OVER THE ARCTIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19929, 24 April 1928, Page 11

OVER THE ARCTIC.

ADVENTUROUS FLIGHT. NARRATIVE OF WILKINS. ALL PERILS OVERCOME. FIVE DAYS MAROONED. STORM-BOUND ON ICE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received April 23, 7.45 p.m.) NEW YORK, April 22. FThe following is a narrative of the flight across the Arctic written by Captain Ci. H. Wilkins and telegraphed by him from Svalbard. It. is copyrighted by the Australian and New Zealand Press Association and the New York Tiroes!.

With good weather and good luck and by careful navigation we have travelled 2200 miles over the Arctic ice from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Creen Harbour, Svalbard. Three-quarters of the area over •which we flew had never been seen before

by man. We are thankful that aeronautical engineering, the skill of conscientious workwen, and our accumulated Arctic experience have brought us through in comparative comfort and safety. Yet the trip was not without adventure. It took us two days before we were finally able to lift the machine, which weighed 33001b. into the

We started on April 15 and headed Btraight out on the great circle course that would change 22 times in 22 hours. For the first 500 miles the air was clear. Then we entered clojids, but we overcame them at an altitude of 3000 ft. Flying on Edge oi Storm. We saw no signs of islands, bu*< frequent leads of open water. We would have like to make soundings but the landing was too hazardous owing to the possibility of broken skis. The engine functioned perfectly. The sun gave a clear light, and we even took frequent observations with our sextant. Our compass acted in an ordinary manner, namely, within five degrees.

The temperature was 20 degrees below sero (Fahrenheit), when we started, bub it was warmer in the cabin. Wa saw clouds that might have been mistaken for land, but we assumed that Peary would surely have seen land if it had existed in that vicinity, namely, latitude 84, longitude 75. Thirteen hours after the start wo caught fleeting glimpses of the tops of the mountains on Grant Land.

Tho real flight of exploration was then over, but we still had 900 miles to fly to reach our goal. Wo headed straight for Svalbard by the sun's position and compass. The stormy sky forbade a crossflight in that ice-covered country. We edged along tbe f .storm area and three hours later the northerly end of Greenland showed up dimly. Three Hundred Miles From Pole. Each hour Lieutenant Eielson swung the plane and steadily plotted the course. As the latter trended toward the south •the wind swung also, speeding U3 over our ■way. It was then 48 degrees below freezing point in the open air. We were 300 miles from the North' Pole and the temperature in the cabin dropped to zero. Coffee from a thermos flask and chocolate and biscuits were acceptable. Within 220 miles of Svalbard high curling ma.vses of clouds rose to heights which our now lightly-loaded plane could not reach. We climbed to 8000 ft. and selected lanes between the feathery masses. Observations for ground speed and drift were now no longer possible, We had to trust to the observed sun's position and the compass.

Thus we ilew for aD hour and a-half, seeing merely a dark streak of almost icefree water beneath us. We expected to see the mountains at the north end of Svalbard, but did not dare descend for fear of running into the cloud-covered peaks. The engine had burned much gas end we knew we had only two, perhaps three, more hours' supply. Collision with Mountain Averted. There was a danger that we might be going far inland and, therefore, woukl probably have to journey over the mountains on foot to reach a settlement. Suddenly two sharp peaks, almost needlepointed, appeared beneath us. Down we spun for a closer view.

The air was turbulent and our now almost empty plane was tossed about like a, cork. Loose things in the cabin tumbled and rattled. The plane bucked like a broncho, but Eielson nosed her down. The ice-strewn water and the wind were furious. Spray whipped from the sea and filled the air. Over the land the snow drifted high and thick. It was therefore impossible to judge distance. Then, dead ahead a mountain loomed. It was avoided by a narrow margin. We ■were running short of petrol - fast, but such was Eielson's consummate skill that the machine was stopped 30yds. after the skiis touched the snow. We climbed out. The machine was not damaged. was nothing to do but to beat our clothes free of snow and climb into the cabin of tbe machine and await clear weather. We were not unduly tired nor anxious. King's Bay and Green Harbour could not be far away and we might walk or construct a boat and so reach some habitation. Days Spent in Freezing Isolation. We slept. When we awoke again the sun was shining and we saw houses. But it was merely an Arctic mirage. Iho wind, by drifting the snow, soon obstructed the horizon. Jour-foot drifts formed about the plane and fortunately kept it from toppling over. We made ourselves comfortable in the cabin.

We sat eating chocolates and smoking a few cigarettes. We had to wait patiently for the weather to clear. Our flight consumed exactly 22 hours 20 minutes, but it was not until 3 a.m. on Saturday, April 21, that the weather was again fit for flying. We shovelled snow for six hours to make a runway.

We had only 20 gallons of petrol with lis in the machine, but shs would not budge. However, when I climbed out and pushed her she moved. But it was difficult to climb in again and I fell off in the attempt.

Eielson threw out an emergency ropeladder. The machine gained momentum and I struggled desperately to gain the cockpit. My hands were stiffened and numb. I grasped the ropes with my teeth. Then I slithered off the shiny fuselage and was struck by the tail of the jtnaohine and fiang upon the snow, As I

sit now and write I feel that every one of my front teeth is loose. We tried again to make a start. For an hour we had been wasting our precious potrol. This time we were successful. I piled into the cockpit in spite of my bruises. The machine rose to a height of 3000 ft., and we saw the wireless mast at Green Harbour, Svalbard.

We had been marooned for five days on Dead Man's Island. The wireless officials at Green Harbour treated us with bountiful hospitality. Our Norwegian friends are our friends for ever. Hero we shall stay until some boat can take us and our trusty Lockhead plane to a more southern clime. AT GREEN HARBOUR. AIRMEN AWAITING THAW. BOTH IN GOOD CONDITION. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. (Received April 23, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, April 22. The feat of Captain Wilkins and Lieutenant Eielson in flying over " the roof of the world" has excited the greatest interest in London. Their success would have been known sooner but for the sudden death of the wireless operator at King's Bay, Spitzbcrgen. A message from Tromso, Norway, says the airmen landed at' Green Harbour under the best conditions. The machine was in no way damaged. It has special wooden skids fitted on it to enable it to land safely on the ice or snow. Green Harbour has a wireless station and is a centre of coalmining.

Captain Wilkins and his companion will be obliged to stay at a small village called Long Year City, near Green Harbour, until the first week or two in May, when there will be a general thaw in the Polar Sea. Four hundred men from the surrounding mines spend the winter at Long Year City, as the terrible conditions make work impossible. GREAT ACHIEVEMENT. ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. OTHER EXPLORERS' PLAUDITS. Australian Press Association—United Service NEW YORK, April 22. The dream of past ages—the north-west passage across the world —has been brought nearer to practical achievement by the pioneering efforts of Captain Wilkins, said Captain Viihjalmur Stefansson. He pictured cross-roads at the North Pole, where in the future caravans passing from continent to continent will meet. Ho says they will shorten the distance by hundreds of miles.

A message from Oslo says Captain Roald Amundsen expresses the belief that Polar flying conditions are more favourable now than in tho month of May, when fog is prevalent. Apparently Captain Wilkins was not troubled by ice freezing on the wings of his piano as it did on the envelope of Captain Amundsen's airship, tho Norge, on his Spitzbergen-Alaska flight in May, 1926.

Captain Amundsen said Wilkins and Eielsen apparently followed the same line as the Norge. It was a splendid sporting enterprise. It was only right that this pair of heroes should have succeeded in 'their remarkable achievement, which, unlike transatlantic flights, was unaided. Captain Wilkins' flight will mean much to meteorology, said Mr. A. M. Smith, who was a member of the 1927 expedition. Wilkins was not interested in stunt flying. He had set out to make a definite contribution to science. PLANS FOR FUTURE. ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION. WEATHER FORECASTING BASES. , Australian and N.Z. Press Association NEW YORK, April 22. According to the information available in New York Captain Wilkins intended, if his flight across the Arctic were successful, to leave in September ori an Antarctic expedition. Ho will fly in a seaplane eastward from (ho Ross Sea to Graham's Land, about 3000 miles south of Cape Horn. His object is to establish 12 Antarctic meteorological stations for forecasting trie weather in the inhabited regions of the globe years in advance. His observations will be taken over one sunspot cycle of 11 years. Captain Wilkins has said that the economic value of such forecasts would be immense. They would eliminate sufferings from famine and droughts, and prevent speculation in food on a large scale. It is known that one of Captain Wilkins' aspirations is the circumnavigation of the Pacific bases, in a series of 2000-mile hops over a distance of 16,000 miles, with stops at Los Angeles, Seattle, Unalaska, in tho Aleutian Islands, Tokio, Australia, New Zealand, the Ross Sea, Graham's Land and Cape Horn. STATEMENT CONFIRMED. SCHEME WELL ADVANCED. Australian Press Association—United Service (Received April 23, 9.5 p.m.) - NEW YORK, April 22.

The Los Angeles correspondent of the Associated Press® says the Los Angeles Examiner, in a copyrighted article, con-" firms the statement that Captain Wilkins contemplated flyyig over the uncharted wastes of the Antarctic. The articlo says Mr. J. K. Northrop, aeronautical engineer and designer of Captain Wilkins' plane, disclosed the fact that the explorer told him arid his friends of his plans and of his needs for the flight over the South Polar regions. Mr. Northrop said the Antarctic plans were advanced so far as to make it certain that Captain Wilkins will he at Los Angeles in four or five weeks. The desolate regions of the South Pole may therefore see a race between Captain Wilkins and Commander R. Byrd. Tho former wishes to learn if there is an unbroken continental chain at the South Pole. He proposes to hoard a Norwegian whaler and sail by her into tho Ross Sea, past South Victoria Land, and there to launch his seaplane and take tho air toward King Edward VII. Land. Mr. Northrop says the journey will then bo made through Bransfield Straits to South Shetland Island, 800 miles south of Cape Horn. NOBILI EXPEDITION. BASE SHIP ON THE WAY. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. TItOMSO, April 22. The base steamship for General Nobili's airship flight to the Arctic, the Citta de Milano, left Kings Bay to-day for Svalbard, after having been delayed for two days. '