flight had sent and received messages at such a. long distance.

It was 10.30 p.m. in New York when the operator, Carl Peterson, aboard the City of Now York, called the "Times," and said that Malcolm Hanson, the radio chief of tho expedition, would make a tost flight aboard tho 'plane at 5.15 p.m. in tho Bay of Whales. Reginald Iverson, tho radio engineer at the "Times" station, soon picked up the signal of the aeroplane flying over the Antarctic. "Go ahead," Iverson flashed back. The 'piano heard the dots and dashes from tho "Times" transmitter in Now York. '

Then followed an official message to Commander Hooper, of the Navy Department, Washington. "A fine sunny night here," said Hanson, on concluding. Transmission ended at 3.28 a.m. New York time, just twelve minutes after the message came that the 'plane was ready to go aloft. SPECIAL EQUIPMENT. Hanson's 'plane is equipped willi what is termed a fixed doublet antenna, reaching from the tips of both wings to the tail and into the fuselage. This is for short-wave transmission, while a trailing wire is utilised for communication on the universal commercial wave of 600 metres. The installation receives its power from an electrical generator coupled direct to the aeroplane engine. This is an innovation in aeroplane radio. The 'plane's receiver, which picked up the signals from tin; "Times" station, is a special fourvalve super-regenerative circuit for short-wave reception, designed by Malcolm Hanson, and built by the National Electric Supply Company of "Washington. So strong were the signals from the 'plane, and so slight the fading, that the "Times" operators are hopeful that they will pick up the 'plane's dispatches as the Stars and Stripes flies over the South Pole.