BYRD IN THE AIR

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 565, 18 January 1929, Page 11

BYRD IN THE AIR

First Exploration Flights Over Unknown Antarctica A DAY OF ACHIEVEMENT BY RUSSELL OWEX Copyrighted, by the “New York Times’* company and the St. Lcui “Post-DispatchA All rights for publication reserved throughout the world. Wlreles to the “New York Times." llecd. 9 a.m. BAY OF WHALES. Wednesday. riERE arc a lot of happy aviators down here to-night, on the edge of the Antarctic Continent, where an airplane ha> never before flown. Commander Byrd's first plane ashore made several successful short trips in the air, altogether for nearly three and a-half hours, and what that means to men who have spent years in the cockpit of an airplane, and then have not iiown for nearly four months, can only be imagined.

Commander Byrd personally made a flight of SO minutes over unknown country to the west and south, and explored a deep inlet in the Barrier which was hitherto unknown. Altogether, he explored 1,200 square miles of territory, which would have taken weeks to explore by the old methods. The plane functioned perfectly. The ski and landing gear stood up under the rough treatment, and to-night the plane was safely and snugly put away at the base on the Barrier, where there is no danger of its being carried out by the ice.

It was a day of achievement. The carefully-planned work was carried out faultlessly. The conditions more nearly perfect, because the flight came after a night of worry. The plane was no sooner ready for flight the night before than a heavy snowstorm came up, ending all activity for the moment.

The visibility was poor. The high cliffs of the Barrier faded away, and plane and ship were left in a small circle of dim half-light. Fortunately there was no wind, otherwise anything might have happened, It might have been possible for the pilot to have taken off and landed somwhere on the Barrier if the ice broke, yet it would have been a desperate venture, and the men watched silently and with apprehension for hours. A DAY .FOR FLYING But this morning the snow clouds passed, and the sun shone with a clear brilliancy only attained in this pure ah', until every white cliff-like outline of the Bay stood out sharply. It was a perfect day, made for flying. The motor was heated by a torch placed under a fireproofed covering. Warm oil was put in the tank and Bernt Balchen climbed into the pilot’s seat, while Dean Smith and then Kennard Bubier turned over the inertia, starter.

With everything clear Bernt snapped on the ignition, and the big motor sparked and settled down to a smooth even roar. Balchen (looked out at the others grouped around in the snow, and grinned. Then he reached in his hip pocket for a bit of tobacco, from which he took a large and healthy bite.

Balchen nursed the motor for some time, until it was well warmed, and could be opened wide, and the plane with its orange wings and black fuselage trembled and shook under the thrust of the propeller. It was cold out on the ice, waiting. The wind bit deeply, and the vivid light hurt unprotected eyes; but nobody thought of the discomforts. Walden and two or three of the other dog drivers, who had been about ready to go out on the trail to the camp with their heavy load, and who had waited for the plane to warm up, waved their hands in enthusiastic

salute and trotted off, in primitive contrast to this new means of travel. HISTORIC FIRST TRIP When all was ready Balchen turned the controls over to Alton Parker, who had been as eager as a kid to get the ship Into the air. A few icicles had gathered on the plane—a suggestion of what may menace flying in this country of ice. As Parker wagged the control, they broke off, and tinkled down to the bard-packed surface. He opened up the motor wide, and shook the tail to help free the skis, which were frozen to the surface where they had rested so long. The pilot taxied far down to one Side over the slightly rough surface, and the action of the skis and the landing gear was watched closely by the men who had worked over that problem for months. The skis are 10ft apart, giving a very broad landing gear, and are fastened to stream-lined supports built up of welded tubing. They were of a new design, and there was some anxiety about how they would work. Parker had about a 2,500 ft altitude gine down until the plane lifted and began climbing slowly toward the Barrier cliff miles away. The other pilot and Commander Byrd expressed their gratification, and watched as the plane turned and headed inland toward the base about nine miles away. Parker had about a 2,500 ft altitude by the time he reached there, and became a mere speck in the sky. When he turned and came back he came down in a fast glide toward the watching group, barely touched his mark, and rapidly shot up again. When he banked around and landed the plane settled quickly and easily, stopping in a very short distance. The landing gear had performed better even than had been expected. PLANE UP AGAIN Babe Smith, for years an air-mail

pilot on the night run between Cleveland and New York, was the next take up the plane, and with him he took Kennard Bubier, a Marine Corps mechanic, and the other mechanic who was with Commander Byrd at Spitzbergen, Nick Demas. By this time the skis were more smooth, and it was possible to tell how the plane would act, so that Babe got it off in short order and went sailing away to the south as if he intended to reach the South Pole all by himself.

He turned in a short time, however, and came back, sailing away fast and waving his hands as he laughed at the crowd below.

A half wing over and a few simple evolutions, and he came down and dropped in an easy landing. It was easy to see that the plane was handled well on the snow and in the air.

Balchen and Donald June climbed into the machine, with June at the controls and Balchen kneeling behind him.

“I want to see how these skis work when we land/* said Balchen, who has done a great deal of snow flying. June took off very quickly, and after a short flight squashed the plane to a stall landing, which gave the skis an excellent test.- It did not give a bit. BALCHEN GOES UP Balchen, who had been longing to get at the controls himself, took up myself and Teddy Bayer, the assistant engineer of the City of New York. Even an amateur could tell the efficiency of the landing gear, as the plane shot over the snow, climbing and dropping over small, hard snow mounds, but as soon as the point near flying speed was reached, the unevenness of the surface became hardly apparent, and in a very short, distance we were climbing and turning in a wide arc over the sea. Below was a mass of black spots on the snow, which one knew were men and dogs engaged in unloading all the gear, and the ship, which seemed too tiny to hold all the many tons of freight which had come out of her.

Balchen circled her once, and the crow’s nest, which had once seemed so high, now seemed so far below, and then he turned inland and toward the south. It was not cold inside, despite the low temperature, and Balchen had one window open a few inches most of the time. He leaned back and pointed down and far below could be seen the trail toward the Barrier.