388 POLAR PROBLEMS 



winds. Not only does the airship have a difficult time getting through 

 areas with strong and sudden upward and downward currents of air, 

 but its speed is not sufficient for safety against a forty-knot wind. 

 On the other hand, an airship is better able to cope with fog than is an 

 airplane, because an engine failure does not result in an immediate 

 forced landing. The airship can hover and possibly wait for the fog 

 to lift, whereas the airplane must keep up a certain speed to stay 

 aloft and, of course, is using up the precious gasoline. It is difficult 

 to get an airship into the Arctic unless it is flown there, and that would 

 always be uncertain and hazardous with the airships in use today. 

 An airship, however, twice the size of the Los Angeles (England is 

 building two such airships) would have a tremendous cruising radius 

 and would be large enough to cope with any storms but those of very 

 great violence. These ships could make a non-stop flight from Eng- 

 land to any place in the Arctic Sea and return. They could hover for 

 hours over a spot for investigation. Congress has authorized two 

 airships of this size for the Navy, but has not yet appropriated the 

 funds for building them. 



Bases for Exploration of the Arctic from the Air 



If Nansen's conception of a deep polar basin is true, then new lands 

 will most likely be found on the continental shelf. The border of that 

 shelf is not everywhere known. It is possible that at some point it 

 may have considerable extension toward the pole, and such an ex- 

 tension may have islands on it. At any rate, it seems likely that bases 

 established on known outpost lands on the continental shelf offer the 

 best chance to discover new land. 



There are a number of locations which may be used for main bases, 

 the more advantageous of which appear to be Etah, North Greenland, 

 or vicinity; Point Barrow or vicinity; Wrangel Island; the New Sibe- 

 rian Islands; Northern Land (Nicholas II Land); Franz Josef Land; 

 and Spitsbergen. 



From Etah unexplored regions north and west of Grant Land and 

 Axel Heiberg Island would be within striking distance of aircraft and 

 dog teams. The surface ship could reach Etah in the summer and 

 possibly explore by hydro-airplane before autumn sets in. If land is 

 located, it could, with the help of the planes, be reached by dog team 

 the following spring. The explorer could, of course, wait until spring 

 to begin his flight, using skis instead of pontoons. The plane should 

 either be amphibious or should be constructed, as are many of our 

 navy planes, so that floats or skis and wheels can be used interchange- 

 ably. It would also be possible to reach in the same way the unex- 

 plored areas of the Arctic Sea north of Greenland. 



