Evening Star Newspaper, November 7, 1929, Page 27

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGT NOVEMBER 7. 1928, BYRD TUNES PLANE FOR POLAR FLIGHT It was tiring and monotonous worl ! but the 41 tons were moved in a da; Yesterday the front wall of the hangar was torn down, and the blunt, aggres- | sive nose of the plane was exposed. A blow torch was pendulous sack from the motor cover- ing to heat the center motor. While it was being warmed, a trench was dug ahead for a “dead man,” and a block and tackle rigged from this to a bridle on _the landing gear of the plane. Tri-Motored Craft Is Hauled| By the time this was done the motor From Snow Hangar in Two Days. BY RUSSELL OWEN. By Radio to The Star and New York Times. LITTLE AMERICA, Antarctica, No- ber’ 6.—The three-motored ~Ford plane came out of its hole in the snow yesterday, center engine roaring, men pulling on a rope fastened to the skils, its wide, thick wing lifting slowly over | the snow until it stood perched on top like, a prehistoric bird of this lost con- | tinent | Now 1t lies beside the smaller Fair- child, looming above it. and this float- ing hunk of ice on the edge of the wilderness begins to look: like an avia- | tion camp. | Getting out the Ford, which is named the Floyd Bennett after the men who flew with Comdr. Byrd over the North Pole and who would have been his pilot on this polar fiight if he had not died in an attempt to rescue the German transatlantic flyers, was a two-day job. It was buried in a snow | hangar until only its wing showed above | the surface, and pupples played up and down it in the sun and slept there basking in the warmth. When it was first put away last Fall with the center section and wing motors in place, & deep hole was dug. a wall of snow blocks bullt arcund the edge and the top covered with canvas. There it lay safely all Winter up to| its neck in a snowdrift, a unique hangar. Cold Task Getting It Out. A while ago the aviation gang went | to work on it. They set up a stove made of a gasoline drum in one corner, from which a tin chimney carried the | fumes of burning seal blubber to (hel surface just behind the wing. It was desperately ccld for such work when they began on the engines some time ago, 5% below zero. They could not work with gloves vll the time, and, although they coversd their hands with grease, they became burned and blis- tered from handling metal tools. Get- ting off a carburetor or overhauling valves had to be done with dogged patience and pain. The entrance to the deep, square hole in which was set the fore part of the fuselage and the engines was through & snow tunnel leading from in back of the center section beside the fuselage. ! One slipped and slid down this to a| canvas curtain, pushed it aside and fell dov#A an unseen slippery snow step | into a large room. The light was dim at first after the glare outside and vaguely could be seen the outline of the towering plane, an engine hanging overhead and the dim figures of men working. | A step forward and one stumbled | over the widespread landing gear. Bet- | ter-to wait until the eyes were accus- tomed to the half light. A vellow giare | shone from the open stove where a man knelt feeding it seal blubber until it | roared and hissed. All around the stove the snow had melted back and formed tiny spikes of ice on the wall. The room was large, 15 feet high at | least, and shadowy pace stretched awsy under the fuselage and into another big cavern on the other side, where the | other wing motor hung. Lighted by Gleam Through Snow. A soft blue light flitered through the #now high up on the wall, and overhead vellow light shone through the canvas rosf. A blow-torch under an engine | thréw gp a thin blue flame. Ice glistened | on the side of the metal fusslige. At | {De side was a long bench covered with | The figures of men became defined | 25 eyes became accustomed to the Nght. | Up in front on a ledge of snow, was Benny Roth, a chunky figure in his ‘woolen - parka covered with windproof, serious as always and efficient, working | with bare hands on the 550-horsepower engine in the nose of the plane, Pete Demas in a fur cap and canvas fur- linéd coat stood beside him, stamping his feet, ready to do something on the outside of the motor that had connec- tion with the play of Roth's fingers far up behind the ring of cylinders. ‘Through the windows of the fuselage Bernt Balchen and Kennard Bubier could be seen working. The door was oren, and one can step inside to & floor slippery as glass from snow. Balchen wore his usual grin, never so happy as when working on a plane. He and Bubler were overhauling the lines, rearranging the system slight- y to meet Artarctic conditions. In the | center section overhead, somebody was scrambling around, Alton Parker work- ing there on fittings for the wings tips. Work Brings Praise From Byrd. Day after day these men have been working in a temperature which few mechanics would face at home. They checked motors, rigged throttle and spark controls for the engines, changed the gas lines, installed & new gas gauge, jacked the plane up and put on new ski pedestals and aligned them, altered cowlings, did the thousand and one things which must be done on a plane before it is reedy to fly. Comdr. Byrd was enthusiastic in his appreciation of the way they tackled the cold and disagreeable task. “Mechanics Roth, Bubler and Demas have the grueling work on the :ngines in the eold without any of the ioy or adventure of the flight,” said the commander. “When we start out we will be riding those engines, and I hope that the vitally important part they have played will not be forgotten, as is ‘usually the case.” Getting the wing tips on was an- other problem. They were buried 5 feet deep under the snow, marked by stakes, having been placed there for | safety last Fall. ‘They were uncovered and found to be full of snow. How to get them out? ‘They were lifted and placed on boxes and blow torches put under them, the top of the hole being covered with can- vas. This made a sort of turkish bath in which the snow was melted and ran from the wing tips, leaving them clean and dry. What little was left evap- orated. It was an arrangement as in- genious as it was successful. Once the wing tips were empty and the fittings ready on the center sec- tion. it was a matter of only half an. hour to fasten each of them in place. ‘They were lifted from the hole by 15 or 20 men, carried to the center sec- tion and held there while the bolts were quickly thrust into place and fastened. At home. a scaffolding would be nec- essary, but here the drifted surface is £0 high that it furnished a perfect plat- form around the plane. And, standing at one side after the tips were in place, it was possible to see, as it seldom is on a flying field where the wing is high above one’s head, the complex curves of this thick metal structure which, by the necromancy of aerodynamics, lifts tons into the air. Bamp Made From Hangar. Then the canvas roof over the front of the snow hangar was removed, and the three-bladed metal propeller for the big center motor put in place. With the roof off, the hangar seemed enormous. It was like looking down fnto the excavation for a large house TThe plane, on its large skis, stretched far back into the gloom in the recesses of snow. Day before yesterday every one ‘in gamp who could be spared began to ‘shovel snow from in front of the piare, making a ramp up which it could he taxied to the surface. Forty-one tons ‘of snaw were dug out in one day. “The snow was sawed into blocke ‘weighing 50 to 100" pounds end then | hauled on sieds to the surface and dumped. It reminded one of a pic- ure of Egyptian slaves quarrying stone for the Pyramids, hauling blocks up samps with ropes over their shoulders. pulse of the starter it turned over and purred rythmically, as if it had been in use eve, v instead of lying idle wait- ing this day fcr more than a year. Lines were made fast to the tail skid | on either tide of the fuselage so that the tail could be guided by men hauli on either rope, and all was ready. | Crew Take Plaees for doh. ! Harold June, who, although a pilot can do mcst anything else and who has | been working on the radio of the Fair- | child, with Dean Smith, for several days took charge of the maneuvering outside, | while Balchen climbed into the cockpi! to the throttle, with Dean beside him. | Ccmdr. Byrd stood watchfully by to ses that everything went smoothly. The rope in front was manned by 20 men and Jne raised his hand to go ahead Balchen opened the big motor, 550 horses pulling at once. The men on| the ropes behind pulled the tail back and forth to break out the skis. There was a_“Yo-ho" on the rope in' front. and the huge plane moved forward | casily and up the ramp, the cloud of snow blowing out behind it hitting the | rear wall of the abandened hangar and | shooting a miniature blizzard into the air Halfway up June waved to halt the plane a moment, as it was turning slightly. It was pulled straight.in a few moments and then the huge, un- wieldy bulk siid_ponderously up to the level surface. Comdr. Byrd and every | Lined WHE Dress goatskin, suede, calfskin. Glov moch silk lined. black. Clasp, slip-on, soiled from handling). a kind. (Main Floor. The (<} | put under the ‘ was ready to start, and at the first im- | particles, | incidence, or, in other words, the lifting | SALE of Men’s $3.50 o *6.50 Sample Gloves $2.95 Choose From Dress or hole and gauntlet styles. in every style or leather. one around were looking as pleased as punch. It had been a neatly executed bit of work. The plane was then taxied into posi- | tion on the edge of the field. As there was no rudder, for the tail surfaces are now being put in place, men had to run behind the ship Tum- ing it with ropes, and they had all experience of being out in a terrific blizzard. behind, their faces cut by.tiny snow which even dug into their cves and sheeted eyelids, nose and cherks with a fim of ice. It didn't last long. but it was severe punishment for a time. The plane was turned and taxied into place beside the Fairchild and then | secured ropes fastened to ‘“dead ! en” in front. The tail was slightly jsed also to cut down the angle of power of the wing, if & storm should come up. When the tail surfaces are in | Place and the engines tuned it will be | all ready for a trial flight. (Coprright, 1920, by the New York Times Co. and the St. Louis Post-Dispateh. All | rights for publication reserved throughout | the world.) i GENERALS ADVANCED. Butler and Feland Promoted to Major Generals by Senate. Brig. Gen. Smedley D. Butler and Brig. Gen. Logan Feland, both of the Marine Corps, were advanced to major generals by the Senate in executive sesslon _late yesterday. | Col. Robert H. Dunlap was raised to | the rank of brigadier general, Marine | Corps. The Senate at the same time con- firmed Benjamin H. Littleton for ap- pointment as a judge of the Court of | Claims and Walter E, Hope to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury. 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