OVER THE SOUTH POLE

Hokitika Guardian, 2 December 1929, Page 6

OVER THE SOUTH POLE

BYRD ARRIVES BY AIR

A GRAPHIC STORY

(By Russel Owen.— Copyrighted 1929 by tire New York Times Com pa by and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. All rigli ts for publication reserved throughout the world. Wireless to New York Ti mes.)

NEWS FROM THE POLE. PLATEAU ALMOST LIMITLESS. [Suited Press Association.—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.] SOUTH POLE, Saturday, Nov. 30. Commander Byrd reports:— “By my calculations we have reached the vicinity of the South Pole. We are flying high for a survey. The aeroplane is in good shape. The crew all well.” “I am now turning north again. We can see an almost limitless Polar plateau. We are departing from the South Pole at 1.25 o’clock.”

those knolls, picking wind currents to help us, and there was not more than three hundred feet under us. At times we were just staggering along with drifts and clouds around us.” It transpires that when the plane approached the mountains on the route south, Byrd picked out the line of a glacier somewhat west of the Axel Iliberg Glacier as the best passage-way. High mountains shut them in all round as they forged their way upward. Balchen was conserving his fuel to the utmost, coaxing his engines, and picking up the currents of air as best lie could to help the plane ride upward. Clouds swirled about them. At times puffballs of mist, driven down the glacier drift, scurried beneath them. It was a wicked place for an aeroplane to be walled in by the lvem of towering peaks on either side. There was one time when they “had to lighten ship,” and Byrd, and looking around for what could best be spared, decided to dump food. There was a dump valve in the fuselage tank, but he had determined to go through,. and he did not know what winds lie might face at the top; so the food was thrown overboard. , " Scattered over a ridged and broken surface lies the glacier. . “It is .an awful-looking place,” said Byrd. They finally reached tlvo hump at an elevation of eleven thousand five hundred feet, and there was little space under the staggering plane, buffeted by winds that eddied through a gigantic gorge. Once at the top Bai-t-hen could level off for a time, and then gain altitude. Then there came into view, slowly, long ranges of 'mountains. The Queen Maud Range was striking away to the south-west, and there was a magnificent panorama of the entire bulwark of mountains along the' edge of the Polar Plateau. “It was the most magnificent sight I have ever seen,” said Byrd. “I never dreamed, that there were so many mountains in the world. They shone under the sun wonderfully tinted with .colours.'- In the south-east a bank of clouds hung over: the mountains, .making a scene which 1 Khali never forget.” Over the, Plateau, the Commander set his course for the Pole. They had a beam wind all the way into the mountains until they got over the edge of the Plateau. They had used a lot of gas, and there was some doubt as to whether there was enough to get back. If as much time had to be consumed in coming, in as going out, they would run out of gas. He took the chance and won. Flying over a plateau with long,''sweeping slopes, leading up to the mountains, with a wind drifting the snow ’down from them along the surface, it was .very difficult to estimate the drift of the plane, but. by constant attention to the drift meter, Byrd was ablif to get enough sights on the . surface below to keep the plane on its course, and to correct the inevitable tendency in all long-distance flights to swing to one side or the other.

SAFE RETURN. LITTLE AMERICA REACHED. BAY OF WHALES, Nov. 29. . Commander Byrd has returned in the plane from the South Pole to Little America. A LANDING EN ROUTE. PLANE’S FINE WORK. ' BAY OF WHALES, Nov. 29. Byrd successfully visited the South Pole. He did so early on Saturday. He made a complete tour, and a survey of the surroundings, and then turned south again. The plane then landed at Queen Maud Mountains. It there picked up extra petrol, and then flew homeward to land at Little America. “All well! Feeling fine!” were the uniform signals from the great Ford plane, named the “Floyd Bennett,” in honour of Commander Byrd’s old friend, who accompanied hint to the North Pole. h, Three hours following on Byrd’s message, dated from the South Pole, he • : sent a radio through to Little America •as! follows: “-Flying well. Mptok fine. YVe are over the mountains now on the return trip, and are starting down to land.” The next bulletin, stated: “We took our departure from the mountains at six o’clock for Little America. Flying well,;. Motors fine.” The next bulletin was an hour later, viz.: “We are about one hundred miles north of the mountains.” Another an hour Jater said:— “ About twenty miles south of the crevasse area. Flying ...well. Motors, fine.” The final bulletin was: ‘‘ We are only ten miles out, almost ready for- making the landing home again.”

STORY OF THE FEAT. ■J TERRIBLE GLACIAL CLIMB.:, A MARVELLOUS PANORAMA. BAY OF WHALES, Nov 29. The conqueror of the two Poles by air, Commander Byrd, flew into camp at ten past ten o’clock this morning. He had been gone exactly nineteen hours, of which one hour was spent at the Mountain Base in refuelling. - The 'first man to fly over both the North and South Poles, and the only man to fly over the South Pole stepped from his plane, and was swept up on the arms of the men in camp, who, for more than an hour, had been anxiously watching the southern horizon for a southern horizon for a sight of the returning plane. Deaf from the roar of the motors and tired from the continual strain oif the flight and the long period of navigation under difficulties, Commandojr Byrd was nevertheless smiling and happy. He had reached the South Pole after as hazardous and as difficult a fight as has ever been made in an aeroplane, that was tossed by gusts of' wind, climbing desperately up the slopes of glaciers, only a few hundred feet above the surface. His companions tumbled out stiff and weary, but so happy that they forget their cramped muscles. They were also tossed 1 aloft, pounded on the back, and carried to the entrance of the Moss Hall. Balchen, the “ clam-eyed ” pilot, who first met Byrd in Spitsbergen, and who was with him on his trans-Atlantic flight, came out first. There was a little smudge of soot under his nose, hut the infectious smile which has endeared him to those who know hiin, was radiant. Then came Harold June, who between intervals of helping Balchen and attending to the fuel tanks and taking pictures, found time to send radio bulletins, which told the plane’s progress. After him, Captain McKinley was lifted from the doorway—beaming because his surveying camera had done its work all the wav.

A NEW RANGE. Between the mountains and the Pole, at one point, Byrd saw a new range of mountains, lying apparently between the trails that were followed by Amundsen and Scott, hut there were mountains far to the west in continuation of the range that was seen running up the western side of the barrier. , These, as Byrd describes them, wore simply magnificent. Everyone) had rather hoped that mountains would he seen at. the other side of the Pole from Little America, but there was nothing in sight there. When Commander Byrd’s calculations showed ho had reached the vicinity of the South Pole, ho ran along a line at an angle to his course, and then lie swung in a. wide circle, as he did when lie was at. the North Pole, to make sure of coming within striking distance oil' that infinitely small spot of the earth’s.surface. Some time was spent in that manoeuvre. Then the plane was set on a. course for Little America. The accuracy of the navigation was strikingly shown in this part of the flight, as it was necessary to navigate the entire distance lmmc by means of a sun compass. The Commander hit the Axel Heillierg Glacier exactly, and the plane slid down that to the Barrier. To understand what that means try to realise being in a vast plane nearly four hundred miles from the place where I the mountains wore entered, with an j encircling rim of majestic peaks, all I looking different from the south side; than they had looked on the way in. Amundsen had remarked on this vastly different aspect rtf his return journey, hut the course, as laid, brought th(< plane flying high ..over the plateau to the mouth of Axel lieilborg. The plane kept a good elevation on the way down, hut even so, it was a rough ride, for in the narrow gorge of this glacier, which Amundson ascended on his way to the Pole, the wind tossed the plane around like a cork in a washtub. High peaks won l sticking up all around them. It was the hardest part of the trip from a flying point of view. When the Barrier was reached, the i plane headed for the base that it had | laid down on the previous flight, and j the landing there was made at five!

The men crowded about them, eager for the story of what they had been through, catching fragments of their sentences. It evidently had been a terrific battle to get up through the mountains to the Polar Plateau. “We had to dump six weeks’ food to do it,” said Commander Byrd. ‘‘l am glad it was not gas! It was ‘nip and tuck’ all the way!” 11 Yes,” chuckled Balchen. “Do you remember when we wore sliding around

o’clock this morning. June landed the plane there, as he had been in her on the previous flight, and he also took off, and made a splendid job_of it. More gas was put in tanks, and when the plane was in the air again, Byrd headed to the east towards Carmen Land. What they had seen there oi the previous flight interested Byrd and his interest was repaid. He not only traced out more definitely the course of the Charles Knob Mountains, but also saw another range far to the east. The camp was out of touch with the plane some time after this, although the signals from the locked radio key came in, and showed it was in the air. The men had waited up all night in the Mess Hall, clustering about the radio room to get news of the progress of the flight. As the reports indicated the slow time the plane was making on the. way in, there was some anxiety, and the mechanics checked and rechecked the figures to estimate the amount of flying time that the plane had with the gas in its tanks when it left and what ground speed it was making. There was some gloom as tire slow progress inland was recorded and then, as a long interval came between the messages before the Pole was reached, everyone wondered what was keeping June so busy. Finally there came the message that the plane was in the vicinity of the Pole, and there was a sigh of relief, and the men lay down on their bunks and tried to get a little sleep. The whine of the plane transmitted from the loud . speakers in each house was a reassurance, rather than annoyance, and,if. this sound had ceased, probably . everyone would have started up instantly. As it was, the fluctuations in. the signals made sleep almost impossible. The other tiyo expedition pilots.in the camp, Parker and Smith, were, flying the plane all the ‘way, showing by their tense expressions, how they were., lined with the men in the cockpit of the Floyd Bennett, flighting its- \v,ay through the mountains. One man lay down on a wooden bench under a loud speaker and went to sleep, and when the signal strength died down one time, be jumped up as iif pricked with a pin. It was an anxious night in the camp for everyone here realised what .those men in the plane were facing in their climb through the rift in the mountains. There was a pleasant omen in the weather, however. It was somewhat overcast in the north when the ~pip lie took., off,, but ■afterwards ; tbe conditions ,stead,rly .gpew better. There.,was a dead palm, at Little America,, and a . clear sky,,, with only a. thin line t ,of sea .smqkp-to, the north over the. se;j. Better landing conditions could not have been,, asked for: In the meantime,, . the. plane had taken off at the mountains on its return,' and Byrd flea;- Top, iv time- to see over into Carmen Land. 11 Then he set a course .for Little America, : and in addition to navigating all the way, flew the plane himself for. a time. By starting so far east of the course for the camp, lie placed himself out of reach of any aid from the flags, laid down by the geological and suppprting parties and the dog team train.. There was a, constant tendency to fly east, but Byrd was sure his,, course .lay further,yvest, and lie held the, plane in, , tjiat direction:. He hit the.,trail (about : forty miles south of ,Little Anierf c.a,;on,;a;direct course ,foi; tlie camp, , and word .was sent iii ifrom the ,plane th# they would arrive in a. short time.,Everybody here tumbled out,,of t% house,h and clustered oil the fjiiow near the Fairchild plane, where , two djeep, Trenches marked the renting place ,of the Floyd Bennett plaiie’.s, skis. They..,., watched the horizon y and . after wliat seemed to be hours, a, tl.iiil line appeared in the southern sky and grew rapidly, flying high, and then sliding down rapidly to a few hundred feet over the cam]). The men waved their hats, and cheered, jumping up and down, yelling with joy.» The plane crossed the camp at eight minutes past ten, and two minutes later made a wide circle over the Bay, and landed. One of the most rliffirult flights in the history of aviation ended, and the concp’.'sl of both .Roles by air had been, accomplished, An adventurous thought born in the i.'”’nd of a young Vnginian I years ago, bad been fulfilled The Atlantic had-.been spanned and the North and South Poles encircled by .aeroplane. ...

Comamnder Byrd, accompanied by Pilot Balchen, Photographer McKinley and Radio Operator June, had departed on Thursday afternoon at 3.29 Little American time, which is equivalent. to 1.2.19, on Friday afternoon, in Australian time, the entire flighf taking approximately twenty-lfour hours.

EXPERIENCES ON THE WAY. (Received tnis day at 8 a.m.) BAY OF WHALE, Nov. 30. I he. South Pole fight was one of the most dramatic, as well as efficient flights ever made. As incidents are recalled by tbe four men concerned, if seems miraculous that -everything went so well. The weather which lavoured them turned into a storm a few hours after their return, in a. way in which the plane with its heavy load was washed over a hump at the top of the plateau. The smooth running motors were under most severe conditions. All signs make it seem more remarkable as the story is told. There never was a busier plane crew. One gets the impression of continuous and strained activity from their stories. B.vrd moved about taking sights and observations from all parts of the plane, conferring with others on gas consumption and routes -through the mountains, and making notes. Juno and McKinley were juggling gas eans and cameras over the mass of supplies in the middle of the fuselage. Balchen sat for long hours in the cockpit at the controls and was relieved occasionally so that he could

stretch and handle the gas cans and tanks as a break in the monotony. Both Mac and June were still stiff and sore to-day after a good night’s sleep. “J feel as though I had been run over by a steam roller” laughed June as he got up. The flight out to the mountains was without incident, and after passing the geological party, where mail and food for them was dropped, the plane started climbing. It had about 8000 feet as the mountains were reached. There came the first important decision what route to take. Axel Heiberg was Amundsen’s route, but Byrd thought Lines Glacier, named after Nansen’s daughter, seemed the better path. Even that was a gamble, for although it could be seen that there was some sort of opening at the top and it was impossible to tell a firs what height it touched the plateau to get into a narrow gorge where the mountains would close in and the plane could not turn to the right. The glacier in front was too high for the heavy plane to climb over, and it would have been disastrous at an elevation of ten thousand feet. It was seen the plane could not get over the mountain with its load.

Balehen told me he had to get rid of of something, said the Commander, so I decided to dump food. Gas was too precious, and 280 pounds of grub was thrown through the hatch whirling over and over until they struck the glacier, five hundred feet below. The plane had just passed over a steep precipice in the glacier and aligad loomed another steej)'rampart of ice'. Balehen had been dodging from one side to the other to get favourable upward currents, and when the'food was dumped June began to empty' gasoline from tins into the fusilage tank and throw the tins overboard to get rid of. their weight. The plane was winding from one side of the gorge to .the other stretching a ten mile approach .ahead as much as possible' to help in-the stiff climb upward. When he was not handling the cans, June was making moving pictures. The plane was tossing in violent gusts and up and down currents, the walls of tne canyon spinning past and an occasional view of mighty peaks on either side of being seen through breaks in the rampart around them. The walls of stone were closing in around them and the plane laboured upward. Aheijd a fringe of clouds lay oyer; the edge of the plateau where the 'glacier ended. On bile side Little Hindld stood above them. On the east was a higher slope of mountains mounting Iff the cloud below, but far above

Everything 'binged-on; those next'.few. minutes. not room; tq.turn; and no nssuraiiC-lv flint’ there was a gap' where that fringe of cloud lay and the plane was staggering at its maximum, with the load it then carried, and squashed along sluggishly. Perhaps it would make the grade with two or three hundred feet to spare. Bale-hen headed for the knoll to the west in the hope that an up-current there would help them over whole Byrd beside him started ahead and at the sides and listened to the smoothly running mot-, ors. If one of them had stopped? Then even as they watched a tiny hole' over the iclioud the surface of' the glacier could be seen. The..'plane could justmiake it with its.final effort, j.o just ballooned over, as Bait-lien put. it. -'He, shook his head and smiled at the recollection of thaty'-moment, but, the end of ’that long/ effort of maxi-.-; 'mum height was nott.yet over, forflying at 1T.,500ft. or T2,fiooft. stretch-:; ing flat under them and only a short' distance below, they still had to flop along. .Tuife was still- emptying gasoline and taking movies and Mac was lugging his big camera, weighing fifty pounds, back and forth. Their movements made flying more difficult, for with every change in the distribution of weight the height stabiliser had to lie adjusted, and it was stiff from the cold Bnlchen was driving with one hand and pumping with the other alternately. The others began to feel the effects of their rapid movements at such an, altitude and emptying the gas tanks ' made fumes in the cabin which were almost overpowering. Sweat steamed off them and I could feel my heart pumping away and was gasping for breath, lie saw., and wondered what was the matter with me. till T looked at Harold and saw him with his mouth wide open like a catfish gulping air. It was warm in the plane all the time, so warm that Bnlchen flew with hare hands for the entire trip, and the oiiiers only put on gloves when they worked near the open window. Tire plateau stretching ahead was covered in spots by drift snow and in south-east and for a time in the south clouds hung on the horizon. Again things did not look so good. If the weather changed too soon and it undoubtedly was changing, they were again out of luck. .Tune relieved Bale-hen at the controls and Burnt pumped seven more cans of gasoline into the fusilnge tank so it could he pumped to the wings or dumped if necessary. Ahead was still another hump which had to be crossed, although the plane was holding its altitude and climbing little.

COX 0 R AT CL ATT ON S. NEW YORK. Nov. 30. Congratulations and praise for the aviation font art* being heaped upon Pyrd and his associates, following the South Pole flight. Commander Pvrd radioed liis motlier, Mrs Pvrd. senior. Winchester, Virginia : “ Pack after fine flight. Tt was full of thrills.” Mrs Byrd stated: “Pick sent a Thanksgiving message immediately before his departure, and the entire family waited, worried but confident, until news of his safe return,”

The motors hummed steadily like three cats purring, said Balchen. The weather and this hour oi strain on engines made another anxious time. It is difficult to guess the weather over an eight thousand mile course without weather stations. Not only were there no weather stations here hut half tlio route was at a tremendous elevation. A radio fronu-the geological party near the foot of the mountains said the weather was clear there and checking with the observations of the meteorologist at the camp indicated that the plane could scoot through before a change came, but it was evident that the flight was timed with- absolute luck for they rode hack on the wings of a coming storm.

Byrd had the problem of drift to contend with then, and was constantly busy at the indicator catching a glimpse of sastrihi as they moved by underneath, sometimes interrupted by drifting snow or surface. When he had the opportunity he took a sight and as reports of gas consumption came to him lie estimated the probable length of time they could run. There was some wind against the plane and the gasoline problem loomed more and more critical as the time went on. If it would only last.

The sky had begun to clear ami light puffy clouds which had begun to lorm over the Pole drifted away, and left clear skies and sun. The compass would work any way and a sight could he obtained. That was one comfort, “ But that last hour was a strain,” said June. It seemed we would never get through. Finally, the Commander after taking observations with the sextant gave the word to turn and fly courses to one side and the other, and then to. circle and the - dead reckoning of all, of us were that we had gone past the, Pole. We were satisfied. I remember Bernt learned hack and stuck his hands out and shook-hands. “ Tne route home was chosen and there was precision with which sun and compass guided them down the meridian so that they struck Axel Heiberg Glacier in the middle. We could not have done that if we had not taken our departure accurately from the Pole,” said June, “and I think the remarkable landfall showed the accuracy of navigation.”