THE WORST HURDLE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 133, 2 December 1929, Page 11

THE WORST HURDLE

HIGH MOUNTAIN BARRIER

LIGHTENING THE LOAD

(By Russell Owen.—Special to the " New York Times.")

BAY OF WHALES, 30th Nov. The South Pole flight was one of the most dramatic as well as most efficient flights ever made. As incidents were 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. The way in which the 'plane with its heavy load was swished over the hump at the top of the plateau by the smooth-running motors, under the most severe conditions, and all the signs make it seem more remarkable as the story is told. There never was a busier 'plane crew. One gets an impression of continuous and strained activity from their stories —Byrd moving about taking sights and observations from all parts of the 'plane, conferring with the others on the gas consumption and routes through the mountains, and n;aking notes; 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 tho cockpit 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 had been run over by a steam roller," laughed June, as he got up. NEW ROUTE CHOSEN. 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 had' about SOOO ieet of altitude. As. the mountains were reached there came the first important decision of what routo to take Ihe Axel Heiberg was Amundsen's route, but Byrd thought the Livs Glacier, named after Nansen's daughter seemed a better path. Even that was' a gamble,, for although it could bo seen that there was some sort of opening at the top it was impossible to tell at jnst what height it touched the plateau. To get into a narrow gorgo where tho mountains would close in, and the 'plane could not turn with a glacier in front too high for a heavy 'plane to climb over would have been disastrous At an elovi;tion of 10,000 feet -it was seen that the 'piano could not get over the mountain with its load. "Balchen told me he had to get rid of something," said tho Commander, "so I decided to dump food. Gas was too precious. Two hundred and eighty pounds of grub was thrown through the hatch in the bottom of the fuselage— the brown bags whirling over and over unm they struck the glacier 500 feet below." The 'plane had just passed over a steep precipice in the glacier, and ahead loomed another steqp rampart of ice. Lalchen had been dodging from one side to the other to get favourable upward currents, and when the food was dumped, June began to empty gasoline from the tins into the fuselage tank and throw the tins overboard, to got rid of their weight. The 'plane was winding irom one sido of the gorge to tho other stretching the ten-mile "approach aliead as much as possible to help in the stift climb upward. When he was not handling cans June was making movine pictures, tho 'plane tossing in violent gusts and up-and-down currents, the walls of the canyon spinning past and occasional v i ewa of might kg Qn either side being seen through breaks in the rampart r.roumi them. JUST DID IT. .i' c, ™lls of stone were closing in unw^ If *?* thS 'Plaile )abo«r^ al7rlt i eatt> a frinSe of clou3s lay X ;o 6 e\ B% °£ the Plateau > where the glacier ended on one side. A little knoll stood above them. On the east in a cloa W" Sl°Pe Of ™tain, entog Evervth^ Z' hxL\ lKr above th« V*™everything lunged on those next few minutes. There was no room to tu rn, fvh + w"f anco that there was a gap where that fringe of cloud lay, and the plane .staggering at its maximum with swlisMv* th6S Carried ' s <luas»ed "long glal y wither ,£ f^ospaf wouw help them over, while Byrd beside h ™ st a ;ihead ' and rid be nu ml "t* t0 tho s*°othly-funning S S- C^tctVlX iSTrV'- with its «& ss* t oust ballooned over, aa Balchen put tL „,,?• hls head and smiled at the recollection of that moment. But the end of that long effort of maximum if fin W2S DOt yet over > for %ing at 11,500 or 12,000 feet the plateau was stretching flat under them anly only 1 short distance below, and they still had to Hog along. EFFECT ON THE CREW.

June was still emptying gasoline and tdJung movies, and Mac was lugging his big camera, weighing fifty pounds, back „ th"-, ~Tlleir movement made flying more difficult, for with every change in the distribution of the weight that he ght-stabiliser had to be adjusted, ? r * lr 'r?S Stl? frOm the cold- Bnlchen ?fl II g, Wlth one hand Pumpin r w ? °, thor alternately. The otters' began to feel the effects of their rapid movements at such an altitude, and the emptying o f gas tanks made fumes in Hie cabin which were almost overpowern -Sweat streamed off them "I wa Us i e, el- myileart PumPin£ away and gasping for breath," Byrd said, and wondered what was the matter sTw h™1 -II * loOked at Hal'°!d> and saw him with his mouth wide open like at catfish gulping." The air was warm ?,' c P'? ne all the time—so warm that Balchen flew with bare hands the entire trip and the others only put on gloves when they worked near an open win clow. r

Tho plateau stretching ahead was covered m spots by drift snow, and in the' souto-east and for a time in the south clouds hung on the horizon, ■"•gam things did not look so good. If

the weather changed too soon, and it undoubtedly was changing, they would again bo out of luck. June relieved Balchen at the controls, and Bernt dumped seven more cans of gasoline into the fuselage taTik, so that it could be pumped to the wings or dumped if necessary. Ahead w~ i still another hump, which had to be crossed, although the 'piano was holding its altitude and climbing a little. PROBLEMS FOR PILOT. "The motors hummed steadily like three eats purring,' ' said Ba-lclien. "The weather and this hour of strain on the engines made another anxious time. It is difficult to guess the weather over an 8000-mile course without weather stations. Not only wero there no weather stations here, but half the route was at a tremendous elevation. A radio from the geological party near the foot of tho mountains said, the weather was clear there, and checking this with the observations of the meteorologist at the camp indicated that the 'plane could scoot through before tho change came. But 't was evident that the flight was timed with absolute luck, for they rode back on the wings of tho coming storm. "Byrd had the problem of drift to contend with then, and was constantly, busy at the drift indicator, catching I glimpses of sastrugi as they moved by underneath, some times interrupted by drifting snow on the surface. When he had an opportunity he took a sight, and as the reports of gas consumption came back to him he estimated the probablo length of time they could run. There was somo wind against the 'plane, and the gasoline problem loomed more and nior© critical as time went on. If it would only last. The sky had begun to clear, and the light, puffy clouds which had begun to form over tho Pole drifted away, and left clear skies. The sun compass would work anyway, and a sight could bo obtained. That was one comfort. STRAIN OF LAST HOUR. "But that last hour was a strain," said June. "It seemed we could never get through. Finally the Commander, after taking observations with his sextant, gave the word to turn and fly courses fo one side and the other, then to circle. All of us were sure that we had gone past the Pole. We were satisfied. I remember Bernt leaned back and stuck his hand out and shook hands. The route home was chosen, and the precision with which tho sun compass guided them down the meridian so that they struck the Axel Heiberg Glacier in tho middle was great. Wo couldn't have done that if we had not taken our departuro accurately from the Pole," said June, "and I think the remarkable landfall showed the accuracy of the navigation."