ARCTIC FLYING

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12422, 16 April 1926, Page 7

ARCTIC FLYING

“NO EARTH, NO SKY, NO HORIZON” WILKINS DESCRIBES JOURNEY TERRIFYING MOUNTAINS By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. (Sydnev "Sun" Cable.) VANCOUVER, April 14. Captain Wilkins, at Fairbanks, describing his flight, said: “Driving steadily into a bewildering whiteness where there is no earth, no sky, and no horizon brings a semi-consciousness that one must continually fight off. There are heights that are beautiful and terrifying in that hundred miles flight across the Endicott Range. The jagged peaks rival the Alps, tho Rockies, t the Andes, or even a portion of the Himalayas. “On the last .trip out we were heavily laden, and when we encountered a fog we tried to rise, but could not attain an elevation that meant assured

safety. At times we were atop of a billowing misty mass. The wheels and the landing gear were in the clouds, while the fuselage was out in clear air. It was like sailing through breasthigh mist. ONE NARROW ESCAPE “Once a rift in the fog disclosed a high wall directly ahead. The pilot banked sharply and we skimn\od along the face of the mountains until we followed a pass into safety. We never saw a bird or other living wild creature crossing the mountains or crossing the tundra, except some caribou, for hundreds of miles. Coming and going there was nothing in the sky 'or on earth except the ’plane and its shadow on the snow waste.” v PILOTING WITH ONE HAND Reuter's Telegram. Captain Wilkins is suffering from a wrist slightly sprained and an arm badly bruised, and will not take the air again until his right hand is healed. The injury was received on Saturday when the leader caught his arm in the running gear under the machine Alaskan, while guiding it on a lagoon on which he lighted at Barrow. Returning to Fairbanks Wilkins piloted tile craft with his left hand. The Alaskan left 400 gallons of gasoline at Barrow, where other supplies are stored. The plan is for Eielsen and Wilkins to fly out over the Arctic in one ’plane, leaving the other in command of Lieutenant Lanphier, in reserve to return to Fairbanks the week after the hopoff, if no word from the explorers is received. MACHINE READY TO START (Received April 15, 11.5 p.m.) VANCOUVER, April 15. A message from Fairbanks states: "The final flight north from here and the dash into the Polar regions of the Arctic air expedition, will soon be made. The engines of the expedition’s three-motor ’plane were tested and found in good condition. The metal propellors were replaced by wooden ones to make damage to the ’plane less probable in case of accident. The ’plane is now practically in flying condition. Tho one-engined machine has hsen fuelled and tuned up, ready to take the air.

AMUNDSEN’S TRIP Renter’s "* ’ -™. OSLO, April 14. Captain Amundsen’s Polar airship, the Norge, commanded by Colonel Nobile, has arrived here from her voyage across the North Sea from Pulham, England. (Received April 15, 11.5 p.m.) OSLO, April 15. The Norge has departed for Leningrad.