oceanographic work are presented in the second part of this 

 bulletin. 



By the second week in June, all southward drifting bergs were 

 deteriorating and melting between the 48th and 49th parallels 

 and the pack ice edge had retreated well up the Labrador coast. 

 It was therefore deemed that no further major ice menace existed 

 over the Grand Banks area, and with the concurrence and au- 

 thority of the Commandant, United States Coast Guard, the 

 International Ice Patrol was formally terminated on 16 June 1958. 



At the request of Commander, International Ice Patrol the U.S. 

 Coast Guard Air Detachment, based at Argentia, Newfoundland, 

 made periodic postseason ice reconnaissance flights to guard 

 against an unseasonal southward movement of ice. 



AERIAL ICE RECONNAISSANCE 



This year was the 13th that aircraft have been employed for ice 

 observation by the International Ice Patrol. Aircraft were first used 

 during World War II years in the conduct of ice information 

 operations under the United States and Allied Atlantic Fleets. 

 The marked success and aircraft development indicated that air- 

 craft would be a valuable asset with the resumption of the Inter- 

 national Ice Patrol in 1946. 



1958 marked the last year that the familiar PBIG (B-17) 

 "Flying Fortresses" was the primary observation type. Three of 

 these aircraft were available through the U.S. Coast Guard Air 

 Detachment, permanently based at Argentia, Newfoundland. 

 Since 1946 these fine aeroplanes have flown over 985,612 nautical 

 miles on 761 Ice Patrol missions. They have also flown many 

 preseason and postseason reconnaissance flights to guard against 

 an undetected ice menace. During their period of service there 

 has only been one mishap and that without personnel injury. 

 In May of 1952 while making a landing at Goose Bay, Labrador, 

 one landing wheel collapsed damaging the underbody of the plane. 

 Rather than undertake repairs at so advanced a base, the parts 

 and engines were salvaged and the airframe was abandoned. 



An Ice Patrol flight is usually between 1,100 and 1,200 miles 

 long and the track is laid out carefully in advance so that a 

 maximum area can be searched for the miles flown. An ice ob- 

 servation officer from the staff of Commander, International Ice 

 Patrol accompanies every flight. Precise piloting and navigation 

 is demanded so that the intended search area is actually covered. 

 Search altitudes are usually between 500 and 1,500 feet and 

 every effort is made to stay beneath the overcast and provide the 

 observer with maximum visibility. While flights are usually made 



