414 



POLAR PROBLEMS 



of our purse, and so we bought it. The Ni built to the designs of 

 Colonel (now General) Umberto Nobile in the Italian state airship 

 factory and christened by us the Norge, was of semi-rigid construc- 

 tion, 348 feet long, with a displacement of twenty tons. Her fuel 

 capacity of seven tons, with which to run her three 250 horse-power 



Maybach motors, gave her 

 a range of 3500 miles, or 

 about 70 hours at a speed 

 of 50 miles per hour. Her 

 gas capacity was 660,000 

 cubic feet. The Norge was 

 equipped with a Marconi 

 wireless direction finder, 

 the tuning circuit for which 

 was designed to cover a 

 wide band of wave lengths : 

 those used ranged from 900 

 to 1400 meters. The energy 

 for the specially construct- 

 ed valve transmitter was 

 delivered from a windmill- 

 driven generator supplying 

 3000 volts. 



There was a delay of 

 several days after the long 

 flight from Italy to Spits- 

 bergen before the Norge was 

 able to proceed on her 

 journey across the Arctic 

 Sea. Favorable weather 

 conditions were essential. 

 We needed a clear sky with good visibility and a favorable wind; 

 also high barometric pressure and a low temperature. These last 

 two elements influenced greatly the lifting capacity of the dirigible. 

 For each degree Fahrenheit that the temperature went down the air- 

 ship gained 80 pounds in lifting capacity, which was increased by 140 

 pounds for each tenth of an inch added to the barometric pressure. 

 The keel of the Norge looked like a flying storehouse when all was 

 ready for the start at 8.55 on the morning of May ii, 1926. The 

 equipment included tents, sleeping bags, skis, snowshoes for those 

 who could not ski, rifles, shotguns, ammunition, a hand sledge made 

 by Oskar Wisting on the Maud — a fine piece of workmanship — and 

 a big canvas boat. Two men among the personnel, Amundsen and 

 Wisting, had the distinction of having been at the south pole, and now 

 both were en route for the north pole. Provisions consisted of pem- 



Fig. 4 — View along the canvas-covered keel of the 

 Norge, showing oil tanks, the runway, etc. 



