Over The Pole

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 259, 3 December 1929, Page 7

Over The Pole

United Press Assn. Electric Cable Copyright

BYRD'S DESCRIPTI0N Story Of Success In Fac© Of Danger A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT.

'.Received This Day, 1 p.m.) BAY OF WHALES, Dec. 1. Flying down here with a cloud covered sky is like flying in a world tbat has turned into milk. There is notliing to check on the horizons and there is no way to tell wliere the snow begins, bow rough the surface is, or even how high we are above it. The altimeter records inaccurotely on account of the rapid chauges in^the sea level barometer and there are bigger changes in tlie Antarctic tlian anywhere else m the world. With such weather navigation would be uncertain and landing impossible. Tlie visibility down here is just like a little girl with a curl — very good when it is good and terrible when it is bad. To have sunshine for 800 lniles in this country of changeable weather is more than one can expect, but for the success of our fligkt it was absolutely neessary that the moimtains around the plateau should not be cloud eovered. In flying across tlie ocean one can fly through clouds and over storms witb impunity, but when the course goes over mountains whose peaks tower liigher than the 'plane can fly, good. visibility is required to get between the peaks and over tbe glaciers. We have long felt that we might liave to make several attempts before we could get the proper combination of circumstaiices. When we took off with our heavy load clouds partly eovered, the sky. There was, however, a rim of green on the horizon to the soutli, and we knew that it would be clear beyond. As the skiis left the snow all I eould see in that wliite bowl beneath us was a .little group of my shipmates throwing up their hats m the air, wild vn'th joy that at last we were headed for the Pole My mind shot back to an exjactly similar scene in the Artic Spring, on May, 1926, when Floyd Bennett and I rose from the snow at Spitzbergen and headed for the North Pole. Many of the fellows wlio were in the cheering crowd at Spitzbergen were below me novv4 It liad been three of us, Bennett, Balchen and myself, who had set out on this job two years before and three of us would be together at the finish. for we knew that Bennett's spirit flew with us. He had selected the Ford plane, prepared it and flown it and had helped with our early plans, so that liis genius and his friendship were with' us helping us to reach our goal, The last thiug we put in the plane was a stone that came from Floyd's grav© at Arlington. IVe weighted with it the American flag, wliich we pro--posed to drop on the South Pole, into the sunshine. In a few moments we emerged from the confusing bowl of milk over the take off into the sunshine that stretcked ahead to the horizon. A thousandi feet beneath us_ we picked up the dog team trail. It is only with the sun in. certain positions that the trail can he seen from the air now. It was a, faint, broken threacl that we lost time and again but managed to piclc up each time with the sun compass. A strong easterly breeze forced us to head >10 degrees to the left of the course to allow for this wind so that the 'plane crabbed along toward the south witli its nose pointed well to the left of the trail. IVe had constantly to check the course hy the drifu indicator instrument, through. wliich tlie ground is sighted to ascertain the amount the wind has caused tlie 'plane to drift from the true direction. IVe enjoyed the first fcw hours of tbe flight, when we kad_ time to look around, for flying over this mysterious barrier never loses its fascination. Shortly after we passed /tlu crevassedl area, 150 miles from Little Amevica, we sighted tlie mountains to the westward and again I was struck with the majesty of these ranges. We saw one of the great mountain masses end and another oue, unaccounted for on maps, begin to the south, and, run toward the Beardmore Glacier. 300 miles south. Great white glaciers flowed into the barrier and about 100 miles off were some Alpine snow eovered peaks towering iiigh over the Barrier thafc glistened like fire from the sun's reflection so that they looked like great volcanoes in eruption. Soon the great mountains ahead loomed up and an hour aftemvards we sighted the trail of the party, 300 miles due south from Little America. There could be no doubt tliat so far we had come soutli stiaigbt as an arrow. It was well, for we had messages ana photographs to drop for Gould and his party, • IVe planned . to leave food and f Uel at our mountain base for them and in order to etiable Lahry to locate the cache, a little speck in those great spaces, McKinley had located the spot on the photographs he had taken on our base-laying flight over the surrouudiug mountains. IVe dropped these in a bag attached to a parackute. We could see two or three of the boys dasbing after it, for they knew it contained also radio messages from home, letters from friends afc Little America. eigarettes, and various . other things tliat the trail party had aslced for by radio. IVe are expecting great results from Gould's work for geologically spealdng these mountains should tell things or great importance to science. long WAY FROM HOME. Those geological fellows are a long way from Little America and they to make good as they are doing. Seldom liave men unclertaken so diflicult a trail journe.v for purelv scientifio investigations. Thev will liave many /veai-y weeks before their job is done. Immediately upon dropping the package we started on our last climb to get over the hump about 150 miles ahead. Here was great uncertainty. For many montlis our minds bad been eoiicentrated on the lmotty pioblem of getting over this rampart 'witliout having to leave bMiind our mnpping camera. without wliich tho gcogranliical value of our flight would have been greatly lessened. Neither June, Balchen nor I could manipulate the 1001b camera as aerial surveying is higblv specialised work, McKinley, witb his three montlis' food, polar equipment and surveying outfit, weighed barely 6001bs. Tliis cut down by about 1000 feet the highest altitude at whieh we could fly. We had made very careful tests witb the 'plane and had ohecked and rechecked our figures for weeks Finally we had decided that we could just stagger over thc hump with the extra fiOOlhs,