Volume 11, 1958 - The Arctic Circle - Home

VOL XI No 1 THE ARCTIC CIRCULAR 9
then skirted the north side ofthe Mer de Glace Agassiz and along
Archer Fiord to Fort Conger, where we landed. After spending
several hours at Greely's campsite we continued north reaching
Alert in the evening. Here we carried out a thorough check of
the aircraft before continuing along the north coast as far as
Cape Columbia, landing on the ice cap near Peary's cairn
atop Cooper Key Mountain. Our return to Eureka lay along the
same route as far as Archer Fiord. Here the head of the fiord
was closed by bad weather so we first turned south but there was
no improvement and we turned back and landed west of Archer
Fiord on a tributary of the Dodge River. Better weather the next
afternoon allowed us to return to Eureka on August 12.
After one day spent in local flights to complete the
film work, I left Mr. Muir at Eureka and returned alone to
Resolute, following much the same route as before. Eureka Sound
was open but the ice had still not moved out of Norwegian Bay.
From Resolute I again went south to Boothia Peninsula and then to
the Shoran site on King William Island. After a short stop here I
continued on to Pelly Lake arriving on August 15. Altogether the
trip had taken 11 days with a total of 50 flying hours and a distance
of 4,500 miles.
Throughout the flights I passed position reports every
thirty minutes to the near~st radio station, and I was never out
of contact. I used a Lear RCBB-T30 combination with a 300-foot
trailing antenna enabling me to tune in on the 3/4-wave length of the
H.F. frequencies I was using. For operation on the ground I carried
balloons and a hydrogen ger.erator to provide a vertical antenna. The
radio was most effective and from the north coast of Ellesmere
Island I was able to have excellent two-way R/T communications
with the Spartan stations at Pelly Lake, Coral Harbour, and King
William Island.
On all flights I carried concentrated emergency rations
'for thirty days, a tent, sleeping bag, and other standard survival
equipment. I also had a complete spare set of radio tubes, which
proved fortunate as one tube waS required.
The experience of the trip more than fulfilled my
expectations and confirmed my convictions that a Super Cub could
provide a service in the far north which could only be replaced by
the complexity and high cost of a helicopter operation.
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