424 POLAR PROBLEMS 



These precautions gave very good results, and during the whole flight 

 no trouble at all was experienced with our valves. 



Air Navigation in the Arctic^ 



As regards navigating in the Arctic, checking our route was sup- 

 posed to be a source of difficulty. Practically everything, however, 

 went off well.^ The three magnetic compasses that were on board 

 always functioned correctly, as had been foreseen, because of our 

 route lying far away from the magnetic pole. The solar compass was 

 also of much assistance during the first part of the flight, because it 

 gave us the possibility of checking the accuracy of the values of mag- 

 netic declination shown on the maps; but a few hours after our passage 

 over the pole, ice incrustation put that instrument out of order. 



The drift and velocity of the ship in relation to the ground were 

 measured with a Goerz drift-and-speed indicator. But all these meas- 

 urements were uncertain on account of the poor knowledge that we 

 had of the altitude, which was checked by means of a telemeter. In 

 the future it will be possible to use better and more accurate instru- 

 ments. At all events, our methods were practically sufficient for our 

 purpose. 



As a means of checking our route we used a sextant with an arti- 

 ficial horizon, used in Italy for ten years, which gave very good results. 

 The radio was useful in the part of flight from Spitsbergen to the pole 

 in determining the position of the ship. On board an airplane the use 

 of the sextant and of the radio would not have been as practicable 

 and easy as on board the Norge. 



Results of the Transpolar Flight and Problems 

 Still to Be Solved 



In conclusion we may repeat that the dirigible is the best means 

 of transportation for the exploration of the Arctic zone. The airplane 

 and hydroplane can be used, but mainly as an auxiliary means of 

 transportation. 



We understand, of course, that the preparation of an expedition 

 with an airship is technically more difficult and takes more money 

 than an expedition with airplanes. The design and construction of the 

 ship, the preparation of the stations, the choice and training of the 

 personnel are problems more complex and of more difficult solution 

 than when airplanes are used. On the other hand the results are much 

 more important, as our expedition has shown. With an airship of com- 



- On this topic see also Mr. O. M. Miller's paper below. — Edit. Note. 



3 On the navigation of the Norge see Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen: The Navigation Over the Polar 

 Sea, Chapter lo of Roald Amundsen and Lincoln Ellsworth: First Crossing of the Polar Sea, New 

 York, 1927, pp. 179-248 and the account by General Nobile of the transpolar flight in the Italian 

 newspaper Corriere della Sera of Milan for June 24 and September 9, 1926. — Edit. Note. 



