ACROSS ANTARCTIC ICEFIELDS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 297, 7 March 1928, Page 1

ACROSS ANTARCTIC ICEFIELDS

BYRD FOR SOUTH POLE

Big Expedition Planned FIRST CALL AT NEW ZEALAND Flight In Huge Monoplane MAKING New Zealand his first stop, Commander Richard Byrd will leave the United States in September with an expedition comprising 54 men, to explore the Antarctic by air. For his flight to the South Pole, the American airman, who was the first man to fly across the North Pole, will use a big three-engined monoplane. By Cable. —Press Association. — Copyright.

Reed. 9.30 a.m. WASHINGTON, Tues. Commander Byrd, in an interview, pictured the time when he would be camped on a stationary iceberg 2,300 miles from the nearest human dwell-

ing, on his projected exploration trip in the Antarctic.

“The expedition will sail south in September next,” he said, “and expects to return in June, 1930, though there is a possibility we might be delayed. New Zealand will be the first stop. We will then voyage across the Ross Ice Barrier. The main base of the expedition will be the Bay of Whales, where Captain Amundsen had his headquarters. This is 2,300 miles from the nearest human dwelling, and the farthest people have ever lived from civilisation. “There we shall establish a small village, and after making a camp, we shall establish several sub-bases 100 miles apart on the way to the South Pole. These are necessary in the event of a forced landing. The final flight will be most hazardous. Besides radio we shall use a kite to keep In touch with the last base. Landing will be difficult, as the South Pole is on the last plateau 1,000 feet high. The air at 2,000 feet has lost so much of its denseness that it requires a great deal of power to take the plane off the ground. We shall land with 1,200 gallons of gasoline and I,ooolb.

weight of emergency equipment. “For the flight a big monoplane with three engines, and a wing-spread of 76 feet, will probably be used. In addition, the expedition will carry two single-engine monoplanes of the type used by Mr. Clarence Chamberlin on his trans-atlantic flight. “An ice ship with a bowed hull and two projecting timbers to push aside the floes is being constructed.”

Fifty-four men will make the trip. Floyd Bennett, who was Commander Byrd’s companion on his North Pole trip, will be second in command. Maps will be made, photographs taken, and scientific data will be brought back to civilisation.

The frozen area to be explored is larger than the United States and Mexico combined. The trip is primarily for scientific purposes.

Commander Byrd added: “I regard whatever hazards are encountered as justified by the increase in man’s knowledge that the expedition will make possible.”—Sun.

Commander Richard Byrd, who is now 4.1 years old, was educated at the Shenandoah \ alley Academy. At the age ot 12 he made a solitary voyage round the world, which probably introduced him to his adventurous life.

In 1908 he entered the Naval Academy ana graduated four years later. In 1916 he was placed on the retired list and turned his attention to aviation. During the war he held the rank of -Lieutenant-Commander, in charge of the United States naval forces operating in Canadian waters, during which time he organised the naval air stations at North Sydney and Halifax, in Nova Scotia. In 1924 Commander Byrd volunteered for Amundsen’s projected flight across the North Pole, but being married, he was rejected. However, in the following year he went to Greenland with the Royal Geographical Society’s expedition, under Commander Donald B. Macmillan. There he supervised 6,000 miles of Arctic flying and himself covered 3,000 miles. With the experience thus gained he determined to attempt a flight to the North Pole. Accordingly, on May 9, he set off from Spitsbergen, with his pilot, Floyd Bennett, and flying in a straight line reached the Pole in about six hours, circled it, verifying the observations of Admiral Peary in 1909, and returned to £ ll «,wi Star .s ins P°int, having covered about 1,600 miles in 15£ hours.