Evening Star Newspaper, July 22, 1937, Page 50

C—12 Storm-Tossed Propeller Sent Waves of Fear Through Flyers No One Can Understand What Pilots Go Through in Face of Natural Forces,” Moscow Aviator Says One of the pilots of the first Soviet plane to fiy over the North Pole from Moscow to America has written a vivid narrative of the ex- periences of himself and two his two companions. In this install- ment, the fourth of a series, Pilot Baidukov tells of their sensations in flying into an Arctic cyclone. BY GEORGE BAIDUKOV. The flight has already continued for 13 hours. For seven hours we have not had a good look at the earth. As though in spite, Beliakov's eextant has gone out of commission. Basha and I have a little dispute on this account while looking in the log. In it are shown bare figures. But we still do not know in what direction or with what force the wind had carried us. Beliakov, his head bowed wearily, struggles to receive a radio message. His blue lips and the sharp lines in his face betray his ex- haustion At 2:15 pm. I take my watch as navigator, and Sasha goes to sleep. The sound of the motor drones emoothly in the fuselage. The solar compass accurately transforms the great bright globe into a small dot, throwing its reflection on the opaque disc. Altitude, 3,000 meters; tem- perature, 10 degrees below; clouds as far as the eye can see; above the sun, and ahead—what is there ahead? We can already hear that the motor works with a new intensity, and the altimeter has begun to show & gradual climb. Before us and on the left the sky begins to darken— the promised cyclone is approaching. We must get our bearings soon, otherwise the sun will disappear, and then the lack of visibility, lasting more than seven hours, will react danger- ously on the entire crew. I reach for the damaged sextant, and luckily I discover in it a small bubble. Holding it near the radiator I succeed in enlarging the bubble and | at 2:42 climb a little higher. The line of our position is along the meridian and clearly indicates a de- viation to the right or, to be more exact, a drift to the right of the scheduled line of flight. Noting this in the journal, I determine approxi- mately that, following our previous course, we should cut into the west- ern part of the archipelago of Franz Joseph Land. Crawl Under Roof of Clouds. It quickly begins to grow dark in the cabin. We again crawl under a roof of clouds. On the left is a eolid dark wall. Chkalov. making a sharp turn to the right, flies along- side this inhospitable wall. But the upper and lower layers of cloud im- placably attempt to come ket. I wait curiously to see what Valery will do. We bear strongly to the right and, side by side with the plane, the cyclone, too, as though de- liberately, stretches its wing more and more to the right, trying to block | our way. At 4:10 T send a radiogram to A-11 that our position is 76 degrees latitude, 44 degrees longitude; that we are passing around a cloudy area, and that we are holding our course toward Rudolf Island. Chkalov climbs to 4,000 meters. The outside temperature falls to 24 de- grees below. It is chilly in the cabin, even though the heater is on. Chkalov keeps looking back to indicate that the weather is getting worese, and at 5 o'clock begins to demand that we should change, although by the sched- ule he still has five hours to go. And so, instead of resting after eight hours on duty, the pilot's seat beckons to me again and, of course, blind flying. Chkalov points ahead and says: “You take this blind stretch, Egor, a5 we agreed—and, anyway, my legs ache terribly.” 1In truth, Valery's face, hollow-cheeked, has become drawn and older and has an un- healthy, yellow tinge. Valery does not go far away, but pumps up the pressure in the small de-icer tank for the propeller. I make ready for blind flying and switch on all the automatic devices on the engine. Setting our course due north, I climb boldly into the dark wall of the cyclone, gradually making altitude. This time I am egged on by the unduly low temperature, exactly 24 degrees below, centigrade. Continue Ascent. Without waiting for ice to form, I Concentrate all my attention on flying by instruments. At 5:15 everything disappears from the field of vision, and as though completely cut off from the world, screened by the €loluds, I caimly continue the ascent. But in a few minutes comrade Chkalov and I are bitterly disillusioned. The head parts of the plane in. stantaneously become covered with t:ar}sparent white ice. Then there is & jerking and shuddering. Valery Joggles me from behind to use the de- icer. Opening the spout full force, I am able to stop the palpitations of the propellor. But ice covers the Wings, the stabilizer and the antennae like lightning and we have no way of clearing them. No one can understand what we pilots go through at such a moment of impotence in the face of natural forces. You want to weep from vexa- tion, it is so horrible to think that your plane might become an icicle, and that you must surrender help- lessly to nature. No, we will not give in! Full speed! The motor roars smoothy, giving all its power. Meter by meter, higher and higher and, oh Joy! Within 20 minutes we are flying 8t 4,150 meters and the clouds are already five meters below us. And above is the sun, the bountiful sun! How weary we are from those moments of alarm, from physical effort at such an altitude. And what about oxygen? ‘We must still economize on oxygen, perhaps even more difficult moments are ahead! . Again the tension relaxes, and fatigue claims its own. Afraid of going to sleep at the stick, I ask for vext, BALTIMORE (A E‘\\“‘ 1 .6 Direct down tow! ONE §4.00 ROUND war |e TR together, | wrapping the plane in & downy blan- | shopping and by . centers. Streamline ses, reclining chairs. Ciean. cool travel. Un- obstructed view from ew Yoms - 350 <Y St : PHILADELP'A 2. 3 1201 NEW YORK AVE. A CH 528 metropotitan 1728 NLOSANGELES 37.35 District 4224 SAFEWAY TRAILWAYS A a pipe. An hour passes, and the plane still cannot get clear of ice. The frame of the dashboard and the forward panels have a shining surface of porcelain ice, 115 centimeters thick, as though covered with fresh white- wash. That's the Arctic for you! Therein lies its charm. Just imagine what the humidity must be for ice to form in 10 minutes at a temperature of 24 degrees below. Oh, well, an- other lesson for us, already the third to be chalked up. De-Icing Fluid Low. And now we must not forget—we'd better not fool around among the clouds any more—there's very little de-icing fluid left. We must fight for altitude, that is the surest way on such a flight. And if altitude does not help, then we must manage as best we can. Seventeen hours in the air. The motor needs oil. T waken Valery, al- though this time I am sorry to do it. His leg, broken when he was a child, is aching badly. He begins to pump the oil from the emergency tanks into the reserve tank. Finishing this pro- cedure, Valery takes my place. Seven pm. The plane proceeds calmly on its way. There is so much sun that Sasha cannot resist the temptation to take a few measure- ments. He calculates our bearings with his sextant by the natural horizon. Sasha reports we shall soon be over Franz Joseph Land and that we shall not change our course until we hear the radio beacon on Rudolf Island. Eight o'clock, Greenwich time. Aha! In Moscow they are already getting ready for bed. Very likely my own little girl is dreaming about a little rooster or bear cub. But here the Arctic, never-waking throughout the Winter, is now master of everything, | and carries on its sinister work sleep- lessly, day in and day out. The sun stands high and for 24 hours observes grim nature, the cold waters and the ice. I lie on my back and feel how cold it Is getting in the cabin. The inside thermometer has fallen to 6 degrees below. I crawl into my sleeping bag and gaze around inside the fuselage. There in the back seat lies the collapsible boat, and under it is folded some one's parachute. Are we quite mad? Why has not one of us put on a parachute? Just suppose we should have to jump this very minute, and smoothly descend into the cold waters of the Barents Sea, roaring from the tempest. What would be the sense of such a jump? There are no boats passing every half hour. Fear Landing on Ice. But if we land on the ice? . .. Well, here we are on an ice pack, and we joyously note that we have no rifles, no cartridges, no rucksacks, no sleep- ing bags, no food. . . And so, of course, we calmly put away our parachutes, with no intention of jumping at all in | the Arctic region, staking everything on our plane. “Land! Land!" shouts Valery. I This is no regular | | New York-London route. THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. €., THURSDAY, JULY 922, 1937. hastily climb out of the sleeping bag. I make my way to Beliakov. In his red journal he has recorded: , 8:20 pm. Cape Barents, on Nordbruk Island, Archipelago of Franz Josef Lend. Through the window of the cabin there is a blinding glare from the smooth pure snow and ice fields from which, mysteriously and silently, the islands of the Archipelago emerge. The airplane climbs to 4,310 meters and from that height, through a break in the lower layer of the clouds, more and more of the majestic islands of the Archipelago are revealed. Beliakov searches diligently for the radio beacon of Rudolf Island. . His navigator'’s soul will not be content until he has tested all the means of navigation. The radio apparatus works willingly for Sasha. Satisfied to hear at last the long-awaited signal, the navigator proudly examines the map of the Arctic basin. From it can be seen clearly that the course lies along the 58th meridian to the Pole. To the Pole! How many dreams, how much suffering and how many victims that word has meant! And now the year 1937 has opened the eyes of the world. To go'to the North Pole, to land a group of people there and report what is going on—that was the task under- taken by the Schmidt expedition at the behest of the Soviet people and their leader, comrade Stalin. Schmidt is already back on the mainland. Only Mazuruk, with his boys, is camping somewhere quite close to us with his plane, watching the work of the four daring scientists, thrown down on the ice of the North Pole. To the Pole, where Papanin and his comrades are camping, and beyond the Pole where the unknown still | prevails—that is our mission. (Copyright, 1937, by the North American Newspaper Alliance, Inc.) e BORN TO SILVER CUP Sam Houston Allred Soon to Use Historic Trinket. AUSTIN, Tex. (#)—Sam Houston Allred, infant son of Gov. and Mrs. James V. Allred, soon will drink his milk from a silver cup used by eight children of his namesake—Gen. Sam louston, first president of the repub- lic of Texas. The cup was given the executive's child, born in March, by the Houston family. The Allred baby was born in the Sam Houston four-poster bed in Imperial Fri. spec.. 11:30 to nite: Crisfleld style, i cluding clam broth. fried scallops. Saratoga potatoes. Mexican salad, homemade bread. butter. coffee. tea or Wine. Beer and Drinks of All_Kinds lass of beer_ 1207 E St. N.W. Never Closed. $2,000,000 DU PONT TAX IS UPHELD Fight on Assessment of Holding Companies Lost in U. S. Court. By the Associated Press. NEW ORLEANS, July 22—The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld yesterday imposition of more than $2,000,000 in taxes on the income of a Florida holding com- pany, practically all of whose stock was owned by Alfred I. du Pont and members of his family. The company, Almours Securities, Inc, had appealed from deficiency as- sessments, by the Board of Tax Ap- peal, of $1,282, $169.84 for the calen- dar year 1931, and $778852.14 fof 1932, or a total of $2,061.98. The assessments were made under sections of revenue acts of 1928 and 1932 which impose an additional tax of 50 per cent upon the net income of any corporation “formed or availed of for the purpose of preventing the im- position of surtaxes upon its share- holders through the medium of per- mitting its gains and profits to ac- cumulate instead of being divided or distributed.” Most _of the firm's income, the —— T You're sure to find what vou want in_our massive stock. Shop and save at { E. MORRISON PAPER C 1009 Pa. Ave. Phone Glarine _summer sun places your eves under additional () strain. Be prepared. Consult () ¢ ur xraduate optometrist today for a thorough examination e ¥ M. A. LEESE OPTICAL C0.* 614 9t ST. LW, DiE LUXE a0c DINNER (except chicken or Seeing the snapshot is not so bad, It isn't necessary fo walt for @ vacation te got some of the best snepshots— this proves ite opinion said, was derived from divi- dends on stock in E. I du Pont Nemours, Inc, and from sales of shares of this stock. ‘The petitioner claimed the facts did not warrant imposition of the taxes, and that the laws levying the taxes were unconstitutional. ‘The court ruled that it could not “interfere with the function of the Board of Tax Appeals as a fact-finding tribunal,” and that the constitutionality of the sections involved has bven upheld in previous cases. Price and Demand. A quite well known English poet published his book of poems, almost a century ago, at a farthing (the smallest English coin, about half a cent) a copy, to mark, as he said, the public contempt into which epic poetry had fallen. Everybody talked about the “Farthing” book, edition after edition was printed, each edition at | a slight advance in price, until the | tenth edition, priced at $1.75, when sales ceased. AS LOW S cC A WEEK BUYS KODAKS Advertised on This Page! at AIR-COOLED CHAS. SCHWARTZ & SON 708 Seventh St. N.W. Down By The Old Gold Clock Enjoy the goodness of wholesome food that s fresh as a new day—and temptingly prepared to a king’s taste. Life—action—the tang of sait spray—you bring them back when your Kodak goes along. CRACK SNAPSHOT PAIR New Kodak Junior Six-20,Series |l and Kodak VERICHROME Film ONLY EASTMAN MAKIS THE KODAK COMMITTEES APPOINTED BY BRENTWOOD MAYOR Several Town Officials Also Are Named as Organization Is Completed. Special Dispatch to The Star BRENTWOOD, Md,, July 22.—With the appointment of several cficials and the naming of committees within the Council, Mayor William N. Ma- haffey completed organization of the local government at a meeting of town officials last night. 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