Did Admiral Byrd Fly Over the North Pole or Not?

[microrobert]

Did Admiral Byrd Fly Over the North Pole or Not?

On May 9, 1926, famed American explorer Richard Byrd took off from the Norwegian Arctic island of Spitsbergen along with his pilot, Floyd Bennett, in an attempt to be the first to fly to the North Pole. About 16 hours later, the pair returned to the island in their Fokker tri-motor airplane, the Josephine Ford, saying they had indeed accomplished the feat.

Byrd submitted his navigational records to the U.S. Navy and a committee of the National Geographic Society, one of his sponsors, who confirmed the accomplishment, according to the Ohio State University Libraries. Byrd was hailed as a hero, given the Medal of Honor, and went on to fly over the South Pole, as well as achieving many other polar exploration milestones (http://www.ouramazingplanet.com/1135-byrd-artifacts-antarctica-discovered.html).

Did Admiral Byrd Fly Over the North Pole or Not? | Famous US Explorers | LiveScience (http://www.livescience.com/28727-byrd-didn-t-fly-over-north-pole.html)

[Svipdag]

This claim has remained controversial since 1926. Still-legible erasures in the log of the flight of observations which are not consistent with Byrd's claim, which is based on his typewritten report, NOT on the log, cast serious doubts on the veracity of Byrd's report. In order for the Fokker tri-plane to have completed the flight in the time elapsed between takeoff and return, the ground speed of the
Fokker would have to have exceeded its airspeed of 85 m.p.h., not impossible, but unlikely considering that it would require a favorable tailwind BOTH outbound AND upon return.

Byrd probably achieved a "farthest North" but did not actually fly over the pole. There are unsubstantiated reports that both Byrd and his co-pilot, Floyd Bennett admitted as much in private conversations subsequently.

"ILLE CRVCEM SCLERIS PRETIVM TVLIT HIC DIADEMA" - DECIMVS IVNIVS IVVENALIS

[1stLightHorse]

Is this the guy who wrote that he encountered extra-terrestrial beings in his personal diaries? Who had Third Reich insignia on their flying craft?