382 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1949 
We did not see the Norseman during the return, but constant radio 
communication was maintained between the two planes. By the 
time we had reached Cape Knowles, 250 miles to the north, ground 
fog covered the entire area ahead (pl. 7, fig. 2). Close to Steele 
Island, Lassiter found an opening in the fog and quickly dove through 
to make an emergency landing on the smooth, hard sea ice, and within 
30 minutes Adams in the Norseman had been guided in by radio. 
We camped here until 3 o’clock in the afternoon of November 22, at 
which time the meteorologist at Cape Keeler informed us that Keeler 
weather was suitable for flying. After a brief stop at Keeler, we re- 
turned to the main base, landing at 6 p. m., just 31 hours after we 
had left Cape Keeler for the southern flight. 
That evening Adams in the Norseman left again for the Keeler 
base, carrying another load of gasoline. With Fiske, Robertson, 
Wood, and Schlossbach, he was forced to remain there for several 
weeks because of continued overcast. 
SECOND LONG SOUTHERN FLIGHT 
The second long flight south was still foremost in my mind, but the 
weather reported on the daily schedules from Cape Keeler had been 
most discouraging—‘snowed in,” “blizzards with strong winds,” or 
“overcast with ceiling zero.” Finally, on the morning of December 8, 
Keeler reported the same good weather that prevailed at the main 
base. Within an hour, Lassiter, Latady, and I were in the Beech- 
craft headed for Keeler. Adams and Schlossbach had the Norseman 
loaded with a cargo of five gasoline drums and their emergency 
equipment and were ready to take off. The temperature was 0° F. 
and the air dead calm. The condition of the surface snow was very 
different from that on November 21, and the first three attempts to 
take off were unsuccessful. Finally, Schlossbach and all his emer- 
gency gear and two of the five drums had to be left behind. Even 
then, without the aid of any wind Adams was barely able to lift the 
plane into the air. It was the first time that the Norseman’s plastic- 
shod skis had stuck to the snow. We all agreed, however, that the 
plastic-shod skis were far superior to metal-shod skis under most 
snow conditions. 
The reduced load of gas made it impossible to undertake as long a 
flight as I had intended. My original plan had been to fly due south 
from Mount Tricorn for about 3 hours, then head northeast to Moltke 
Nunatak and the shelf ice, which we would follow back to the Norse- 
man stand-by base. Adams had previously established a cache of 
138 gallons of gasoline at Gruening Glacier for our return. 
Unlike the Norseman, the Beechcraft had no difficulty in getting 
into the air. We climbed to 10,000 feet immediately, and by the time 
we passed the south end of Hearst Island, Latady had the trimetrogon 
