1929-Contin ued

29 November The first flight over the South Pole

was made in a Ford trimotor named the Floyd

Bennett. The flight was commanded by Commander

Richard E. Byrd who also did the navigating. Bernt

Balchen was pilot, Harold June was co-pilot and radio

operator and Captain Ashley McKinley, USA, photog-

rapher. Takeoff from Little America on McMurdo

U.5.NAVJf

\

o

UNITED STATES NAVAL AVIATION 1910-1995

73

Sound was at 10:29 p.m. on the 28th, New York time,

and the Pole was reached at 8:55 a.m. on the 29th.

The round trip, including a fuel stop on the return

flight, required almost 19 hours.

27 December Based upon scores obtained with the

new Norden gyro stabilized MARK XI bombsight dur-

ing fleet exercises, the Bureau of Ordnance reported

that the sight gave about 40 percent more hits than

earlier bombsights.

ZMC-2

The ZMC-2 metal-clad airship completed in 192921724

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..

Lieutenant A. W Gorton flying a Vought UO-l makes hook-on landing on Los Angeles, a German-build rigid airship. 461642