Afrpac Operations
A Challenge Nora
(Continued from last week)
(The below article entitled
Texas of the North,’' is a reprint
from the AirPac Bulletin, official
publication of the Air Force, Pa
cific Fleet, which gives an insight
into the AIRPAC operations
here.)
Last weeks article gave a short
summary of naval bases in Alaska,
and described the handicaps oil
flying at Kodiak and in and
around Alaska. Weather, winds
and mountains were factors that
the flying newcomer had to con
tend with and overcome. Alaska,
in short, was described as a
weather factory.
Trans-POlar Attack
To guard against a sneak trans
polar attack the United States and
Canada are also.constructing three
sentry lines, equippe<r with' elec
tronic eyes, across the top of the
wkl, y
One of these, thi« Pine Tree Line
has already been completed. The
Mid-Canada Line and Dew-Line
are still tinder construction. It is
planned that these three lines w.il
provide a plane-tight warning net
,for North Americajncities and give
the Continental Air Defense Coin*
mand, the Roya) Canadian Air
Force and Civil Defense Authori
ties from four to six hours warn
ing of any attack across the top of
the world. .
the northernmost of these three
lines, the DEW line, a vast armada
of supply ships miist penetrate the
receding ice fields dtJMhg tha
short summer tnonths.
AIRPAC pilots have been given
the job of shepherding this thin
hulled merchant fleet through the
crushing grip of ice.
The route of the supply convoy
is hazardous, for even during the
brief summer months the*Arctic
ice pack lies menancingly close
offshore. In the Point Barrow area
changing Arctic winds cun trap
ships between the beach and hull
crushing floes of pack ice.
In order to keep the supply con
voy from the grip of the pack a
small detachment of AIRFAC
planes is assigned to fly low level
ice recon flights. Trained ice ob
servers from the Fleet Weather
Central in Kodiak use these l’ights
to determine the pack ice’s posi
tion, age, condition and appear
ance.
This information, radioed to the
Hydrographic office and to Kodiak,
is the basis for the vitally needed
daily ice facsimiles and forty
eight hour ice forecasts.
Despite the tremendous effort
of the Navy’s supply ships, Alas
ka’s daily life blood still flies
through the skies, for when the
short summer yields to winter the
seas are choked with solid pack
ice.
The famed "Blue Goose Airline”
GAME NIGHT
EVEftY
WEDNESDAY
8:30 PM
UKS
CLUB
which shuttles from Adak to Attvt"
two to threo times a week, laden
with supplies for the small securi
ty detachment there, Is an ex-'
ample of how A1RPAC airmen
keep our Alaskan outposts suppied.
One flight of the ‘Blue Goose"
may carry tWo thousand poinds*
of frozen foods and a'new corpsmari
for the small dispensary The next
may bring movie film or anxiously
awaited mail from the “States.'’
The routine flights are often far
from routine, for during the sum
mer months low visibility and fog
are an ever-present hazard. In the
winter, the wild winds of the “W 1
lie Waw" lurk behind every cold
front.
The FLOGWING planes of Air
Transport Squadron FIVE which
flew a total of 1,069 tons of pas
sengers and cargo thiough the
worst imaginable weather into the
Alaskan'Sea Frontier Area* from
the U.S., during the fiscal year of
1956. is another^example of AIR
PAC's determination to get the
supplies through.
-Rescue
In. the land of the “Midnight
Sun,” as all ovfcr the world, Navy
fliers are called Upon to act as
“angels of'mercy,” fbr in Alaska
the lives of hundreds of naflVes
depend, in an emergency, upon the
speed and efficiency of the Navy’s
search and rescue teams.
Since -anuary 1st, nearly sixty
rescue missions have b“e i carried
out by the Navy in the two million
mile expanse designated as COM
SAR II, one of the four gigantic
search and rescue areas in Alaska.
A review of these mercy flights |
includes: shipwrecks with crews
marooned in isolated island wilder
ness areas, appendicitis attacks,
terious injuries, emergency child
births, accidental shootings fire
and victims of heart attacks.
Itay all add td the total of AIE
PAG’* service,to the Nnrth.
This is a land of challenges where
men must fly so that others may
junto ve, Whether they be on far
nuhg frozen outposts or iit metro
politan areas within range of ene
my bomber*. This is a land where
pilots mush be the finest—fer the
careless do not survive
• •• 7^ > . \
POLICE SLOGAN
Death travels swiftly but most
speeders can overtake it.
Soft Drinks — Mixers
and
Speed Bar Flavor Extracts
Kodiak Bottling Works
dh . i.f i w
• It
iiflHI .K Vrt/l HMM *t>r t
Surpasses its Own Great Reputation !
You’re looking at a mighty surprised man.
Almost all of his adult life he has owned and
driven Cadillac cars. And so, when he decided to
take an hour out from his busy schedule to see
and drive the new 1957 Cadillac, he thought he
knew about what to expect.
Well, here he is—barely under way in the city
—and already he is learning the startling truth.
He is learning that nothing could adequately
a prepare a man for the new "car of cars”—not even
Cadillac ownership itself 1
He suspected it, in fact, the instant he stepped
into the showroom and caught his first glimpse of
this newest Cadillac creation. This was an entirely
' new kind of Cadillac beauty—brilliantly fresh in
line and in contour.
And then he opened the door and swung into
the driver’s seat—and found added evidence all
around him. On every side were new miracles of
interior beauty and comfort and convenience.
And when he turned the key and put his foot
on the accelerator, his sentiment grew to convic
tion. The car was incredibly nimble and quiet
and smooth of ride.
Surprised, did we say? Just wait until he hits
the open highway and receives the final verdict.
No question about it—this is the Cadillac that
literally surpasses its own great reputation!
• * • *
We suggest that you come in soon to see and
drive this most surprising new Cadillac in fifty
four years. It’s an experience you, shouldn’t
postpone—and One you’ll not soon forget.
Donnelley & Acheson Phone 3201