408 POLAR PROBLEMS 



of 6bservation from the base would determine the extent of the work 

 and the amount of scientific equipment that could profitably be carried. 

 With machines available today light enough to be handled by two 

 men it should be possible, in the Arctic, to reach a point about 800 

 miles from a base, carrying a sonic depth finding apparatus (Figs. 3 

 and 4), sufficient equipment for manual soundings to 5000 meters, for 

 collecting bottom samples, sea and air temperatures, and water 

 samples. This is work that might be done quickly, the time depending 

 on the convenience of penetrating the ice floe or of sounding through 

 an ice crack or a lane of open water. The observations might be taken 

 without moving far from the plane, and little extra equipment is 

 required to keep the engine warm while the observations are being 

 taken.- The number of landings and observations taken on one 

 journey would be governed by the number of suitable landing fields 

 and the range of the machine. From observations taken in the 

 neighborhood of Point Barrow and the Beaufort Sea it seems likely 

 that in the late winter suitable landing fields on the Arctic sea ice 

 might be found within a radius of twenty miles from any given point. 

 Absolute accuracy could not be expected on a hurried reconnaissance, 

 but many useful data could be collected. 



For prolonged oceanographical and meteorological observations 

 airplanes could be used — either from a land headquarters or from a 

 vessel that might be moving under its own power or drifting with the 

 ice — to transport personnel and equipment to outlying bases estab- 

 lished for such studies. In the Antarctic, where there is much geo- 

 graphical work, both along the coast and inland, to be done, modern 

 aerial photographic equipment and the usual navigation instruments 

 for fixing base lines would be desirable. To make geological observa- 

 tions from the air and from the ground would require very little 

 equipment, and samples equal to the weight of the gasoline expended 

 could be brought back. 



Equipment To Be Carried 



Fur clothing, suitable for foot travel in case of necessity, is satis- 

 factory for use in aircraft, and a considerable amount of concentrated 

 emergency rations can be conveniently carried. Apart from con- 

 centrated food, matches, and fuel, the equipment recommended by 

 the writer to be carried on Arctic flights of exploration is as follows: 

 high-power rifle; ammunition; hunting knife; large knife and saw 

 (for cutting snow blocks for snow houses) ; Primus stove ; aluminum 

 cooking pot; enamel cups; plates; spoons; a convenient animal-oil 



2 Since wTiting this Captain Wilkins in March, 1927, carried out the program here outlined to the 

 extent of making a sounding in the deep part of the Arctic Sea (see above, pp. 396, 407 (Fig. 3), and 

 PL I). As the instrument used was an echo sounding device, no bottom or water samples were taken. — 

 Edit. Note. 



