PIONEER TRIP.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 228, 26 September 1929, Page 7

PIONEER TRIP.

ARCTIC EXPEDITION. Dr. Nansen To Fly Across Pole In Graf Zeppelin. IMPORTANCE OF VENTURE. (United Service.) LONDON, September 25. "I look upon the expedition as the most important of my career," said Dr. Nansen, who will lead an expedition to the North Pole next April in the airship Graf Zeppelin. The airship has been lent to him by the German Government. The crew would be the same as that which accompanied the airship round the world with Captain Lehmann as navigator. Full Arctic equipment will be taken, including 20 dogs and sledges. The airship will start from Tromso, in Norway, and will proceed westward over Spitsbergen and North Greenland to the mouth of the Mackenzie River, in the of Canada, thence proceeding to Fairbanks, in Alaska. Ihe journey will occupy four to five da\s. After refuelling at Fairbanks the air--1 ship will make a round cruise of the : Arctic regions, spending four to five ! days on this trip. It will then return to Fairbanks. The homeward journey ; -will be made by way of Northern ) Siberia.

Dr. Nansen hopes to determine the distribution of land and water in the Arctic Circle and also to map any new land sighted. It is known that the Arctic Pole i.s situated in the ocean, but the depth of the ocean ha:j not yet been properly measured. Dr. Nansen explained that the depth of

the sea will be measured with an ingenious apparatus which will be lowered from the airship into cracks in the ice or water lanes that may be found.

Dr. Nansen describes the expedition as a more or less pioneer trip. It will probably lead to the establishment of a chain of permanent and semi-permanent wirelessly equipped meteorological posts all round the Arctic Circle. These would be of incalculable value in assisting forecasting of the weather in Northern Europe and the British Isles. ANTARCTIC TRIP. WILKINS LEAVING SOON. (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) (Received 9 a.m.) NEW YORK, September 25. Sir Hubert Wilkins is preparing to depart for the Antarctic on Saturday. He will be accompanied by Parker Cramer, Al. Cheeseman, aviators, and Orville Porter, mechanic. They will sail aboard the Northern Prince for Monte Video and thence proceed to Deception Island on the Norwegian whaler Melville.

UNUSUAL ACCIDENT. Pilot Killed In Aerial Crash In Britain. DANGER OF DUAL CONTROL. (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) LONDON, September 25. The clanger of the dual control aeroplane is revealed by an unusual accident. One of the pilots fainted and fell forward on the controls, causing the 'plane to go into a shallow dive. The second pilot had insufficient time to rectify the trouble and the machine crashed. The fir§£ pilot was fatally injured and the other was seriously hurt.

"WAIT FOR TRIALS." Commander Burney And New Airships. BUILDER CONFIDENT. (Australian and N.Z. Press Association.) LONDON, September 25. Commander Burney declines to comment on the prophecy that the Government airship RlOl will prove a disappointment. He expresses the opinion that it is better to await the results of the trials. His company, which is building the RlOl, is confident that she will exceed the contract speed by ten miles an hour and the lifting contract by two to three tons.