Winds change their direction with
alarming irregularity, for every change
from ice to land has an effect upon
them.
Flying that Summer was at times
disconcerting and alarming. We were
caught and buffeted by storms, drop
ping hundreds of feet and bringing up
with a sickening jerk, tossed about
like a leaf in an Autumn gale, and
underneath, so far as the, eye. could
see, not a single place where a plane
could land. We could not use skis
in Greenland in the Summer because,
the snow had melted off the ice, leav
ing it rough, and the land was too
jagged to land on.
But with all these disadvantages,
the great lure, of possibly finding some
land in the unexplored region kept
us at our task in Greenland until one
misfortune after another made it evi
dent that we would not be able, to
establish a base far enough North
that year to make a long flight of ex
ploration. The mishaps we had met,
far from convincing me that airplanes
were not suitable for Arctic work, had
given us such knowledge of conditions
that I was sure the next attempt
would be more successful.
Taking Off on Skis.
