THE ANTARCTIC

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 21 July 1928, Page 11

THE ANTARCTIC

JT seems possible that Now Zealand will again be used as the jumpingl- - ground for an Antarctic expedition. It lias been kniovvn for some time that Commander Richard E. llvrd, the hero of a notable trans-Atlantic fliglit in 1927, and an explorer who has» made one successful trip to the North Pole, contemplated scientific work in the Antarctic.

According to a correspondent of the Birmingham “Post,” Commander Byrd has been busy- making his plans in America, and lie expects to be ready to set out from New York in the whaling ship Samson about September 10, and his venture southwards—which, incidentally, is to be the most ambitious lie has yet essayed-—will in all probability occupy Well over a year. The immediate destination of the party will be Discovery Bay, in Ross Sea, and the route as at present planned is to be by way of the Panama Canai and thence to Wellington, and in’the due southward direction.

\ The expedition lias been, organised almost entirely by the Commander, and . he proposes to take with him two extra pilots. The total personnel of the new expedition will probably be about fiity, and every member is to be a specialist. It has been a firm belief of previous explorers in the frozen seas that accurate information cannot lie made from aeroplanes, and that only satisfactory results can be achieved by the employment of lighter-than-air craft. Commander Byrd’s views do not coincide. He proposes to take three heavier-than-air machines, with which he anticipates being able to make a complete and reliable surrey of the Antarctic Continent. The aeroplanes to be taken are representative of the multi-motored and also the low-motored classes. The most important machine is to be a Bellanca nvonoplane equipped with three Wright “Whirlwind” engines, each of 290-h.p. This will be the chief observation craft, and its fuselage will have a glass floor, constructed ..’'or the purpose. A Ford aeroplane will be the second craft, andl

COMMANDER BYRD’S PLANS

this will also be fitted with reserve power units. The aerial equipment is also expected to include a small, relatively low-powered craft of the biplane type, and this will be used lor solo work over short distances. Each of the maI chines is to have an interchangeable undercarriage, to which skisi can be fit- > ted for landing on frozen surfaces and floats for alighting on the sea during the warmer periods when the ice iekls havte broken up. In this way the chief danger or flying in the Polar regions will he minimised, if not actually" eliminated altogether. The final flight across the polar circle will not. lie embarked upon until the party reaches a point some .ID-,) milt's from the South Pole itself. At that stage the machine will fly across the Antarctic basin and back without landing, and Commander Byrd hopes during the course of this penultimate trip to survey in. addition a considerable belt of territory beyond the actual polar point. For such a. nonstop flight a machine with ail, adequate radius of action is requisite, and in the craft chosen this essential is found.! During the trip the few experts who J will be selected to participate in the ultimate triumph will take readings runi. soundings,-as well as photographs and depending upon the degree of visibility prevailing when the vital attempt is made, the party intends to secure as large and as varied a collection of new facts about this little-known region surrounding the end of the earth’s axis as possible. Certainly, the thoroughness of the preparations would augur some success in this respect, for it is doubtful if a polar exploit has ever yet been planned on.such complete and workmanlike lines as this. Nothing has been left to chance, and, while the composition of the party has been settled with wisdom and insight, it will have at its command an entirely self-contained equipment with which it is thought it can contend effectively with every imaginable contingency.