Northern Passage

London and Winnipeg are separated by twelve days travel. But a straight line drawn from North Scotland to Winnipeg passes across the middle of Greenland, through the Faroe Islands and Iceland-- nowhere over more than 300 mi. of water. That is why a party of scientists and airmen (of only 23 years average age) sailed last week from England for the Faroe Islands in Sir Ernest Shackleton's historic ship Quest. As the British arctic air route expedition, commanded by H. G. Watkins, the group will remain until autumn of 1931, amassing weather data, exploring the ice cap of Greenland, making aerial surveys of the east coast of Greenland and into the far North--all for the purpose of linking England and her Dominion by a direct flying route. From Greenland west, the Canadian Government will conduct surveys over the wilds of Baffin Land.

Aware is the expedition of the obstacles to such a route, worst of which are on the Canadian side, where perilous Hudson Bay fogs and shifting pack ice beset the air traveler. (No one has ever flown from Greenland across the Davis Strait to Baffin Land.) It is recalled that in 1924 the U. S. Army round-the-world flyers required 19 days to pierce the fogs between Keland and Frederiksdal, on the south coast of Greenland; and that last summer Capt. A. Ahrenberg finally abandoned an attempted Sweden-to-New York flight after taking a month between Sweden and Greenland.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.