OVER THE SOUTH POLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20889, 2 December 1929, Page 9

OVER THE SOUTH POLE.

COMMANDER BYRD’S FLIGHT.

PLANE FUNCTIONS PERFECTLY.

TERRIFIC BATTLE WITH WINDS

NF.W RANGE OF MOUNTAINS SEEN.

After a terrific battle with winds which tossed the plane about .like a cork. Commander Byrd completed one of the most hazardous flights in the history of aviation—from his base camp at Little America to the South Pole and back. To this distinguished explorer now belongs the honour of being the first man to fly over both the North and the South Pole and the only man to fly over the South Pole.

COMPLETE TOUR OF POLE.

“It is an awful looking place,” said Commander Byrd. They finally reached an elevation of 11,500 feet, and there was little space under the staggering plane, which was buffeted by winds that eddied through the gigantic gorge. Once at the top, Balchen could level off for a time and then again seek altitude.

SURVEY FROM GREAT HEIGHT.

(Special to Press Association.)

By Russell Owen,

Then .there came into view slowly the long Queen Maud Range, stretching to the south-west, and 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 Commander Byrd, ‘ I never dreamed that there were so many mountains in the world. They shone under the sun, wonderfully tinted with colour, and in the south-east a bank of clouds hung over the mountains, making a scene I shall never forget.” Over the plateau the commander set his course for the Pole. They had a beam wind all the way' into the mountain until they got oven the edge of the plateau. They had used a lot of gas, and there was some, doubt whether there was enough to get back. If they consumed as much time coming in as they did going out they would run out of gas. He took the chance and won, flying o\or the plateau, with its long, sweeping slopes leading up to the mountains. With the wind drifting the snow down from thenr-along the surface it was very difficult to estimate the drift of the plane, but by constant attention to the drift meter .Commander Byrd was, able to get enough sights on the surface below to keep the plane on its course and correct the inevitable tendency in all long-distance flights to swing to one side or the other.

OF WHALES, November 30. (Received Dec. 1, at 5.5 p.m.)

Commander Byrd successfully visited the South Pole early on Saturday. ITc made a complete tour and a survey of the surroundings and turned north again. He landed at Queen Maud Mountains, picked up extra petrol, and flew homeward to land at Little America. “ All well ; feeling fine,” came through rogulargly from the great Ford plane, which is named the Floyd Bennett in honour of Commander Byrd’s old friend, who accompanied him to the North Pole. Three hours following Commander Byrd’s message dated from the South Pole he sent a radio message through to Little America: “Plying well. Motor fine. We are over the mountains. Now on return trip, and starting down to land.” The next bulletin stated: "Departure from the mountains at 6 o’clock for Little America. Flying well. Motors fine.” The next bulletin was an hour later; "About 100 miles north of the mountains.” 1 Another an hour later: "About 20 miles south of the crevasse area. Plying well. Motors fine.” The final bulletin,was: “We. arc only 10 miles out, and almost ready for making a landing at home again.”

Between the mountains and the Pole at one point he saw a new range of mountains; apparently between the trails followed by Captain Amundsen and Captain Scott, but the mountains far to the west, a continuation of the range running up the western side of the Barrier, wiire, as Commander Byrd describes them simply magnificent. Everyone hoped that;the mountains would be: seen at the other side of the . Pole from Little America, but there was nothing in si "lit there. °

When Commander Byrd’s calculations showed that he had reached the vicinity of the Pole he ran along a line -at an angle to his course, then swung in a wide circle as he did at the North Pole, to make sure of coming within striking distance of that small spot on 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 navigation was strikingly shown in this part of the flight, as it was necessary to navigate the entire disance home by means of the sun compass. The commander hit the Axel Heilberg glacier exactly and slid down that to the barrier. To understand what that means try to realise being in the vast plane nearly 400 miles from the place where the mountains were entered, with an ■ encircling rim of majestic peaks all looking different from the south side than they had on the way in. Captain Amundsen remarked on this vastly different aspect of his return journey, but the course, as laid, brought the plane flying high over the plateau to the mouth of the Axel Heilhbrg, and Bernt kept a good elevation on the way down. .Even so, it was a. rough ride, for in the narrow gorge in this glacier, which Captain Amundsen ascended .on his way to the Pole, the wind tossed the plane around like a cork in a washtub. High peaks were sticking up all round them .and it was the hardest part of the trip from a flying point of view. When the barrier was reached the plane was headed for the base, which was laid down on the previous flight and a landing there was made at 5 o’clock this morning. June landed the plane there, as he had been in her on her previous flight, and he also took off and made a splendid job of it. Mpre gas 'was put in the tanks, and when the plane was in the air again Commander Byrd headed to - the cast’toward Carmen Land.. What they had seen there on the previous flight interested him, and his interest was repaid. He not only traced out more definitely the course of the Charles Bob mountains, hut he saw another range far to the east. •

A MAGNIFICENT SIGHT.

SUN PLAYING ON MOUNTAINS.

ACCURACY GF NAVIGATION.

OF WHALES, November 29. (Received Dec. 1, at 5.5 p.m.) Conqueror of two poles by air, Commander Byrd flew into the camp at 10 minutes past 10 this morning!' He had been gone exactly 10 hours, of which one hour was spent at the mountain base refuelling. The first man to fly over the North and the Sonth Poles, and the only man to fly over the South. Pole stepped from his plane, and was swept up in the arms of the men in camp, who for more than an hour had been anxiously watching the southern horizon for sight of the returning plane.

- Deaf from the roar of the motors and tired from the continual strain of the flight and the long period of navigation under difficulties, Commander Byrd was still smiling and happy. He had reached the South Pole after as hazardous and difficult a flight as has ever been made in an aeroplane, tossed by gusts of wind and climbing desperately up the slopes of glaciers a few hundred feet above the surface. His companions tumbled out stiff and weary, but so banpy that they forgot their cramped muscles. They were also tossed aloft, pounded on the bach, and carried to the entrance of the mess hall. Balchen, the pilot, who first met Commander Byrd in Spitsbergen, and was with him on his transatlantic ''{light, came out first. There was a little smudge of soot under his nose, but the infections smile which has endeared him to those who know him, ■was radiant. Then came Harold .tune, who, between intervals at helping Balchen and attending to the fuel, tanks and taking pictures, found time to send radio bulletins which told of the plane's progress. After him Captain M‘Kin ley was lifted from the doorway beaming because his surveying camera had done its work all the way. The men crowded about them, eager for the story of what they had been through. If had evidently been a terrific battle to get up ’•hrough the mountains to the plateau.

The camp was out of touch with the plane for some time after the Pole was reached, although signals from the locked radio key came in and showed that 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 rechocked figures to estimate the amount of flying time the plane had with the gas in the tanks when it left, and what ground speed it Was making. There was some gloom as the 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 came the message that the 'plane was in the vicinity of the Pole, and there was a sigh of relief and'the men laydown on their hunks and tried to get a little sleep. The whine of the planttransmitter from the loud speakers in each house was a reassurance rather than an annoyance, and if the sound had ceased probably everyone would have started up instantly. As it was, the fluctuations in the signals made sleep almost impossible. The other two expedition camp, Parker and Smith, were flying the plane all the way, showing by their tense expressions how they wete’linked with the men in the cockpit of the Floyd Bennett, fighting its way through the mountains. One man lay down on a wooden bench under the loud speaker and went to sleep, and when the signal strength died down-one time he jumped up as if pricked with a run. It was an anxious night in camp, for everyone Imre realised what those men in the Diane were-facing in their climb through

“ We had to dump six weeks’ food to do it,” said Commander Byrd. " I am glad it was not gas. It was nip and tuck all the wav.”

“ Yes,” chuckled Balchen, “do you remember when we wore sliding around those knolls, picking the wind current# to help us, and there was not more than 300 feet under us? At times we weir just staggering along with drifts and clouds around us.”

When the plane approached the mountains on the way south Commander Byrd picked out Li vs glacier somewhat west of Axel Heilberg glacier, as the passage was high. Mountains shut’’them in all found as they forged their way upward Balchen conserving the fuel to the utmost. coaxing his engines, and picking up currents of air as best he could to help the plane to ride upward. Cloud# swirled about them, and at times puff balls of mist were driven down from the glacier. Drift scurried beneath them. It was a wicked place for an airplane to be, walled in by a hem of towering peaks on either side. There was one time when they had to lighten the ship, and Commander Byrd, on 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 t>- go -lirougli and did not know whet winds he might face at the top, -,o tile mod 'A’a# thrown overboard and scattered over the ridged and broken surface of the glacier-

the rifts in the mountains. There was when the plane took off, but afterwards the conditions steadily grew better and there was a dead calm at Little America and a clear sky, with only a thin line of sea smoke to the north over the sea. Better landing conditions could not have been asked for. In the meantime the plane had taken off at the mountains on its return, and Commander Byrd flew east for a time to see ’over into Carmen Land. 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 cast of the course for the camp, he placed himself out of reach of any aid from the flags a pleasant omen in the weather, however.

It was somewhat overcast in the north which were laid down by the' geological and supporting parties, and the dog team train. There was a constant tendency to fly east, but Commander Byrd was sure that his course lay further west and held the plane in that direction. He hit the trail about 40 miles south of Little America on a. direct course for camp, and word was sent in from the plane that they would arrive in a short time. Everybody here tumbled out of the houses and clustered on the snow near the Farchild plane, where two deep trenches marked the resting-places of the Floyd Bennett’s skis. They watched the horizon, and after what seemd to be hours a thin line appeared in the southern sky and grew rapidly, flying high and then sliding down rapidly to a few hundred feet over the camp. The men waved their hats and cheered, jumping up and down and 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 difficult flights in the history of aviation had ended, and the conquest of both poles by air had been accomplished. The adventurous thought born in the mind of a young Virginian several years ago had‘been fulfilled—the north Atlantic had been spanned &nd tho north o,nd south poles on circled by aeroplanes. Commander Byrd, accompanied by the pilot (Balchen), the photographer (M'Kinley) and the radio operator (June) departed on Thursday afternoon at 3.29 (Little America time), which is equivalent to 12.9 on Friday afternoon (Australian time), the entire flight taking approximately 24 hours.

LIGHTENING THE PLANE,

FOOD THROWN OVERBOARD

By Russell Owen. (Special to Phess Association.)

BAY OF WHALES, November 30. (Received Dec. I, at 11 p.m.) ■ The South Pole flight was one of'the most dramatic as well as one of the most efficient flights ever made. As incidents are recalled by the four men concerned, it seems miraculous that everything went so well. The weather, which favoured them, turned into a storm a few hours after their return. There never was a busier aeroplane crew. One gets an impression of continuous and strained activity from their stories, Commander Byrd moving about taking sights and observations from all parts of the aeroplane, conferring with others on gas consumption and routes through the mountains, and making notes; and June and M'Kinley juggling with gas cans and cameras over a mass of supplies in the middle of the fuselage. Balchen sat for long hours in the epekpit 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. I feel as though I bad 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 were dropped, the plane started climbing. It bad about 8000 feet altitude as the mountains wore reached. There came the first important decision what route to take. Axel Heiberg was Captain Amundsen’s route, but Commander Byrd thought that the Livs Glacier, named after Captain 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 it was impossible to tell at just what height it touched the plateau. T 0 get. into a narrow gorge whore the mountains would close iu and the piano could not turn with a. glacier in front too high for the heavy plane to climb over would have been disastrous At an elevation of 10,000 feet it was -seen that the plane could not get over the ihountain with its load, “ Balchen told me he had to got rid of something ” said the commander, “so I decided to dump the food, gas being too precious, and 2801 b of grub was thrown through the hatch in the bottom of the fuselage, the brown bags whirling over and over until they struck the glacier 500 feet below. The plane had 'just passed over a steep precipice in the glacier, and ahead loomed another steep rampart of ice. Balchen had been dodging from one side to the other to got favourable upward currents and when the food was dumped June began to empty gasoline from tins into the fuselage tank and throw' the tins overboard to get rid of their weight. The plane was windin'' from one side of the gorge to the other! stretching the 10-mile approach ahead as much as possible to help in the stiff climb upward. When he was not handling cans June was making movin'' pictures, the plane tossing in and up and down currents. The walls of the canyon spinning past and occasional views of mighty peaks on cither side w-ere seen through breaks in the rampart around them. Walls of stone were closing in around, them, and the plane laboured upward. . Ahead a fringe of clouds lay over the cd"o of the plateau, where the glacier ended. On one side a little knoll stood above them, and on the east was a higher slope of mountains.

Everything hinged on those next few minutes. There was no room to turn, and there was no assurance that there was a gap where that fringe of cloud lay. Thu plane was ’staggering at its maximum with the load it then- carried and it smashed along sluggishly. Perhaps it would make the grade with 200 or 300 feet to spare. Bernt headed for the knoll to the west in the hope that the up current there would help them oyer, while Commander Byrd, beside him, stared ahead and at the sides, and listened to the smoothly running motors. If one of them had stopped then! Even as they watched the tiny hole over the cloud and the surface of the glacier it could be seen that the plane could just make it. With its final effort it “just ballooned over, 1 ' as Balchcn put. it. He shook his head and smiled at the recollection of that moment.

But the end of that long effort of maximum height was not yet over, for flying at 11,500 or 12.00.0 foot, with the plateau stretching flat under them and only a short distance below, they still had to flop along. June was still emptying the gasoline and taking movies and " J , lac .” was lugging his big camera, weighing 501 b, back and forth. Their movement made flying more difficult, for with every change in the distribution of weight the height stabiliser had to be adjusted, and it was stiff from cold. Balchen was driving with one hand and pumping with the other. The others began to feel the effects of their vapid movements at such an altitude, and flic emptying of the pas tanks made fumes in the cabin which were almost overpowering. The sweat streamed off them. ” 1 could feel my heart pumuing away and was gasping for breath,” said Baicfccn, ” and wondered what was the

matter with me till I looked at Harold and saw him with his mouth wide open, like a catfish gulping air.” It was warm in the aeroplane all the time, so warm that Balcheu flew with bare hands on the entire trip, and the others only put on gloves when they worked near the open window. The plateau was covered in spots by drift snow, and in the 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. June relieved Balcheu at the controls, and Bernt dumped seven more cans of gasoline into the fuselage tank so that it could be pumped to the wings or dumped if necessary. Ahead was still another hump which had to be crossed, although the aeroplane was holding its altitude and climbing a little. The aeroplane slid on fast with the motors throttled down, and presently came out over the barrier to the east of the depot, which was placed on the former flight. Commander Byrd turned cast for a time to see something of the country over that way, but diminishing gas caused him to turn back after a short time, and he headed for the depot. It was hard to find at first, as the mountains looked so different at this new Pole, but they changed to a more familiar aspect as the aeroplane neared the base, and they looked like old friends,” said Mac.

"When wc got down there,” said June, “ I thought—well, we can walk home from here.”

“ Yes,” laughed Mac, “ and I thought the same thing. Only I thought I could run that 400 miles.”

June climbed into the cockpit and took the controls, as he had been there pn the former flight, and after smoke bombs had been dropped by the commander to get the wind direction, June picked a fairly smooth lauding place. Fortunately, the wiild was such lie could land parallel to the snow ridges, and by the time the aeroplane hit the humps the speed had decrased by half. We taxied around to get the'aeroplane in position, so that a good picture could be taken of it there on snow with the base and the mountains in the background.

AN EARLIER MESSAGE,

START OF THE FLIGHT.

By Russell Owex. ' OP WHALES, November 28. To-day s start from Little America was a scene never to be forgotten. Furred and bulky figures climbed into the plane, the door was slammed, the pilot waved Ins hand and opened the throttles wide to break the plane loose from the snow, while the mechanics, with the snow whirling about them so as almost to conceal them in its smother, loosened the skis of the heavy machine, and it jerked forward. It slipped smoothly over the ground, carefully turned, and taxied up to one end of the field.

The flying field lies in a sort of hollow, long, and fairly level. The surface is scattered with materials of the camp, and-on its one side are the snow-buried houses and on the other a long slope. This was apparently at one time an indentation in the barrier, a sort of bay, and it has been built up through the years until now it is 30 feet above the water, but still some distance below the top of the barrier.

At the ond of the runway beyond where the plane leaves the ground is aline of haycocks. The whole field gleamed under the sun, dappled in patches of grey and cream colour, where the snow lay soft or blown hard and crushed by the wind. A few little ridges, only inches high, ran across it, throwing grew shadows in the line of the general, wind direction. At the end of the :field on the side of the slope up to the edge of the barrier, the plane was turned about, and the pilot opened her up. The motors burst into a crescendo of sound from a low growl to a deep, tearing note. The propellers flashed in circles of fire os the sun hit their invisible blades. The plane began to move, and the grqup of men standing on the snow, oblivious of the , cold, watched like statues. Faster and faster the great machine shot forward, its wings dipping slightly as the skis met the inequalities in the surface. It seemed an age—although it was but a few moments before it was sliding with terrific speed, and _so smoothly that almost imperceptibly the skis lifted, and a small space showed between them and the snow. Then the big ship leaped into life, and despite the heavy load was soon lifted high above the field and the hill beyond. There was a slow turn, and the great wings grew’ smaller and the sound of the motors became a muffled hum out of the sky. The plane diminished rapidly against , the clear bine .above it, and became a thin dark line, graceful as a soaring gull, and then, as the eyes strained after it, it vanished into the silent south.

FLIGHT FULL OF THRILLS,

NEW YORK, November 30. (Received Doc. 2, at 1 a.in.) Congratulations and praise for their feat are being heaped upon Commander Byrd and his associates. Following the flight, Commander Byrd sent the Mowing radio message to his mother, Mrs Richard Byrd. Virginia:—“ Back after a fine flight. It was full of thrills.” Mrs Byrd stated: “Dick sent a thanksgiving message immediately before his departure, and the entire family waited, worried but confident, until news of his safe return was received.

A WIFE’S CONFIDENCE,

MRS BYRD INTERVIEWED.

NEW YORK. November 30. (Received Dec. 1. at 0.5 p.m.) A message from Boston says that, when she was requested to comment on her husband’s flight, Mrs Byrd refused to say more than that she had been confident of his success.