THE POLAR FLIGHT

Hawera Star, Volume XLIX, 8 January 1930, Page 9

THE POLAR FLIGHT

LATE EDITION

BYRD’S PREPARATIONS PERILS THAT WERE MET ANTARCTIC FLYING DIFFICULTIES (Copyright by Sydney “Sun’’ and New York “Times.’’) LITTLE AMERICA, Nov. 10. Landing] anywhere away from the base in this country is hazardous, particularly at times when extraordinary light conditions conceal the surface ot the snow. “Landing fifty feet up,” as aviators put it, is one of the easiest things in the world to do down , here, and it generally means a crash. In clear, sunshiny weather, when shadows are cast by the sastrugi, those wind-carved ridges in the hard; .surface of the snow, the pilot can tell his distance from the dazzling snowfield beneath him with some degree of accuracy, and on some dull days the surface irregularities stand out clearly. But on the other days of diffused light—and they are all too frequent—one cannot even see the surface beneath one’s feet, and. after stumbling over snow ridges, only by. feeling for it can it be distinguished.

The condition this creates for a pilot can well be imagined. He must stall his ship in under power, waiting whether he will hit smooth snow, rolling waves, or hillocks. REASONS FOR, DESCENT.

This danger must be faced in landing at an inland base*. 11 the plane does land there it may be for one of a. number of possible reasons —because, a. change in the weather oil the way in makes Hying over the plateau impossible, because an engine needs repairing, or merely to refuel on the return flight. The weather changes rapidly -here, and it is impossible to know what it may be 500 or 600 miles inland. M’itli perfect conditions, a cloudless sky, and winds from the south, which generally mean clear weather and good visibility, and with a favourable report from the geological party, the sky may be overcast in an hour. That matter of southerly winds also bears on the flight. II incls from the north, which would be tail winds on the way in, bring with them warmer air and moisture .from the sea and cover the sky with a canopy of cloud. Southerly winds, which usually clear the air, are head winds during the time when the ’plane is most heavily loaded.

So a perfect wind condition cannot be found. It was supposed before the balloon soundings of the upper air during the past months that a favourable northerly wind would be encountered at a high altitude, hut even if increased fuel consumption and decreased speed did not forbid climbing to and flying at such a height it has been found that the southerly drifts which clear the air frequently extend upward for two or three miles or even further. The meteorologists have found drifts from the south all the wav up to six or seven miles and hall the weight of the earth’s atmosphere lies below three miles of altitude. PREPARED TO WAIT. But, to return to the general weather r problem, Commander Byrd thinks that the chances of making a. flight direct!' from Little America to the South Pole and back to the inland base are just about even. . . He is fully prepared to land' inland if necessary. If on arriving at the mountains it is found that a shift of wind has brought clouds over the plateau or that one of the qnick-form-ing Antarctic fogs has sprung from the chilly atmosphere, he will land and wait for a clear day. ... Aside from the difficulties of na\ i-o-ating in bad weather and making suie of reaching the Pole, it would be useless to go on, because an aerial uurvey with a mapping camera coukl not be made, and it would be impossible to determine the extent of the mountain ranges from the vantage point of the ’plane. , ~ ~ Going it blind in bad weather would not only be a foolish risk but would also be unproductive ot anything vainfl 1)1 P •SUDDEN FOG BLANKETING-

The rapidity with which the weather changes iiere is almost inconceivable to those” wlio have not experienced it. "Why such sudden changes take, place is still one of the mysteries ol meteorology. But they do occur. . A* clear sky from which the sun shines down warmly on a sharplydefined snow-scape of dazzling white may change in a moment. Even a-s one looks, the air becomes opaque. Thicker and thicker the blanket of mist forms, until in a few nun-j ntes it obscures the sun and ludes the) barrier surface in a filmy veil which blends snow and sky. The horizon vanishes. A pilot caught in such a predicament is helpless. The pilots here saj that it is worse than flying bund in any fog at heme. There some shadows show where the earth lies lielow, but here there a.re no shadows, and what is sky and what is earth is impossible to tell. One seems flying in a. great void as if the world were not. There is no earth, only the instruments which show] that the ’plane is on a level keel assure the pilot that somewhere beneath him is something solid. But his altimetei gives him only a. rough estimate of how far below him the surface may be, for the altimeter reads from sea level. UNCERTAINTY OF DESCENT. Jf lie knows approximately the elevation of the surface beneat-n him, be may feel his way down, stalling, stalling downward in expectation ol feeling a crashing jar as skis touch the sort ace. And then it is ill the lap l <d tile gods whether he finishes right side uji. Such conditions, ol course, are extreme, but they must he anticipated, and they show how important it is to choose the best possible day for a flight, and, if bad weather is encountered during the flight, to wait on the way until it. clears. Blizzards come up witli astonishing •suddenness. One day recently a big blizzard appeared in a very short time. At noon the sun was sbining so warmly that one caulcl walk around outdoors witnout cap or gloves and not be uncomfortable. There was not a- breath of air. An hour later the sky was overcast and it began to blow, gently at first. In a, short time it was blowing twenty miles an hour, and the- snow was drifting thickly. PEIBJL OF MOTOR FAILURE. One of the greatest dangers on tlie flight is motor failure. So long as

the 550-horse power motor m the co-gc of the ’plane keeps turning, w, provide sufficient power over the plateau to make up lor the. failure ot one of the smaller wing motors particularly as the load will have decreased considerably by this time. If the big motor quits, gasoline will be dumped and the ’plane may be able to maintain altitude aud stagger out over the edge of the plateau. Tor this reason it is probable that the ilight over the plateau will he made at the maximum service ceiling of the plane which will give the, greatest nuygm of -safety in case of a loiig-stretehed-out glide. , xl And paradoxically enough, the neater to the Pole motoir failure occurs on the way in, the greater i-s the chance of flying out, because of the reduced fuel load. . . , , It is even possible that if the plane were forced down to the surface of the plateau it .could be taxied for a long wav toward home, reducing by that much the distance to be walked, manhauling a sled. But the chance-si are that the motois will hum merrily all the way, as they did on the North Pole flight, the transatlantic flight, and the tran-s-1 acme flio-ht of the Southern Cross. Threemotored ’planes have a good record ol reliability.

However, this polar flight -is not so .simple as it might appear. The more it is examined m all its phases, the more complicated it becomes, and it haq accounted for many weeks which Commander Byrd has spent this winter over his desk, working out problems of load, weather, bases, and navigation. . If it is successful, it- will be only because all possible conditions ifffive been anticipated. , The material taken m the ’plane on Commander Byrd’s polar flight consists largely of supplies and equipment which might bei needed in. the event of a forced landing. If it were not that this contingency remote, it is hoped—must be provided for, the load would be lighter. So, most of the supplies which are being taken are for this purpose, sledges, food, clothes, cooker, and even emergency radio and medical equipment Food is the heaviest item in the list, as enough must bo taken to provide for four men for three mouths. It weighs about 800 pounds. Then comes clothing, weighing about 300 pounds; camping equipment, weighing a little over 100 pounds- travelling equipment. including sledges, weighing 95 pounds; navigation instruments weighing 20 pounds; radio gear, weighing 68 pounds; and medical equipment, weighing 4 pounds. Commander Byrd -has gone over these lists time- and again this winter, consulting with various, members of the expedition most directlv concerned to make sure not only that nothing essential is overlooked, but al-so that the amount to be taken might be brought down to the minimum weight. Tilings have -been taken out of original containers and put in lighter containers. reduced in every way consistent with safety. A forced landing on the plateau would mean a, -long walk home, and Byrd has made his plans to meet this extreme emerge/ncy. FOOD FIRST ESSENTIAL.

Food is, of course, the most vitally important part of the emergency equipment. Man-hauling is the baldest kind of work, and a ration on which men can keep their strength and still pull sledge-loads must not only be sufficient in quantity but contain necessary nutritional elements. The emergency ration for the ’plane consists of peinmican of the same kind used so successfully by Amundsen and used by the trail parties of the Byrd expedition; biscuit containing many valuable food elements, powdered milk, sugar, peanut butter, bacon, condensed soup, rolls, raisins, tea, cocoa, chocolate and salt. This ration will provide 36 ounces per man per day, and enough is being taken to sunnrt four men for three months. The clothes have been selected also to meet all conditions on the trail, and Commander Byrd made up liis list after experimenting all winter and also using tlie experience of men who have been on the trail.

Each man will have a fur parka and I'm- pants, sleeping hag. woollen parka, woollen pants, light windproof pants and parka, windproof shirt, woollen underwear, sweater, fur hat, woollen helmet, iscarf. mukluks, ski hoots, canvas hoots, caribou socks. mocassins, woollen socks, windproof socks, mitts of several kinds, face masks, safetv belt and pulling harness: also towel, sewing kit. knife, snow glasses, crampons. compass. and a few other articles.

This clothing has been varied so that after a dav of polling and becoming soaked with perspiration the men may put nn drv clothing and so far as possible avoid the wet which has made polar travel so urcomfortable and even dangerous. TR A VEER TN 01 EDIT PME NT. The camping outfit consists of a tent, a czegka-cookor using a primus stove, aluminium soup howls, enamelled cups, wooden spoons, primus stove cleaner, needles, 10 gallons of gasolene for the stove, boxes of solidified

alcohol tablets to light the stove, matches, snow knife, saw, shovel, ice axe and wire.

The travelling equipment consists of two sledges and canvas tanks to hold the loads, sled meter, rawhide sails for sleds, bamboo poles to be used crossing crevasses, skis and ski poles, | straps and repair gear for the skis, oils pair snow-shoes, three lengths of alpine rope with knots and loons, and smoke bombs for signalling. Tlie navigation equipment comprises a Bumstead sun compass with pelorus for use on a iake staff, binoculars, pocket aneroid barometer, two thermometers. dividers, ruler, protractor, four watches on Greenwich mean time, triangle, ezegka position compass, azimuth and line of position tables, nautical almanac, four charts, note book, lead pencils, sextant, and oil for horizontal horizon. The sewing kit contains needles of various kinds, safety pins, pins, awls, wax. darning wool, twine and several kinds of threads, cloth to patch windproof and hide and fur to patch mukluks and cloths, leather marlin-spike, sailmaker’s palm, one-eighth inch lino, and wool for repairs. The radio equipment consists of a transmitter, another transmitter _ for the radio compass, antenna, receiver, storage battery, radio helmets and spare parts. The emergenev radio gear, to he taken on the sled if necessary, consists of a -portable transm itter-re-eivor. -storage hattorv. hand generator. antenna wires and insulators. This set. with snare parts, weighs OP pounds, and could bo used for coinmimieatiiio not only with the base, but. u-it}] tlie geological dog-team party at the mountains.