| Summary: | Australian explorer and aviator, George H. Wilkins, spent his lifetime involved in or leading arctic and antarctic expeditions. From 1926 to 1928, he and Ben Eielson attempted three times to fly across the arctic from Point Barrow, Alaska to Svalbard (Spitzbergen), Norway. The expeditions were sponsored by the Detroit Aviation Society, the Detroit News, and young Detroit children who offered their pennies for these ventures. The successful third attempt in 1928 was the first trans-arctic flight which resulted in Wilkins being knighted by the King George V of England for this accomplishment. Throughout his life, he lectured extensively and published several works about his adventures. In the 1940s until his death in 1958, he worked for the government mostly as a consultant to the U.S. Army on geographic research, aviation research, and cold weather clothing and survival techniques. As with many arctic adventurers, Seattle was often a stopping off point prior to heading to Alaska. This 1926 photo is likely of the fixed-wing aircraft commanded by Wilkins, Ben Eielson, and possibly Charles M. Wisely who purchased an Army discharge to work as a pilot for the Detroit Aviation Society for the Wilkins Arctic Expedition. Caption information sources: Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, The Detroit News, The Explorers Club. Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): April 18, 1926. 1 glass negative: b&w; 4 x 5 in.
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