Northwest History. Aviation 8. Wilkins' Expedition, United States.

• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1926
• Subjects: Frederic Lewis Earp.; correspondent; North American Newspaper Alliance; Detroit Arctic Expedition; Fairbanks; Alaska; Point Barrow; Geroge H. Wilkins; expedition commander; Thomas G. Lanphier; Charles M. Wiseley; aviation; "Slim" Anderson; automobile; Fairbanks fire department; Yukon; visibility; The Detroiter; polar sea; Howard Mason; radio; Ester creek; C. G. Clark; Eskimo; Mothers' day; Fred Hopson; trading post; Harry Hopson; Liverpool sailor; Arctic ocean; Slaskan; communication; radio signals; radio message; Nome; gasoline supply; Kotzebue; Northwest; Pacific > History > 20th century; Alaska Point; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Detroit; Pacific; The Landing; Wilkins; Barrow; eskimo*
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/clipping/id/86098

Radio Fails At 400 Miles: Fairbanks Loses Trace Of Plane Over Endicotts. RADIO FAILS AT 400 MILKS Fairbanks Loses Trace of Plane Over Endicotts. By Frederic Lewis Earp, Special Correspondent of The Spokesman-Review and the North American Newspaper Alliance with the Detroit Arctic Expedition. (Copyright, 1926.) FAIRBANKS, Alaska, May 8.—The three-motored monoplane Detroiter of the Detroit Arctic expedition hopped off from the Fairbanks flying field at 8:10. a. m. today for Point Barrow and its voyage exploration into the unexplored Polar region. Aboard are Captain George H. Wilkins, expedition commander; Major Thomas G. Lanphier and Lleutenant Charles M. Wiseley, pilot. The weather is clear here. Every member of the expedition here rolled out of bed before 6 this morning and hurried to the aviation field. The sun was shining and white clouds flecked the northern horizon. Rain last night had softened the field again, and the air was scarcely moving. Wiseley walked the length of the field and studied the soft spots. Feared He Coolant Lift. the captain and the major. "But I'll give the ship all she's worth to the end of the field." Shortly before 8 o'clock, after the three motors were started and the ship was warming up, a light wind plane began to foil along the field, hesitated a split second at a muddy spot that had been graveled, crossed this ticklish place and cleared the ground. The small crowd on the landing field gave a yell and hats and caps went into the air. "Slim" Anderson of the Fairbanks fire department opened the door of his automobile and I jumped in and raced for the telegraph office a mile away. Safe Over Mountains. The major and Wiseley were in the cockpit and Captain Wilkins in the cabin with his radio set. Six minutes after 9 o'clock his first radio message had been received. He reported the Yukon in sight and the plane skimming along through the clouds. The visibility was not good toward the mountains, he said. The ship was making about 90 miles an hour at the time. Wiseley had lifted the plane to 4000 feet and an hour later when the ship passed Wiseman she was 8000 feet in the air. Clouds filled the mountain heights ahead, but Wiseley drove into the mist and an hour afterward came the welcome news that eased our anxiety. The Detroiter was over the rocky frozen ridges, clear of the clouds and flitting over the flat snow plain that reaches out to the polar sea. The ship was turning up better than 100 miles an hour and every cylinder of the three 200-horsepower motors was hitting for all it was worth. Howard Mason, chief radio man of the expedition, had taken his portable radio set this morning to Ester creek, 13 miles northwest of here, in order to Insure better wireless reception. Technical Sergeant C. G. Clark was listening in at the army radio station. Both operators got Wilkins' signal. Carries Eskimo Son's Love. An Eskimo mother at Point Barrow will receive an absent son's greeting on Mothers' day, when Captain George H. Wilkins calls at the home of Fred Hopson, the English cook at the trading post there. Just before the explorer hopped off from Fairbanks this morning he was Introduced to Harry Hopson, son of the wandering Liverpool sailor, who finally settled down ashore on left his home in Barrow, finished his schooling at Kotzebue and finally came to Fairbanks. He is a fine upstanding lad of about 22, nearly six feet tall and broad-shouldered. He is operating a for-hire automobile of his own here. "Captain," he said, "I want you to tell my mother I am well and send my love. Tomorrow is Mothers' day and will you please explain to her this custom of the outside world? I have been away so long I have almost forgotten the native language, but I haven't forgotten my father and mother. I have no desire to go back to the arctic to live, but I would take a chance on flying there and back with you to see them. Eskimos All Agog. If all goes well the Detroiter should finish its work within a week and be back In Fairbanks. If the gasoline supply on the Arctic shore is not sufficient the party will be obliged to wait until mid July or August for more fuel to be brought by ship via Nome. The Eskimos In Barrow are eager to greet the new plane, which replaces the familiar Alaskan, wrecked in a crash on the landing field here Thursday. Radio communication with the expedition's overland party there last night informed them that Captain Wilkins and a new ship would arrive shortly. Watchmen of the native village are mounting guard to listen for the engines all day long, and a day at Barrow at this season is long.