The supply of expeditions by aircraft

Extract

The Greenland ice sheet, the area of which is some 1,870,000 sq.km., between three and four times that of France, has remained largely unknown until the present time. Between 1948 and 1951 extensive investigations were made by Expéditions Polaires Françaises (Missions Paul-Émile Victor), relying largely upon new methods of transport which had been developed, particularly in North America, during the Second World War. Perhaps the most important of these were the use of the amphibious tracked vehicle known as the Weasel (Light Cargo Carrier M29C, manufactured by the Studebaker Corporation) to transport men and equipment over the ice sheet, and of aircraft to drop supplies to the ground parties, so that their radius of action could be greatly increased. During the course of the expedition the Weasels covered a combined total distance of approximately 85,000 km., and from 1949 to 1951 a well-equipped scientific observation post, known as the “Station Centrale de Recherches” was maintained in the centre of the ice sheet in lat. 70° 55′ 3″ N., long. 40° 38′ 22″ W. These achievements were made possible by the use of aircraft to drop a total of some 230 tons of stores and equipment on the ice sheet.