Byrd Finds Men Safe

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 618, 21 March 1929, Page 9

Byrd Finds Men Safe

THEIR AIRPLANE SMASHED

Commander Flies to Reserie

BY

RUSSELL OWEN

Copyrighted, 1928, by the “New York Times’’ company and the St. Loui: “Post-Dispatch.” All rights for publication reserved throughout the world. Wireless to the ‘‘New York Times.” BAY OF WHALES, Monday. A HOLE opened in the clouds to the east yesterday, and despite the wind, which made flying- hazardous, Commander Byrd flew through to his three men in the Rockefeller Mountains, whose long silence had so alarmed us all. He found them safe; but their airplane had been smashed by a storm.

The three members of the party were Laurence Gould, geologist, and Bernt Balchen and Harold June, air pilots. They had some hours of fighting against terrific storms. The rescuing airplane returned to the Bay of Whales in the darkness with Balchen and June. Commander Byrd, with Gould and Malcolm P. Hanson, radio operator, who flew with his chief, remained behind until another flight can he made to bring them hack to Little America. The wind is blowing up drift snow and it is cloudy, but there is some hope that this flight may he made later in the day. Those in the mountains have plenty of food, fuel and shelter. The silence of Gould’s party was explained by their battle with a terrific storm which on Saturday wrecked their airplane. The wind tore the machine from the snow and from the lines by which it was anchored, and carried it a mile. It dropped, a splintered wreck, on the glacier ice. The three men had worked for hours to save the airplane in the gale, which at times blew them straight out from the lines they were holding. Finally, the machine was lifted up into the air and disappeared. NEW STORM AREA

There is no doubt that Gould and his companions have discovered a new Antarctic storm area, comparable to that of Adelie Land, where Sir Douglas Mawson experienced such appalling storms. When the three men were resting out of doors they had to He flat and hold themselves in their places by means of knives and ski sticks stuck in the ice. Only a sloping wall of snow blocks prevented their tent fi'om being blown away. Commander Byrd’s flight was made, and the rescue was accomplished, at a time of great depression in our camp. The clouds were thick and grey overhead, and over the horizon, so that a curtain seemed to hang between us and the mountains. Dog teams w.ere being prepared for an attempt to get through when Commander Byrd gave orders to warm up the engine of the airplane so that he might leave if there was fair visibility.

. BYRD’S RESCUE FLIGHT

The wind was about 22 miles an hour in velocity and there was a little drift scurrying over the snow. When Byrd went out to look at the weather and found that there was a chance of him being able to fly it was about three o’clock.

“All right, we will try it,” said the chief. The mechanics had the motor in perfect condition. A blow-torch hissed under the fire-proof funnel which led to the hood covering the entire motor, hot oil was poured into the tank, the hood was removed and the engine was started, this time without sputtering and barking, and it soon steadied down to an even and powerful roar. Dan Smith, pilot, nursed the motor carefully and tested the mixture. He opened and closed the throttle, listening intently. The fact that Smith is alive after years of flying with the night mail between New York and

Cleveland is sufficient a; knowledgment of his skill. With Smith and Malcolm Hanson, a radio engineer of great ability, Commander Byrd made the flight. Threatening as the weather was at a distance It was beautifully clear over the field. To the north a bank of dark clouds hung over the s,ea, and to the south was another ominous cloud. To the east there was a patch of olive green sky, exactly on the airplane’s course. The pilot steered for the hole in the clouds. Then a stiff wind lifted the machine and shook it off the treacherous surface. It climbed slowly and in a straight line for that distant hole. In a few minutes it vanished. Work was forgotten and the room where the radio plant is located was filled with men. There came a brief message: “All is well, but we are dodging the clouds.”