MPR: Transpolar Flight to Honor Aviation Pioneer

Transpolar Flight to Honor Aviation Pioneer
By Dan Gunderson
April 13, 1998

This week two men in a single-engine airplane will take off from Barrow, Alaska, hoping to fly non-stop to Spitzbergen, Norway. The flight will follow the same path as the first flight across the top of the world 70 years ago. The men hope to draw attention to the aviation contributions of the man who made that first flight, North Dakota native Carl Ben Eielson.

A SMALL CROWD GREETS THE CESSNA 210 as it taxis in to the Fargo airport. From prop to tail the plane is plastered with stickers from the dozens of companies sponsoring the flight. This stop is part of a pre-flight publicity tour.

Bill Signs: Great to be in Fargo. Beautiful day here.

Bill Signs will pilot the plane across the polar ice cap. The 44-year-old Dallas businessman has logged nearly 3 million miles in small aircraft. Long-distance flights are old hat for him. Last year he retraced Charles Lindbergh's flight from New York to Paris.

He considers Carl Ben Eielson's 1928 flight over the top of the world to be as significant at Lindbergh's trip across the ocean.

Signs says he knew little about Eielson until he met Tom Smith. The 74-year-old North Dakota native convinced Signs to make this trip. The retired public relations executive is paying for much of the flight, and will be riding in the passenger seat. For him, it's a dream come true.

Smith: Carl Ben Eielson has been a hero and role model for me all my life. I was almost five years old when he made the flight in 1928. My father, who worked at the Grand Forks Herald, interviewed Eielson before and after the flight.

Eielson's first attempt to cross the polar ice cap failed in 1927, and he and co-pilot Hubert Wilkins had to walk 125 miles across the ice to civilization. It took 13 days. Eielson lost a finger to frostbite.

In 1928, without the help of modern navigation equipment, in an unheated plane, the two men made the trip from Alaska to Norway in just over 20 hours.

The US government gave Eielson the prestigious Harmon trophy, the same award given to Lindbergh. History credits him with opening the north to commercial air flights. He was also a pioneer of air mail service.

But Eielson died in a plane crash a year after his historic flight, and Tom Smith says history has overlooked his accomplishments.

Smith: He was a visionary who saw the potential for air traffic in Alaska and over the arctic as a freight- and people-carrying mechanism. He foresaw pressurized planes flying over the arctic like they are doing now. That was 70 years ago.

If Tom Smith has his way, Carl Ben Eielson will be better remembered after this flight. He and pilot Bill Signs have been visiting classrooms with two teddy bears, aptly named Carl and Carla Ben Eielson, that will make the flight with them. Bill Signs says the excitement generated by the adventure can encourage kids to learn.

Signs: One of our goals here is getting young kids interested in math, physics and geography.

This flight should be easier than the original. The airplane will be faster and warmer, it will carry high-tech navigational equipment, 30 days of survival food, and a portable toilet. But success is not guaranteed. Another pilot attempted the flight last year and failed. Bill Signs and Tom Smith hope to land in Norway about 13 hours after their wheels leave the Alaska tundra.

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