288 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
Planes also can bridge the gap between New York and Chungking, 
Minneapolis and Bombay, or New York and Tokyo in considerably 
less time than the special express train will require to cross our coun- 
try. Finally, at 300 miles per hour, wherever one may happen to be, 
no spot on the once wide globe is farther away than 42 flying hours. 
Unbeknown to most of us, much already has been done to utilize 
and develop these northern routes. Returning from his globe- 
girdling tour some months ago, Wendell Willkie flew from China to 
the United States, not by way of Australia and Honolulu as might 
very well be expected, but rather via Nome (Alaska) and Edmonton 
(Alberta). Strict censorship veils the full extent of the action taken 
in promoting polar aviation, but we are informed that millions of 
dollars have been spent, and that Arctic routes are constantly being 
flown. Preparations also are being made by the Government of the 
United States to sponsor and protect American interests in postwar 
aviation. 
ARCTIC FLYING CONDITIONS 
But it is frequently believed that flying conditions in the Arctic will 
prevent the establishment of dependable commercial traffic. True, 
flying conditions in the polar regions are necessarily different in many 
respects from what they are in more temperate climates. Neverthe- 
less, upon closer analysis it appears that most of the difficulties can 
be surmounted. 
It is stated that the most ardent exponents of transpolar aviation 
consider average flying conditions over the Arctic throughout the 
year to be better than they are over the North Atlantic, while the 
most pessimistic writers consider them probably worse, but con- 
querable. Stefansson, one of the most optimistic of the publicists, 
notes that scientists were virtually unanimous by 1930 in agreeing 
that Arctic flying in Alaska, to be more specific, is as safe as it is in 
Michigan. This, he alleges, is suggested by Pan American Airways 
reports to the effect that its flyers generally are as well satisfied with 
their work in Alaska as in Brazil, that over half the pilots on its 
Alaskan lines prefer January to July, and that, assuming like equip- 
ment and ground service, schedules can be maintained through the 
midwinter period with an average regularity at least as good as that in 
the northeastern part of the United States. 
Temperature seems to be no more of a flying problem in the 
Arctic than elsewhere. The reason for this is that planes now fly in 
temperatures just as severe in Temperate and Torrid Zones while 
they are at high altitudes following their established air routes. As 
a matter of fact, today effective combat is waged at much greater 
heights than was believed possible a few years ago. It is reported 
in the press that fighter planes now are regularly flying in the low 
