WILKINS'S PILOT

Stratford Evening Post, Issue 24, 23 August 1928, Page 6

WILKINS'S PILOT

AT J,N THE N °R™

AN; ALASKAN, TRAINING

'" ' -NEW YORK. Lieutenant Carl Ben Kelson, pilot of Sir George WUkjns's fliglit across i;lie. North Polo, was the first man to fly north of the Arctic Circle ~ In 1923 he bought a second-hand, somewhat, dilapidated 'plane, and took it to Fairbanks, Alaska. After continuous successful-,; flying there, he was im 1924 awarded the . contract; 'for ■TJhitedl ; in the territory during winter.' He made regu-". lar fortnightly trips between. Fair- j banks and M'Grath, a distance of' 200 miles,'-; . ■ ,<,.'.. ' ~ During this : service Fielson carried sick patients, to hospital, besides medicines to remote camps,, and mining niei\i to their various holdings. He declares that vfm■ter flying in the Arc-tic Hacf.less dangers "for him,, than'' v mail flying in Florida, ' for there', were plentiful landing places,; on'.the frozen rivers and lakes-. ...;.. Fortunately, for the thrill-Wing public, Eielson was in Washington, lobbying Congress' for funds for flying in Alaska ] when the diphtheria epidemic broke out in Nome in 1924. Had he at Fairbanks,; the authorities wpujd 'feve paid him so much per. pound mile to take antitoxin to Nome," and it would never have got into the newspapers. As lit Was, while he was eagerly petitioning the authorities for the splendid air services.Alas. l ™ now has, the world washing thrilled from day to •d a ,y by the exploits of the dog team /relays in their dash to relieve the stricken city. Kelson was 17, when America went into the war, and he joined~up witji : the aviation seijyices. He, had not, ' however, reached the stage of frontline flying when the Armistice cameHe first flew with Wilkins for 15U miles over the pack ice from Point Harrow in, 1926.,, Next year, ho

piloted. Sir George 530 miles toward the Pole. He made two safe forced landings on the ice, and, after- e - fecting repairs, he made safe landings in darkness in that sector. When only 100 m'iles from their base, fuel gave out, and Eielson landed the big machine and walked with Wilkins in eighteen days, sleeping at