Maynard’s book is a well-written and entertaining account of the first flights to the North and South Poles. It also contains an interesting and objective analysis of Byrd’s claim to have flown to the North Pole. It mainly concentrates on Byrd and Wilkins.
Mills, William James (Ed). Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia, Santa Barbara, ABC Clio, 2003, 2 volumes (629+pp, maps).
A very useful encyclopedia which includes background on many of the men active in Arctic exploration in Amundsen’s lifetime.
Nobile, Umberto. My Polar Flights: An Account of the Voyages of the Airships Italia and Norge, London, Muller, 1961 (288pp, ill).
An account by the Italian who designed and piloted the airships Norge and Italia.
Nobile, Umberto. With the Italia to the North Pole, London, Allen & Unwin, 1930 (358pp, ill, maps).
An account of the 1928 flights by Italia, and the crash and rescue by the designer and captain of the airship.
Pool, Beekman H. Polar Extremes, Fairbanks, University of Alaska Press, 2002.
Biography of Lincoln Ellsworth who helped finance and participated in Amundsen’s 1925 and 1926 flights.
Rawlins, Dennis. ‘Byrd’s Heroic 1926 North Pole failure’ Polar Record Vol 36 (196): 25–50 (2000).
Rawlins’s careful analysis of the navigational notes kept by Richard Byrd on his flight towards the North Pole on April 9, 1926.
Sverdrup, Harald. “Roald Amundsen, Biographical Sketch” Journal of the Arctic Institute of North America 12, no. 4 (1959).
Stroud, John. ‘Junkers F 13: The Pioneer from Dessau’ Air Enthusiast Number 16, August-September 1981, pp 66–77.
Taylor, H A & Peter Alting. ‘Fokkers Lucky Seven’ Air Enthusiast Number 12, April-July 1980, pp 24–35.
Fokker F VII 3/m including Byrd’s.
Thoren, Ragnar. Picture Atlas of the Arctic, Amsterdam, Elsevier, 1969 (xii & 449pp, ill, maps, bibliography).
This book provides a comprehensive geographical context to Amundsen’s flights in the Arctic.
Van Dyke, Herman. The Van Dyke Collection of LTA Plans and Drawings (with commentary), Auckland, LTA Institute, 2010 (viii + 167 pp, ill).
A useful collection of airship plans with technical notes. Includes America I & II and Norge.
Van Der Mey, M Michiel. Dornier Wal: A Light Coming Over the Sea, Firenze, LoGisma Editore, 2005 (222pp, ill, maps, bibliography).
A well-illustrated history and technical introduction to the flying boats used by Amundsen in 1925.
Ventry, Lord. Airship Saga: The History Of Airships Seen Through The Eyes Of The Men Who Designed, Built And Flew Them, Poole, Blandford, 1982 (192pp, ill, glossary, bibliography).
A collection of articles by airship pioneers, including Hjalmar J Riiser-Larsen’s account of his training as an airship pilot and navigating Norge on her 1926 flight. The book is particularly useful because it includes stories collected by the editor from pioneers long before the publication date.
Walker, Percy B. Early Aviation at Farnborough: The History of the Royal Aircraft Establishment; Volume 1: Balloons, Kites and Airships, London, McDonald & Co, 1971 (xvi + 283, ill, app, index).
The man-lifting kites designed by Einar Sem-Jacobsen for Amundsen were almost identical to the ones designed and tested by Anglo-American S.F. Cody. This book examines the Cody kites in detail and depicts them in drawings and photographs.
Wohl, Robert. The Spectacle of Flight: Aviation and the Western Imagination: 1920–1950, London, Yale University Press, 2005 (416pp, ill, bibliography).
An account of the social impact of aviation from the end of World War I to the beginning of the Korean War.
Wright, Monte Duane. Most Probable Position: A History of Aerial Navigation to 1941, Lawrence, University Press of Kansas, 1972 (xi & 281pp, ill, glossary, bibliography).
A well-researched and readable account of air navigation in the first 40 years of the 20th century.
Part Two: DVDs
The Airship Norge’s Flight Across the Arctic Ocean, National Library of Norway, 2012. A pristine print of the documentary made in 1926 and re-released in 2012.
Roald Amundsen-Lincoln Ellsworth’s Polar Flight 1925, Norskfilminstitutt, 2010.
A pristine print of the documentary made in 1925 about Amundsen’s 1925 flight towards the North Pole and re-released in 2010.
Frozen Planet, 3 DVDs, BBC Earth, 2011.
This documentary series provides a clear picture of the environment of the Arctic and Antarctic.
Part Three: Maps
Arctic Ocean, Washington, National Geographic, February 1983.
Alaska, Washington, National Geographic, January 1984.
Russia, Washington, National Geographic, January 1993.
Part Four: Internet
(Date accessed in brackets)
archives.gov/publications/prologue
Summer 2010, Vol 42, No. 2 Women of the Polar Archives: The Films and stories of Marie Peary and Louise Boyd (29.01.2013).
aviation-safety.net
23 December 1927 Sikorsky S-36 (1.01.2013).
buehlfield.info.info/amundsen/north-pole
Brief summary of Amundsen’s efforts to reach the North Pole (16.09.2012).
Crash of the Elisabeth (16.09.2012).
Amundsen (23.10.2013).
ecole.nav.traditions.free.fr
Albert Cavelier de Cuverville (02.02.2013).
Rene Cyprian Guilbaud (01.02.2013).
europeanairlines.net.no
The ‘Junkers Spitzbergen Expedition 1923 (20.10.2013).
Timeline of civil aviation in Norway (15.10.2012).
foxnews.com
Norway resumes search for Roald Amundsen’s plane that vanished 81 years ago (12.01.2013).
frammuseum.no.
Odd Dahl (06.11.2012).
Leif Dietrichson (01.02.2013).
Hjalmar Fredrik Gjertsen (31.01.2013).
Oscar Omdal (23.10.2013).
Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen (18.11.2012).
Martin Ronne (09.09.2012).
George Herbert Scott (01.01.2013).
km.kongsberg.com
Hugin AUV used in search for Amundsen’s airplane (12.01.2013).
Search for Amundsen ends without findings (21.01.2013).
news.bbc.co.uk
Hunt on for explorers lost plane (09.09.2012).
Wikipedia
Airship Italia (29.01.2013).
Alaska (21.01.2013).
List of Arctic Expeditions (02.02.20130.
Floyd Bennett (05.01.2013).
Brusilov Expedition (25.01.2013).
Richard E. Byrd (21.12.2013).
Frederick Cook (04.10.2012).
Demographics of Alaska (25.01.2013).
Brice Goldsborough (31.01.2013).
Trygge Gran (01.02.2013).
Frances Wilson Grayson (30.01.2013).
Haakon VII of Norway (20.10.2012).
Latham (24.01.2013).
Latham 47 (24.01.2013).
Edward Maitland (30.12.2013).
Umberto Nobile (18.12.2013).
Ny-Ålesund (05.01.2013).
Oskar Omdal (23.10.2013).
Robert Peary (04.10.2012).
R33 class airship (01.10.2013).
Hjalmar Riiser-Larsen (18.11.2012).
Lincoln Ellsworth (06.02.2013).
Roma (airship) (18.12.2012).
MNoMS Tyr (N50) (03.02.2013).
Sikorsky S-36 (01.02.2013).
Teller, Alaska (21.01.2013).
Melvin Vaniman (09.10.2012).
Wainwright, Alaska (21.01.2013).
Ernest Willows (12.11.2012).
Part Five: Newspapers
Brisbane Courier
Cornell Daily Sun
Der Spiegel
Flight
New York Times
Pittsburgh Press
Appendix One
Glossary of 1920s Aviation Terms
Technology, and the language used to describe it, evolve.
By the mid-1920s, the language of aviation had matured. The words defined below are used as they would have been used by people familiar with the flight operation of aeroplanes and airships in the period covered in the main part of this book (1922–1928). Where I refer to earlier aviation (particularly; 1909–1914) I have avoided using earlier, less precise terms.
Aeroplane
Powered heavier than air aircraft; a landplane (wheeled undercarriage), seaplane (floatplane or flying boat) or amphibian (wheels and floats or wheels on a flying boat hull).
Aileron
Surface hinged to the rear of each wing tip in an aeroplane and providing control in roll.
Aircraft
All aircraft are either aerodynes (heavier than air), such as aeroplanes and gliders, or aerostats (lighter than air) such as balloons and airships.
Airship
A lighter-than-air aircraft with propulsion (engines and propellers) and steering (rudder and elevators). In this period, most airships were inflated with hydrogen gas. There were three main types of airship; non-rigid, semi-rigid, and rigid. The Norge and Italia were both semi-rigid, and were inflated with hydrogen.
Angle of Attack
The angle between the chord line of the wing and the relative airflow. Incidence is a synonym. Riggers angle of incidence is the angle between the chord line of the wing and the fore and aft line of the fuselage.
Anhedral
The negative angle between the horizontal and each wing in front elevation. The reverse of dihedral.
Ballast
Water or sand carried by balloons and airships in a droppable form. Dropped to make the balloon or airship, lighter. In an airship, water ballast (with anti-freeze added to avoid freezing at low temperatures) was used in several ways: (a) To trim the ship fore and aft, (b) To prevent a descent in an emergency, (3) To make a heavy ship light for landing.
Ballonets
Fabric compartments of variable volume inside the envelope of pressure airships, containing air, and used to maintain a constant total volume inside the envelope. Deflated as the gas volume increased, with decreasing air pressure as the airship climbed, and inflated as the gas volume decreased with increasing air pressure as the airship descended. The Norge and Italia had a number of ballonets distributed at intervals along the bottom interior of the envelope. Ballonets were also used to trim the airship fore and aft by differential filling.
Balloon
A lighter-than-air aircraft without propulsion or steering. Balloons are either captive balloons (tethered to the ground) or free balloons (free to drift with the wind). Inflated with hydrogen. Free balloons were used for sport and recreation and for the preliminary training of airship pilots. Some primitive balloons inflated with hot air were used for short circus type demonstration flights.
Blimp
A slang expression for airship. Usually applied to describe a small airship of the non-rigid (pressure) type. In the 21st century its meaning has been expanded to include tethered, streamlined balloons with fins.
Captive balloon
Balloon tethered to the ground. Usually of a streamlined shape, and with three stabilising fins. The streamlined types were known as kite balloons. Manned kite balloons were used for observation, and unmanned kite-balloons were used as an anti-aircraft barrage (barrage balloons).
Center Section
The middle one third of the wing. In the Dornier Wal the Center section contained the engine nacelle with its two engines.
Cockpit
A station for a crew member in an aeroplane. The Dornier Wal had two open cockpits in the fuselage; (1) bow for the observer/navigator, (2) aft of the bow for the pilot. The engineer sat inside the fuselage under the engine nacelle.
Control Car
An enclosed cabin below the forward part of an airship’s envelope that contains the captain, navigator, rudder and elevator men, and the controls, navigational instruments, chart table, and radio equipment. Observers and other passengers usually spent their time in this part of the airship. Sometimes called the control gondola.
Control Surfaces (Airship)
Hinged surfaces; (1) Rudder (upper and lower or sometimes just the lower) attached to the vertical fins to provide directional control and (2) Elevators (left and right) attached to the horizontal fins to provide control in pitch. Each set of controls (e.g. the elevators) moved together.
Control Surfaces (Aeroplane)
Hinged surfaces; (1) Rudder attached to the fin to provide directional control (yaw) and (2) Elevator attached to the tail plane to provide longitudinal control (pitch) and (3) Ailerons (left and right) attached to the trailing edges of the wing tips to provide lateral control (roll). The elevators moved together and the ailerons moved differentially.
Dihedral
The positive angle between each wing and the horizontal when viewed in front elevation. Dihedral is used to provide lateral stability. A wing with a negative angle is said to have anhedral.
Dirigible
A slang expression for airship. Usually used to describe a large airship; like the semi-rigid Norge or the rigid USS Shenandoah.
Dynamic Lift
Lift produced by motion of a body (including an aeroplane’s wing and an airship’s envelope) through the air. An aeroplane relies entirely on dynamic lift to remain airborne. An airship can produce some of its lift dynamically by flying nose up or nose down, to cancel out the effects of being heavier than air or lighter than air.
Elevator
Pair of control surfaces hinged to the tail plane (aeroplane) or horizontal fins (airship), and providing control in pitch.
Engine Cars
Small streamlined units suspended below the envelope and each containing an engine, its radiator, and a number of crewmen. The Norge and Italia each had three engine cars; one on the center line aft (rear engine car), and one on each side of the center line about half way between the control car and the rear engine car (wing cars). Sometimes called engine gondolas or engine boats.
Engine Nacelle
A unit containing the engines. In the Dornier Wal the engines were mounted in tandem in a nacelle in the center section of the wing.
Envelope
The fabric outer cover of a balloon or airship. Made of layers of fabric and coated to make it gastight. All envelopes suffered from some degree of permeability. The purity of the gas was monitored and the airship would be deflated and re-inflated with fresh gas at regular intervals.
Fin (Aeroplane)
Vertical surface fixed to the upper rear of the fuselage to provide directional stability.
Fins (Airship)
Two vertical surfaces fixed to the rear of the envelope (upper and lower) to provide stability in yaw (left and right) and two horizontal surfaces also fixed to the rear of the envelope to provide stability in pitch (nose up and nose down).
Floats
The undercarriage of a float seaplane. A synonym for pontoons.
Free Balloon
A spherical balloon inflated with hydrogen and free to drift with the wind. Manned free balloons were used for sport and recreation, and for the initial training of airship pilots. Small unmanned free balloons were used to make observations (from the ground) of the winds aloft. An airship with the engines stopped is said to be free-ballooning.
Free ballooning
A balloon drifting with the wind is said to be free ballooning, as is an airship with the engines stopped.
Flying Boat
A seaplane that uses a waterproof, boat-shaped, fuselage to keep it afloat on the water. The Dornier Wal was a flying boat.
Fuselage
The body of an aeroplane. In a flying boat the fuselage is watertight and has a planning bottom similar to that of a power boat.
Gas Valve
All balloons and airships have one or more valves to vent lifting gas. In a balloon or an airship which is free ballooning, venting the gas will stop a climb or cause a descent. An airship had emergency valves which automati
cally vented gas when a certain pressure was reached (and the envelope would rip if the pressure increased further), and maneuvring valves to vent gas to make the ship heavier to maintain height or prepare for a landing.
Heavier-than-air aircraft
Aircraft that are lifted by the air moving over the wings during forward flight e.g., aeroplanes and gliders.
Hydrogen gas
The lightest of gases. Used to inflate balloons and airships. Inflammable when pure, and explosive when mixed with oxygen. The Norge and Italia were inflated with hydrogen.
Lighter-than-air aircraft
Aircraft that are lifted by the buoyancy created by the lifting gas contained in their envelopes e.g., balloons and airships.
Man Lifting Kite
A series of winged box kites lifting a single cable and either a seat, a canvas sack, or a basket for one or two passengers. An observation platform for the passengers for military or civilian use. Heavier than air and technologically quite different from the similar sounding kite-balloon.
Pitch
The motion of an aircraft nose up or down. A movement around its longitudinal axis damped by the tail plane and controlled by the elevators.
Pitot Head
An airspeed indicator works by comparing the static and the dynamic pressure of the air with the static pressure. The pitot head faces into the airflow and receives the static and dynamic pressure. The static vent receives and provides the static pressure of the air.
Pontoons
The undercarriage of a float seaplane. A floatation device rounded on top and fitted with a hull similar to that of a speed boat. Steps under the hull raised the pontoons partly out of the water as the seaplane gathered speed. There were usually two mounted on struts where the wheels would be on a landplane. Another common arrangement was one large one under the fuselage and smaller ones under each wingtip. Sometimes used to describe the tip floats of a flying boat.
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