Richard E. Byrd and Floyd Bennett: First to Fly over the North Pole

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On May 2, the weather finally began to clear. Byrd’s men raced to prepare Josephine Ford for a trial flight. In the Land of the Midnight Sun, there was daylight for 24 hours, allowing around-the-clock work. On the morning of May 4, the Fokker Trimotor, with Navy aviation pilot-mechanic Floyd Bennett at the controls, gathered speed as it taxied down the skiway chiseled through snow and ice. At the last moment, the left ski stuck to the surface as Byrd tried to make a right turn, and the plane swerved off the path and into a snowbank. Though the engines were undamaged, the center propeller was out of line, one ski had been smashed and a landing strut broken. To strengthen the ski, oars from the whaleboats were cut apart and fitted to act as braces. Norwegian Bernt Balchen, who was later to gain fame piloting for Byrd, suggested to Byrd that the skis be waxed with a mixture of paraffin and resin to reduce friction.

Norge, in the meantime, had lifted off from Leningrad and was en route to King’s Bay at a cruising speed of 50 mph. Amundsen’s crew put the finishing touches on an open-roofed hangar and mooring mast for the 348-foot airship.

On May 5, Bennett once more opened the throttle as a repaired Josephine Ford sped down a repacked skiway, which angled slightly downhill. This time the Fokker climbed into the air. Bennett and his copilot, U.S. Marine Lieutenant A.N. Parker, cruised for two hours, testing both plane and equipment. When they returned, Byrd discovered that less fuel had been used than anticipated. He was about to change his flying strategy.

Byrd’s original plan was to schedule a landing at Cape Morris Jessup in northern Greenland, the ‘northernmost known point of land in the world.’ After establishing a camp at the Cape, he could refuel and continue on his flight. But now, with the savings in fuel consumption demonstrated by the Fokker, the idea of a halfway station could be eliminated, ‘especially since landing with skis in strange areas meant taking big risks.’ Byrd decided the trip to the North Pole and back could be made nonstop.

King’s Bay was vibrant with excitement on May 7 as a long, cigar-shaped silhouette appeared over the hills to the south. Bathed in the eerie light of early morning, Norge had finally arrived to the delight of Amundsen and Ellsworth. Upon learning that Byrd was nearly ready to fly, Norge’s Italian pilot, Umberto Nobile, declared that he could be ready in six hours to beat the Americans to the Pole. But the dour Amundsen was not about to be rushed–even if Byrd was ready.

That night, the American crew began the 14-hour task of loading and preparing Josephine Ford for its journey. Byrd had to consider the very real possibility of being forced down by engine malfunction or some other mishap, as had happened to Amundsen and Ellsworth the previous year. Stowed in the fuselage was a sled for carrying survival supplies, including food for 10 weeks in case they were forced down. The highly concentrated diet of emergency rations consisted of pemmican (a mixture of dried meat, fat, sugar and raisins), chocolate, pilot bread, tea, malted milk, powdered chocolate, butter, sugar and cream cheese. Two rubber rafts for crossing openings, or leads, in the ice were also stored. Personal equipment included ‘reindeer-skin, polar bear and seal fur clothes, boots and gloves,’ wrote Byrd, ‘primus stove, rifle, pistol, shotgun and ammunition.’ There was also a tent, axes, knives, smoke bombs and a shortwave radio set.

Byrd’s meteorologist, W.C. Haines, declared that the weather on May 8 would be near perfect for flying. The Wright engines of the Fokker had already been heated by three small gasoline stoves whose heat was channeled to the engines by tubes of fireproof canvas. Extra five-gallon cans of fuel were hurriedly stored in the plane’s cabin as Byrd and Bennett climbed aboard. Once more Josephine Ford gathered speed as it bounced over snow hummocks on the skiway. Unable to take off, the plane slid past the end of the strip and plunged into a snow drift. The Fokker was too heavily packed to take off. Fortunately, neither of the aviators was hurt, nor were the engines or the fragile skis damaged.

Tags: Adventurers & Trail Blazers, Aviation History, Expeditions, Historical Discoveries, Historical Figures

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