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Aviation History
1929
1929-1 - 1797.PDF
FLIGHT, DKCEMBER 6, 1929 COMMANDER BYRD'S FLIGHT TO SOUTH POLE COMMANDER BYRD, accompanied by Bernt Balchen(pilot), Harold June (wireless operator), and Capt.Ashley McKinly, set out from his base at Little America (in the Antarctic) in the 3-engined Ford monoplane Floyd Bennett at 3.29 a.m. (G.M.T.) on November 29 for a 1,600- mile flight to the South Pole and back. They had a hard fight to reach Polar plateau and had to dump 280 lbs. of food in order to clear the mountain barrier. After reaching the Pole they returned to Little America, refuelling en route at a base established 400 miles from home. They got back safely some 24 hours later, but only just in time, for the homeward journey was made with a storm close on their tail—Which broke soon after they landed. Richard Evelyn Byrd entered the United States Navy in 1912. Just before passing his final examination he broke his ankle in the gymnasium, and the fracture did not heal properly. Consequently, after five years' service in the Navy he was retired. The entry of the United States into the world war gave him a new chance. He was recalled to duty and learnt to fly. To his disappointment, he was never sent to the front, but he took a very active part in preparing for the flight of three N.C. flying boats from America to the Azores. There two of the boats were forced to alight on the water, but were picked up. One, with Lieut.-Comdr. A. C. Read in command, continued the flight on to Lisbon. Byrd was keenly disappointed that he was not allowed to fly in one of those boats, and thenceforth it became his chief ambition to make a non-stop flight across the Atlantic. From the first, however, he set his heart on an aeroplane with three engines which would fly with one of them dead. In 1921 Byrd was posted to the American crew of the airship R.38, and hurried to England to take part in flying the ship across the Atlantic. Luckily for him, he missed a train for Howden, and so was omitted from the list of those who were on board when the airship broke up and fell in flames into the Humber. Byrd then turned his attention to aerial exploration in the Arctic. With the help of Edsel Ford and others, he procured a Fokker monoplane with three Whirlwind engines and proceeded to make a number of flights in seaplanes and land- planes over the Arctic. Finally, on May 9, 1926, Byrd and Floyd Bennett left King's Bay, Spitzbergen, in the Fokker, flew over the North Pole, and returned safely to their base. The committee which examined his records decided that they established his line of flight within a belt 10 miles wide. Next summer, 1927, Byrd set about a flight across the Atlantic. He procured another Fokker with three Whirl- winds, but on a trial flight, with Mr. Fokker himself piloting, the machine turned over on landing. Byrd broke an arm and Bennett was so badly injured that he had to be left out of the expedition. This delayed the start, and in the mean- time the Atlantic was flown by Lindbergh and Chamberlin. On June 29 the Fokker finally took off. There were four on board—Byrd, Lieut. George Noville, Bert Acosta, and Bernt Balchen, a Norwegian. They reached France safely but found it enveloped in fog. They decided to come down on the sea, and Balchen made a skilful landing just off Ver-sur- Mer. The party rowed ashore in a rubber boat. Balchen, the Norwegian, is the only one of that party who has accompanied Byrd on his flight to the South Pole. America owes much to her pilots from Scandinavia. The list includes Erik Nelson, Lindbergh, Balchen, and Eielson. If Comdr. Byrd's claim to have flown over the South Pole is accepted by the geographical authorities after examination of his records, he will have won a unique place among explorers as the first man to have flown over both the North and the South Poles. Doubts have been cast on the accuracy of his claims by Maj. Tryggve Gran, the Norwegian airman who took part in Capt. Scott's Antarctic expedition ; but a scrutiny of Byrd's log will doubtless decide the matter. Auxiliary Air Force. The Esher Trophy Goes to Glasgow EACH year the bombing squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force compete for the Esher Trophy, which is awarded for the most efficient squadron in the A.A.F. for the year. Marks are given for a number of subjects such as bombing, flying, ground maintenance, attendance at parades, and at camp, etc. The trophy has been won this year by No. 602 (City of Glasgow) Bombing Squadron, commanded by Sqdn.-Ldr. John Fullerton. The squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force are raised and administered by County Territorial Associations. Usually the adjutant, assistant adjutant and stores officer, and about 20 per cent, of the airmen belong to the regular R.A.F. The existing squadrons are named after the City of London, County of London, City of Glasgow, City of Edinburgh, and County of Warwick ; while squadrons are in process of being formed by the County of Middlesex, County of Durham, and the West Riding. Of these squadrons, the City of Glasgow Bombing Squadron has been equipped with " Fawns," and the rest with the D.H.9a, but the whole force is now being re-equipped with " Wapiti " general-purpose aeroplanes. Applications for commissions may be sent to the Head- quarters, No. 1 Air Force Group, Sloane Square, London, S. W.I., or to local headquarters. The Sprat and the Whale: When the "Graf Zeppelin" visited Boblingen re- cently, the German Concessionnaires for Wakefield " Castrol " sent up a Klemm light 'pi ane bearing a Castrol advertisement, as shown in the accompanying photo- graph. 12?!)
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