By October 31, 1956, Beardmore Facility was considered fully operational as
a halfway weather and refueling stop between McMurdo Station and the South
Pole. Our meteorologist reported that the weather over the South Pole was
improved enough for the squadron to attempt its first landing at the Pole
itself. The site for this permanent outpost happened to be on top of the
polar ice cap at an altitude of about 10,000 feet, where supercold
temperatures were known to exist all year long. It was not unusual to expect
temperatures as low as minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, so building a permanent
research site there was going to be no ordinary feat. Both the men and
equipment for this enterprise had to be selected for durability and
adaptability or the project would not be the success that was necessary for
their survival.
Lieutenant Commander Gus Shinn, U.S.N. and his R4D flight crew were selected
to make for the first landing at the Pole location. As soon as Lcdr. Shinn
had taken off from McMurdo and was enroute to the South Pole, our aircraft
was to fly to Beardmore Station, where we were to remain in a ready condition
in case the first R4D was unable to get off the surface of the South Pole
after landing. Should Lcdr. Shinn experience engine or other failure enroute
to the Pole and be forced to land in some remote area, we would have flown to
his emergency landing site and offered them fuel and/or rescue services. This
assignment was not the glorious pole landing adventure that we had hoped for,
but nevertheless it was an important and necessary job that had to be done.
Our hopes had been to make the first polar landing but Eddie's reputation for
being less than 100% reliable probably influenced the decision to be
otherwise.
Lcdr. Shinn's R4D aircraft carried RADM Admiral Dufek, Captain Douglas
Cordiner, who was my Commanding Officer and Captain Hawks, the Admiral's
Aviation Officer, as passengers on the flight southwards. As Lcdr. Shinn's
aircraft proceeded southwards, an Air Force C-124 Globemaster aircraft
positioned itself high over the South Pole and provided navigational
information to the R4D. After about seven hours of flight the Lcdr. Shinn's
R4D reached the Pole and made the world's first aircraft landing at this
remote and unforgiving location. Weather conditions at the Pole that day
might be considered fearful to some. The temperature was minus 58 degrees
Fahrenheit and there was a brisk wind blowing. While the pilots remained in
the cockpit keeping the engines running so that they wouldn't freeze up, the
passengers exited the cabin and planted the American Flag on the frozen
surface, signaling the arrival of the first Americans to reach the bottom of
the World.
It was quickly apparent to Admiral Dufek that it would be unwise to remain at
the South Pole for any length of time for the people standing outside the
aircraft quickly started showing signs of frostbite and the Admiral, himself,
froze his lungs when he took a deep breath of this supercold air. Without
delay they all climbed back into the aircraft and preparations were made to
takeoff.
It was at this time that a new situation developed, which no one had
expected. During the landing run the skis heated a few degrees from the
friction of the landing run and this small bit of heat buildup caused the
snow to melt and then freeze to the skis. The aircraft then was frozen to the
surface of the Pole and when Lcdr. Shinn applied takeoff power to the engines
the aircraft refused to budge. He next tried firing four of his JATO rockets
while he had full engine power going. This didn't break the skis loose from
the ice. Again he tried using JATO, plus full engine power, and full forward
and back elevator controls. At the last moment the aircraft broke free of the
ice and started moving. Slowly the aircraft gained flying speed and they
finally got airborne.
Since the surface of the South Pole is nearly two miles high where the air is
thin, the engines were not able to develop their full power. Without
additional push of the JATO rockets, it would have been an impossibility for
the aircraft to reach takeoff speed. To top off the difficulty in getting
enough power for the takeoff maneuver, Lcdr. Shinn's cockpit windshield was
totally frosted over and he had to make a blind takeoff. It was only through
his great skill that they were able to survive both the landing and takeoff
from the Pole. Admiral Dufek decided after that frigid polar experience that
we would wait several weeks before continuing with the establishment of the
South Pole Station in hopes that the warmer temperatures a few weeks further
into the summer would make the job less hazardous for everyone.
One thing that concerned me when I was on the Ice was that we never seemed to
consider the experience of others when Antarctic flying was being planned. We
were not the first aviators to brave the polar regions by aircraft, so we
should have studied what others had learned before we started on our own.
After I had completed my tour on the Ice I read that other arctic pilots had
found themselves frozen to the ice surface and they found that they could
break themselves free by passing a length of piano wire under their skis.
With our wide bottomed skis it would have taken two men, one on each side of
the skis, sawing through the ice with a piece of stiff wire in order to free
the aircraft. It is too bad we couldn't have tried this simple and effective
system and saved ourselves a lot of engine power and JATO bottles, thus
making our takeoffs a lot easier.
While Lcdr. Shinn was struggling at the Pole our aircraft remained on the
surface of the ice cap at Beardmore Station with a full load of fuel as well
as extra survival equipment and an extra supply of JATO rockets. Our wait was
at least ten hours long and in some ways it was more difficult than having
made the Pole flight ourselves. Rotating the job between each crew member, we
kept someone in the cockpit keeping the engines warm and running those ten
hours. During that same period of time our radio man monitored his radios for
information concerning the flight to the Pole. The others did what they could
to keep warm. 33
At one time during our wait our state of readiness was temporarily reduced by
headquarters in McMurdo, so Eddie and I decided to walk to the base of the
mountain which seemed only a half mile or so away from us. The clear air
around us deceived us into thinking we could have made the walk in a few
minutes, when in fact the base of the mountain was at least two miles away
from the small camp.
The surface of the ice was smooth and our walk was an easy one. We laughed
and talked in an easy going fashion the entire way without any apparent
consideration of the fact that we were walking over a deep ocean, with
several hundred feet of ice between us or that the nearest permanent human
habitation was over 2500 miles away. After about a mile of hiking we came
upon some ice which was clear as glass and our walking became more difficult
because the surface was so slippery. In places where we placed our feet the
ice gave off strange musical sounds, probably caused by the ice being
compressed by the weight of our bodies. The sounds were weird and a bit
frightening since we couldn't be sure if we might be over some ice bridge
which might open up and swallow us. Ignoring the risk we continued forward
and after a while we came to some solid ground, which was the start of the
mountain's base. There I collected a variety of rocks which I brought back to
McMurdo with me. When I showed them to one of the geologists in camp, he told
me he had collected similar rocks from this same location in the year 1935,
when he accompanied Rear Admiral Byrd on one of his Antarctic Expeditions. He
said that my rocks, as well as the ones he had collected, gave him many clues
as to the origin of the Antarctic Land Mass.
After returning to the aircraft from our walk we continued to keep busy by
eating, sleeping, exercising and even reading. The long wait finally came to
an end when Lcdr. Shinn overflew our landing site on his way back to McMurdo
Station and we were finally released to return to McMurdo. There was no
celebration for us when we landed at McMurdo since our participation was
treated by our squadron mates as just a normal operating task. We had to
revel instead in the telling of the day's exploits by Gus Schinn's crew who
made the first polar landing. We could hardly wait until it was our turn to
fly to the Pole. Unfortunately, things were happening which changed the
direction of our squadron efforts, so our hopes for an early try at the polar
landing for our crew had to be put off for several long weeks. 34
Antarctic Facts
- Antarctica is the coldest continent. The world's record low
temperature of -126 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded there. The mean annual
temperature of the interior is -70 Degrees Fahrenheit. The coast is warmer.
Monthly mean temperatures at McMurdo Station range from -18 degrees
Fahrenheit. in August to 27 degrees Fahrenheit in January. Along the
Antarctic Peninsula temperatures have been as high as 59 degrees Fahrenheit.
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