84 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



plane has appeared in the Arctic, and Amundsen and Nobile have used 

 the airship. It was inevitable that aviation should be tried in high 

 latitudes, if for no other reason than its spectacular daring, but so far its 

 success has not been marked. That, however, does not necessarily imply 

 that aviation is never to be a serious help in polar exploration. Amundsen's 

 flighb in the Norge gave a probable confirmation of what had already been 

 deduced from indirect evidence. He found no land where none was 

 expected. He saw nothing but ice-covered sea. Moreover, a rapid 

 flight over snow-covered land, even if the eye could distinguish that 

 surface from ice-covered sea, would tell little of importance. Byrd's 

 flight to the Pole and back was of even less value to exploration, for on 

 his track there was no possibility of land. The kind of exploration that is 

 now required entails patient observation and accurate measurement. A 

 quick-moving machine cannot help in this, and there is always the prob- 

 ability of mist to hamper the value and imperil the success of aviation 

 in the polar summer. Amundsen himself admits that owing to ' a tre- 

 mendous sea of fog, in some places of extraordinary density ' in the Beaufort 

 Sea, he may have passed over islands of low altitude without seeing them. 

 So that on the only part of its course where land can possibly exist, the 

 flight of the Norge has left us where we were, and the field is clear for 

 the next explorer. 



Even for reconnaissance the aeroplane has doubtful value. So much 

 depends on ground organisation which never can be perfect in polar 

 regions, and there is the even greater difficulty of satisfactory landing- 

 places. On the long flight of the Norge from Spitsbergen to Alaska, not 

 a single landing-place was seen, at least not one suitable to the eyes of 

 those who had experience of polar ice. Pack-ice rarely offers the requisite 

 surface, and certainly cannot be relied on to do so, while among drift-ice 

 the necessary expanse of open water is seldom available for a hydroplane. 

 The use of a lead may prove fatal by the ice closing in on the machine. 

 In his first attempt on the North Pole in 1925, Amundsen very nearly 

 lost his machines and the lives of his expedition by landing in a pool of 

 water. As it was, he had to abandon one machine, and it was only by 

 his skill and determination that he retrieved from disaster what was a 

 complete fiasco so far as scientific exploration was concerned. 



It should, however, be noted that G. H. Wilkins, from his flying 

 experience north of Alaska, maintains that landing-places on pack-ice 

 are numerous. He certainly made safe landings on two occasions 

 without much difficulty. 



For the transport of stores, equipment and collections, the aeroplane 

 has little value because its use introduces an element of grave uncertainty 

 into the work of the expedition. The explorer must be prepared for the 

 journey on foot or by boat if his aeroplane fails him. He must carry 

 the necessary equipment, or he is incurring a foolhardy risk. And in 

 that case, why take the aeroplane at all ? 



In one respect, however, the aeroplane can be successfully used in polar 

 water, that is in aerial survey of difficult country that lies within reach 

 of a base accessible by sea transport and provided with a good landing- 

 place. The value of aerial surveys has been proved in many parts of the 

 world. The survey of the Irawadi delta in a few weeks instead of the 



