Lt. Cdr. Richard E. Byrd, who had commanded the aviation wing of the 1925 MacMillan Arctic expedition that made Arthur Collins famous at age 15, returned north in 1926, and acting as navigator, with chief petty officer Floyd Bennett (1890-1928) piloting, made the first successful flight over the North Pole on May 9. Bennett had accompanied Byrd on his 1925 adventure. President Coolidge honored both men with Congressional Medals of Honor, and Byrd was promoted to Commander. He then turned his attention to Antarctica, organizing three major expeditions between 1928 and 1941, and bringing Collins shortwave (SW) radios along each time. Bennett went in name only, having succumbed to pneumonia in April, 1928 on a flight to rescue three downed fliers in remote Quebec.

Byrd's first expedition to Antarctica (1928-1930) resulted in the establishment of a major base, Little America, from which he explored thousands of miles of uncharted territory, climaxing with the overflight of the South Pole on November 29, 1929. The plane was a giant tri-motor Ford named the Floyd Bennett. Byrd navigated, accompanied by a pilot, radio operator/co-pilot and photographer. A Collins SW radio-telegraph system sent news of their achievement. The limited power available made dots and dashes the only reliable means of communicating over the huge distance back to the U.S. and it brought Byrd world-wide acclaim and another promotion.

Rear Admiral Byrd returned to Antarctica in 1933-1935. This time he brought a Collins SW radio-telephone (i.e. voice) system and bet his future and that of the fledgling Collins Radio Co. on the durability of the equipment and his ability to broadcast live from the South Pole over the CBS radio network. Collins loaned Byrd three radios--two 100W models for communicating between the camps and a 1,000W Model 20B for communicating with Argentina, which would then relay the signal to NYC for nationwide distribution. No one had ever tried a transoceanic broadcast with less than a 40 or 50KW transmitter, but the Collins equipment incorporated a number of advanced features. Byrd's broadcasts became a family staple on Saturday nights at 10 PM EST over the next several months and Collins Radio secured its future in SW and radio broadcasting equipment. . . no mean trick in the middle of the Great Depression.

The durability of Collins radios was amazing to everyone except Collins engineers and their users. Byrd's refrigerator-sized 20B withstood an ocean voyage and a 100-mile overland haul by dogsled, amazingly just strapped to the sled, apparently without packing, to make the first live broadcasts from Antarctica. Solid state transistor technology was decades in the future--the radio used tubes, but such was the durability of Collins radios that reliability engineers were known to test them occasionally by dropping them off buildings! An amazing and little known fact is the Collins Radio equipment the astronauts took to the moon and that withstood the force of a Saturn-V rocket blast-off, wasn't 100% sold-state either. The S-band power amplifier still used one tube that was deemed more reliable than a solid-state circuit. A giant vote of confidence in Collins engineering!

Learn more about the famous Byrd expeditions to the South Pole and the early years of the Collins Radio Co. in the upcoming exhibit: The Collins Story: On the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing, coming to the Marion Heritage Center in July, in collaboration with the Arthur A. Collins Legacy Association.

Photos: Arthur Collins (so young!) gives his refrigerator-sized 20 B transmitter a final inspection. CBS equipment and Collins radios on the dog sleds in Antarctica. All courtesy of Arthur A. Collins Legacy Association. President Coolidge giving Floyd Bennett his Medal of Honor in 1926; Byrd, with his, looking on; from the Library of Congress.
---------------------------------------------
Richard Evelyn Byrd (1888-1957) is at Find a Grave memorial #158.
Floyd Bennett (1890-1928) is at FAG #2121.
Donald Baxter MacMillan (1874-1970) FAG memorial #3162.
Eugene F. McDonald (1886-1958) FAG #74699782.

Byrd led a third expedition to Antarctica 1939-1941, this one sponsored by the U.S government with the aim of mapping the coast and establishing new bases. ... See MoreSee Less

14 hours ago  ·  

A few more photos from the 1925 MacMillan Arctic expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society and U.S. Navy, which earned Arthur Collins so much fame at age 15. Ice; Byrd's Loening biplane again and one of their ships, the Bowdoin; Reinartz at his radio; an official U.S. Navy pigeon coop with USN bird keeper with their official emergency communications backup plan in-hand--yes, carrier pigeons; the Bowdoin landing home in Maine to a large crowd. For the full story see last Thursday's post, or visit us in July! Photos courtesy of the National Geographic Society Magazine; Nov. 1925. ... See MoreSee Less

6 days ago  ·  

In 1925 explorers attempted the "moon-shot" of the era, and using the most modern technology available, including shortwave radio and airplanes for the first time, penetrated the last uncharted corners of the High Arctic. The risks were daunting, and the public read the daily newspaper dispatches as avidly as we would follow space launches in the 60's. With their success, the adventurers ended the era of overland dog-sled treks and they demonstrated the effectiveness of aviation and radio-linked systems that would characterize exploration henceforth, and a generation later, the race to the moon. And 15 year-old Arthur Collins was in the thick of it.

The adventure was led by Donald B. MacMillan (1874-1970), famed since 1908 when he accompanied Robert Peary to the North Pole. Lt. Cdr. Richard E. Byrd (1888-1957), U.S. Navy, ret. commanded the aviation wing of the expedition, consisting of three newly designed Loening Amphibian biplanes, plus pilots, mechanics and a bird keeper (yes, carrier pigeons were the USN back-up comm plan). Eugene F. McDonald (1886-1958), co-founder of Zenith Radio, oversaw communications aboard the two vessels that carried the party northward.

In the early days of radio, long-distance radio communication used long wave (LW) frequencies (15-300 kHz). The short wave (SW) frequencies above 1,500 kHz were thought useless for long-distance communication and were allocated to the "hams" for experimenting. Even LW frequencies were useless beyond the Arctic Circle due to magnetic storms. In 1923-24 MacMillan had tried using a medium wave (MW) radio in the AM band. It was useless in daylight, but in the long winter darkness, it became a life-line, relieving the men's isolation and keeping them in the public eye--vital for fund-raising. And it showed engineers the potential of SW.

MacMillan returned to the North in 1925, as America, England and Norway all raced to find a "lost" continent believed to be located near the Pole. He carried a SW radio operating in the 20 meter band. Few ham radio operators had experience operating there, but one of them was Arthur Collins. He had been in regular contact with John Reinartz, the expedition's chief radio operator, for about a year. Before Reinartz sailed they met and reviewed his transmission schedule. Throughout the summer and until MacMillan arrived home in Maine on Oct. 9, while the regular USN comm system faltered, Collins relayed messages from Reinartz to expedition headquarters in Washington. He made headlines all over the country as one of just a handful of radiomen communicating steadily with the explorers. He cemented his role as an authority in SW circuitry at age 15 with several publications in leading amateur radio magazines offering circuit diagrams and advice for "hams" eager to duplicate his feat.

The effect on the Navy was profound. Demonstrating the ability of the two vessels to communicate easily with each other over thousands of miles via SW was a breakthrough. Captains were freed from the delays of using LW telegraph signals and specialist radio operators. Now they could talk by voice, as easily as picking up the phone. The advantages were beyond measure when sailing through dangerous ice, in bad weather or war. Navy leaders decided to learn more about SW, and they looked to Art Collins for advice. Lt. Cdr. Richard Byrd needed no convincing--in a long exploring career that stretched for 40 years and earned him the title of "the greatest explorer of modern times," he never left home again without a Collins SW radio.

Almost everyone who participated in the exhibition came back to wild public acclaim. Donald MacMillan, seeking funds for a return trip, went on a national speaking tour. He came to Iowa in April 1926 and spoke to large crowds in several cities including at the UI on Apr. 6 and Coe College on Apr. 7. He was hosted here at a pre-lecture dinner by a committee of local dignitaries that included Arthur. But his long-suffering parents probably banned him from the after-lecture "smoker" in the Charles W. Bingham home--brandy and cigars after 10 PM, on a school night, was likely too much, even for them.

Learn more about the famous 1925 MacMillan expedition in the upcoming exhibit: The Collins Story: On the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing, coming to the Marion Heritage Center in July, in collaboration with the Arthur A. Collins Legacy Association. Next Time: Collins with Admiral Byrd at the South Pole.

Photo Credit: 1925 expedition photos from Dangerous Crossings by John H.Bryant and Harold N. Cones (2000)

Amazing courage to fly an untried open-cockpit biplane in the Arctic and cold, especially when Byrd had to lean out to navigate and get his bearings. That's expedition leader MacMillan in the furry parka, MacDonald at the microphone during an earlier trip (1923), and Byrd with the aviators' glasses aboard ship. ... See MoreSee Less

1 week ago  ·