Polar Star (Airplane)

Ellsworth needed an airplane sturdy enough to survive buffeting winds. High winds had tossed one of Admiral Byrd’s airplanes half a mile from its lashings, so he chose the all-metal Northrop Gamma, which had a low wing. It had wide skis that could be swapped with wheels or pontoons and, Ellsworth claimed, a cruising range of 5,000 miles. He named the airplane Polar Star and had it shipped from the United States to his base in Norway, where it was placed in the hold of the Wyatt Earp, a herring boat, along with two years’ worth of supplies.

Ellsworth had thoroughly examined the diaries of past Antarctic explorers, who had traveled by dogsled. He believed there were plenty of good landing fields for his aircraft, so he could make his trans-Antarctic flight in several passes; if he encountered bad weather, he could land and wait it out.

The Wyatt Earp arrived in the Bay of Whales on January 9, 1934; Ellsworth and pilot Bernt Balchen went aloft for a 30-minute trial flight. But that evening the Polar Star was caught in the ice and crushed; Ellsworth had to abandon his attempt and send the aircraft back to the United States for repairs.

In September 1934 the crew tried again, but during a three-month stay, the weather allowed less than 12 hours of flying time, leading a friend of Ellsworth’s to exclaim, “Your Polar Star has traveled farther and flown less than any other plane!”