7/27/2019 RAF Polar Flights

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31 December 1954 949

R O Y A L A I R F O R C E P O L A R F L I G H T SA L L t he l ong - d i s ta nc e f li gh ts ma de byA \ s tu de nt^ of the Flying^Col lege in to* - -*- Arc t ic regions up to las t j i s ly were

s tar ted f rom R.C.A.F. bases in Canada orf rom U.S.A^F. bases in GreenlandA andAlaska (via I c e l a nd ) . T he r e a r e , how i ve r ,adminis t ra t ive and opera t ional advantagesin the new prac t ice of making the f l ightsf r om Nor wa y . Th e r e t u r n f li gh t m o mNor wa y t o t he Nor t h Po l e i s 1,000/milesl onge r t ha n t ha t f r om Thu l e , Gr e e n l a nd ,or f rom Alaska Baybut th is i s acceptedas providing jus t the type of t ra in ing condi t ions requi red for s tudents of me ca l ibreof those a t the Royal Air Force FlyingCollege, where officers of squadron leaderrank and above are prepared fpr air staffa nd c omm a nd a ppo i n t me n t s . Suc h a l ong -ran ge flight in a jet aircraft is al test of th emachine and equipment as wel l as ofhu m an skill , for i t involves using both tocapaci tythe " l imi t f ly ing" whicr i i t i s thespecified task of the Flying College topioneer and achieve .The navigat ional t ra in ing techniquesnow being adapted to jet-aircraft operationfor uVe . -lati tu de fl ights were orig inally iv ed in tb-e early flights in to Ar cticregions by long-rauge p is ton a i rcraf t of theFlying Col lege and, before tha t , of theEmpi r e A i r Na v i ga t i on Sc hoo l a t Sha w-bury . T h e prin cipa l role in these fl ightswas tha t p layed by the famous Aries seriesof a i rcraf t , beginning wi th a spectacularf l ight over both the geographic and magne t i c Nor t h Po l e s by Aries I, a modifiedLancas ter a i rcraf t of the Empire AirNavigat ion School , two days af te r V.E.Day. Fur ther polar and arc t ic f l ights were

made in Aries III, which was taken over bythe R.A.F. Fly ing Col lege on i t s format ionin 1949, and in a nu mb er of Has t ingst ranspor t a i rcraf t manned large ly bys tudents of the Col lege .I t was only in February las t , however ,that the first jet-aircraft operational andnavigat ional a rc t ic proving t r ia l s werecarr ied out f rom Manby, when the Canberra Aries IV made the first f l ight by aBr i t i sh je t a i rcraf t to la t i tude 75 deg N ,and tes ted out for the f i r s t t ime whetherthe navigat ional techniques used on p is tonai rcraf t in these regions were appl icable tothe h igh speeds and high a l t i tudes of je taircraft.On this first arctic jet f l ight, which wasma de f r om Ca na da , Aries IV, pi lo ted by

W / C . C . S . G . S t a nbu r y , D . S . O . , D . F . C . ,syndica te leader , made what the crewdescr ibed as an "unev ent fu l" f light. Na vi gation was checked by the su n, the flightbe ing ma de i n da y l i gh t. T he t he r mom e t e ra t 45 ,000ft showe d 78 deg of fros t ( - 4 6deg F) co mp ared w i th 127 deg of f ros tover the Azores on the At lant ic c ross ing.Gr ound t e mpe r a t u r e a t Chu r c h i l l , A l a s ka ,was only 10 deg h igher tha n th is and thepresence of wind caused a "chill factor" of? ,100 or so compared wi th the maximumof 1,800 considered practicable for outsidework by ground crews unless ext raordinaryprecaut ions are taken.The trickiest f l ight of this exercise wasfrom Ot tawa to Churchi l l , on the outwardourney. T hi s was because the neares t

d ivers ion point was Winnipeg, some 500miles away; the Canberra had to c i rc le.-'"lurchill for an hour to use up its surplus"iel> the A rctic sky b ein g an xiouslyvatched in the hope tha t landing condi t ions mea nwh i le rem ained poss ib le . Ul t i mately a diversio n pro ved unn eces sary.Dur ing the second arc t ic je t f light , whichwas made f rom N orw ay to the Geo

graphic Pole , the a i rcraf t reached a he ightof ten mi les and encountered 76 deg F ,equal to 108 degrees of frost , but st i l l notso severe a tempera ture as over the A zores ,owing to the increased he ight of theTropopause ( the lower boundary of thes t ra tosphere , and f rom which point tem pera ture ceases to fa l l wi th he ight ) as theequator i s reached.The most difficult pan of the trip wasthe re turn to Norway, a d ivers ion be ingnecessary to Bodd, low c loud making alanding imposs ib le a t Bardufoss , which i senci rc led by h igh ground, and th is d iver sion leaving a very small reserve of fuelin the event of an emergency. As theflight was made by night i t was necessaryto navigate by the s tars , for which purposeprec ise ins t rument- f ly ing for per iods of upto 14 minutes a t a t ime was n ecessarywhi le the navigators took the i r as t ro-shots .Th e p i l o t on t h i s oc c a si on wa s W / C . A . H .Hum phr e y , O . B . E ., D . F . C . , A . F . C . , Se n io rIns t ruc tor , who had f lown as co-pi lo t inAries III on its first polar flight fromMa n by . Th e na v i gat o r s we r e S / L . D .sBower , M.B.E. , who has now made morehalf a dozen Polar fl ights, and F / L .F . ^ W o o d .

A . \ t f r e . G . A . Wa l ke r , C . B . E . , D . S . O . ,D . F . C . , \ A . D . C , t h e C o m m a n d a n t o f t h eR.A.F. Fly ing Col lege , personal ly led thedetachment which surveyed Norway forthis flight.The first \ arctic jet training fl ights onwhich s tudents f rom the Flying Col legewere engagei I took place be tween December 13th an I 17th , dur ing which per iod10,000 mile ! w as flown in_ four flightswi th in the Arct ic Circ le in 22 hours .T h e first j th ree fl ights were ma de d uenor t h f rom Bodo to la t itude 85 deg N , onDec emb er 14th and 15th . (Th is com pareswi th the pos i t ion of the magnet ic Nor thPole a t la t i tude 76 deg N lo ngi tude 101 W. )A further fl ight, scheduled for the nightof D ecem ber 15 /16 th , was cancel ledbecause of unfavourable condi t ions , butthe last and longest of the series took placeas p lanned on Decem ber 16th , to la t i tude87 N , or only 218, miles sho rt of the Po le.All the fl ights took place over Spitsbergen, the nor ther rh t ip of which l ies 900miles inside the Arctllsf Circle. T hi s entailed flying over a to tal of 9,000 miles ofopen sea and pack ice, of Which 3,000 mileswas over the Arct ic Oceanyior th of Spi t s ber gen , and th e rema inin g >6,000 over theopen water of the Norwegian and BarentsSea be tween Spi t2bergen apd the Norwegian coas t .T h e fastest f l ight w as the/ thir d in t heseries, when the Canberra flaw some 2,400miles to la t i tude 85 N and pack in aboutfive hours, giving an averag^f ground speedof 480 m.p .h .On this fl ight, which /was at abo ut45,000ft , the weather wasjclear and fine.Th e p i l ot wa s W / C . W. J . Bu r ne t t , D . S . O . ,D.F.C. , and the s tudent navigators Lt . Col .C . A . Nor t h , U . S . A . F . , a nd SVL. J . T i p t on ,D.F.C. , who had previous ly f lown togetheras co-navigator on a college^flight in aHast ings which ac tua l ly passedSpver theNor th Geographic Pole las t Ju ly [asre la ted by a passenger , Frank Beswick,M.P. , in an article in Flight of August13 th ] .

Pilots on the oth er flights w ere W / .. .M . D. Lyne , A.F.C . , the leader of t i ede t a c hme n t , a nd F / L . H . L . Me l l Ar ,A.F .C. , staff inst ruct or pilot . Altog eth :r .,f ive navigat ion s tudents took par t in t ieexerc ise , the o thers be ing S/ L . D . Clafe ,\

D . F . C . , S / L . M. C . Bun t i ng , M. B . E . ,a nd S / L . G . Sp r oa t e s . The who l e de t a c hme n t ( num be r i ng 20 w i t h g r ound c r e wand s tudent navigators) f lew out to Norwayi n a Ha s t i ngs p i l o t e d by W / C . B ur ne t t ,f r o m M a n b y .

The Ca nbe r r a wa s p i l o t e d t o Nor wa y byW / C . L y n e w i t h S / L . D . B o w e r , M . B . E .(senior navigat ion ins t ruc tor a t Manby andofficer in charge of navigation on the exercise) as his nav igator . T he signals officerf o r t he de t a c hme n t wa s F / L . D . T .Beresford .This i s the e ighth exerc ise car r ied outin to Arct ic regions by a ircraf t of the R .A.F .Flying College since the first by the Collegein 1950. Of these , seven have been overt he Nor t h Ge og r a ph i c Po l e .

Flights in Chronological OrderListed below are all the fl ights over theNor m Ma gne t i c a nd Ge ogr a ph i c Po l e scar r ied out f rom the R.A.F. Fly ing Col lege ,Ma nby , a nd t he E . A . N . S . , Sha wb ur y : May 1945.Polar research flight led byW/C. D. C. McKinley, D.F.C. , A.F.C. (nowGroup Captain) in Aries I, a modified Lancaster, of the Empire Air Navigation School,Shawbury, two days after V.E. Day: (a) Iceland, N. Geog. Pole, Iceland; (b) Iceland,Magnetic Pole, White Horse.1947-1949.Numerous flights by E.A.N.S.Shawbury from Iceland up the Greenlandcoast to 80 deg N and to Spitzbergen.July 1950.Flight over N. Geog. Pole bytwo Hastings aircraft of the R.A.F. FlyingCollege, Manby; two A.T.C. cadets carried.July 1951.Flight over N. Geog. Pole ledby W/C. R. T. Frogley, O.B.E. , D.F.C. , withW/C. A. H. Humphrey, O.B.E. , D.F.C. ,A.F.C., as co-pilot; aircraft was LincolnAries III (taken over from E.A.N.S. 1949) ofthe R.A.F. Flying College, Man by. Ro ute s:(a) Iceland, N. Geog. Pole, Fairbanks (Alaska);(b) Fairbanks, Manby (via N. Mag. Pole).Arctic flights also made by four Hastings aircraft of the College.September 1952. Aries III (S/L. J . T .Lawrence, A.F.C.)flight over N. Geog. Pole:Iceland, Pole, Thu le. Tw o Hastings m annedby Flying College course personnel: Iceland,Resolute Bay (Mag. Pole), Manby.April 1953.Flight over N. Geog. Pole bytwo Hastings manned by staff and students ofN o. 11 spec. "N " co urse: Resolute Bay, Pole,Resolute Bay.July 1953.Flight to N. Geog. Pole in twoHastings aircraft manned by Flying Collegestaff and course personnel, led by A/Cdre.S. R. Ubee, C.B. , A.F .C. : Thu le, Pole, Thule.February 1954.Canberra A ries, IV: FirstArctic proving flight by British jet aircraft.Mad e from Churchill. Pilot, W /C . C. S. G.Stanbury, D.S.O. , D.F.C.July 1954.Flight to N. Geog. Pole by twoHastings aircraft . Leader, A/C dre. G. A.Walker, C.B.E., D.S.O., D.F.C., A.D.C. Route:Bodo, Pole, Bodo.October 1954.First flight over N. Geog.Pole by British jet aircraft: Canberra AriesIV , piloted by W/C. A. H. Humphrey, O.B.E.,D.F.C ., A.F.C. Route : Bardufoss, Pole, Bodo.December 1954.Canberra Aries IV. FirstArctic exercise by jet aircraft in which R.A.F.Flying College students took part. Det ach

ment led by W/C. D. Lyne, A.F.C.Other R.A.F. Polar Operations.Transport and Coastal Command operations in support of the British North Greenland Expedition, 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1954; R.A.F. component of British Scandinavian AntarcticExpeditionreconnaissance and support bytwo Auster 6 aircraft in region of Queen Ma udLand (R.A.F. commander, S/L. G. B.Walford), 1949-50.