Ben Eielson and Hubert Wilkins with their Lockheed Vega, NX3903. (George King Collection, Alaska and Polar Regions Collections, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks)
15–21 April 1928: Carl Benjamin (“Ben”) Eielson and George Hubert Wilkins, M.C. and Bar, flew from Point Barrow on the northern coast of Alaska across the Arctic Ocean to Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Norway. The distance was approximately 2,200 miles (3,540 kilometers). The crossing took about 20 hours, and was the first Arctic crossing by air. Their airplane was a Lockheed Vega, civil registration NX3903, the third aircraft of the type to be built.
Hubert Wilkins and Ben Eielson examine the metal skis on their Lockheed Vega.
Eielson and Wilkins had made a prior attempt about a week earlier, but attempting to takeoff with a crosswind, had damaged the skis on the Vega. A spare set made of wood had been brought along and these were installed and after some delay, finally took off on April 15th.
Ben Eielson stands in the cockpit of the Lockheed Vega. The Wright Whirlwind engine is running. Note that the wood skis have been installed.Carl Benjamin Eielson. Portrait by Lee & Co., Fargo, North Dakota. (Institute for Regional Studies, NDSU, Fargo)
The planned route of flight was over the Canadian Arctic Islands and then around north Greenland then on to Spitsbergen, a large island in the Svalbard Archipelago, under the jurisdiction of Norway. Because of the proximity to the Magnetic Pole, a compass would have been useless for navigation. Hubert Wilkins used a Mk. V bubble sextant to calculate their position by taking sights of the sun which remained above the horizon for the entire duration of the flight.
They encountered head winds, cloudy weather and storms. The air temperature was -45 °C. (-49 °F.). As they estimated that they were nearing their destination, they encountered a severe snow storm. With fuel running low, the descended to look for a possible landing site. They were able to land on Deadman’s Island, off the north coast of Danskøya (Dane’s Island). The severe weather closed in and the fliers were stranded for 4 days. When it finally cleared enough for them to continue their journey there was some difficulty as the wooden skis kept freezing to the surface. After they took off and climbed to 3,000 feet (914.4 meters) they immediately sighted the radio towers of Grønfjorden on Nordenskiöld Land, their actual destination.
Sir George Hubert Wilkins, M.C. and Bar.
Of their flight, famed Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen said, “No flight has been made anywhere, at any time, which could be compared with this.”
The Lockheed Vega was a very state-of-the-art aircraft for its time. The prototype flew for the first time 4 July 1927 at Mines Field, Los Angeles, California. It used a streamlined monocoque fuselage made of molded plywood. The wing and tail surfaces were fully cantilevered, requiring no bracing wires or struts to support them.
The Vega was flown by one pilot in an open cockpit and could carry four passengers in the cabin. It was 27 feet, 6 inches (8.382 meters) long with a wingspan of 41 feet, 0 inches (12.497 meters) and overall height of 8 feet, 2 inches (2.489 meters). The airplane had an empty weight of 1,875 pounds (851 kilograms) and a gross weight of 3,470 pounds (1,574 kilograms).
The early Vegas were powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 787.26-cubic-inch-displacement (12.901 liter) Wright Whirlwind J-5C nine-cylinder radial engine with a compression ratio of 5.1:1. It was rated at 200 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m., and 225 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. This was a direct-drive engine which turned a two-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller. The Wright J-5C was 2 feet, 10 inches (0.864 meters) long and 3 feet, 9 inches (1.143 meters) in diameter. It weighed 508 pounds (230.4 kilograms).
The Vega had a cruising speed of 118 miles per hour (190 kilometers per hour) and atop speed of 138 miles per hour (222 kilometers per hour)—very fast for its time. The airplane’s range was 900 miles (1,448.4 kilometers). It could fly at an altitude 15,000 feet (4,572 meters).
Ruth Elder, photographed by Irving Chidnoff. (National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, NASM SI 02-702)
11 October 1927: After a week’s wait for suitable weather, at 5:04 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (22:04 UTC), Ruth Elder and George William Haldeman departed Roosevelt Field, Long Island, New York, aboard a Stinson SM-1 Detroiter named American Girl. Their destination was Le Bourget Airport, Paris, France, across the North Atlantic Ocean. Rather than following the Great Circle Route flown by Charles A. Lindbergh five months earlier, Elder and Haldeman planned to follow shipping lanes. They would fly east for 1,240 miles (1,996 kilometers) and then turn to the northeast toward Paris. The flight was estimated to cover 3,600 miles (5,794 kilometers). The airplane carried enough fuel for it to remain airborne for 44 hours.
Ruth Elder was the first woman to attempt a transatlantic flight.
Ruth Elder’s Stinson SM-1, “American Girl.” (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives Catalog #: 10_0015273)
About an hour after takeoff, they encountered a storm system, which would take them south of their intended course. It would be another eight hours before they cleared the storm. At 10:30 p.m. on the 11th, the steamship S.S. American Banker reported sighting an airplane at N. 41.00, W. 65.04, flying on a course of 080°.
The following morning, 12 October, an oil line on the airplane’s Wright Whirlwind engine cracked. Losing oil, it was unlikely that they would make landfall on the eastern side of the Atlantic. At about 10:30 a.m., they saw a tanker, S.S. Barendrecht, then approximately 325 miles (523 kilometers) northeast of the Azores, and ditched in the ocean nearby.
The Dutch-registered tanker S.S. Barendrecht, 337.0 feet in length, 3,704 gross registered tons, 5,100 deadweight tons. (Stichting Maritem-Historiche Databank)
Elder and Haldeman were rescued, uninjured. The ship’s crew made an attempt to lift the airplane from the water, but it caught fire and had to be released.
When reporting the rescue by radio, the position of the Barendrecht was given as “N. 43.34, W. 21.39”
Barendrecht changed course and took the pair to the Azores. They were later flown to Spain, and finally arrived in Paris on 28 October.
Approximate position of S.S. Barendrecht, N. 43.34, W. 21.39.U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office chart estimating Elder’s flight path if she did not correct for drift. (National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, NASM-9A08381)
Ruth Elder was born 8 September 1902 ¹ at Anniston, Alabama. She was the fourth of five children of James Oscar Elder, a farmer, and Sarah J. McClellan Elder. She grew up in Anniston, attending the Quintard Avenue Public School. After high school she studied stenography. She later worked in a dental office in Lakeland, Florida.
In Lakeland, she met George Haldeman, a pilot, who in 1925 began teaching her to fly. Soon they were flying stunts at carnivals and county fairs. Miss Elder’s U.S. private pilot license number was 675. When she passed a required medical examination, the U.S. Army medical officer said that she was “the most perfect physical specimen of the American girl I have ever seen.” Newspapers called her the “Miss America of the Air.”
Ruth Elder on the set of “Moran of the Marines.” Left to right are Frank R. Strayer, the film’s director; Ruth Elder; screenwriter Linton Wells; Edward Cronjager, cinematographer. (Paramount Pictures)
Following the attempted transatlantic flight, Miss Elder went to California where she appeared in two silent movies. “Moran of the Marines” was released one year after her takeoff from Paris, 13 October 1928. The film starred Richard Dix as “Michael Moran” and Elder portrayed “Vivian Marshall.” The second film “The Winged Horseman,” was released about six months later. It starred Hoot Gibson as “Skyball Smith,” and Elder as “Joby Hobson.” For these two movies, Elder was paid about $250,000. In an interview in the mid-1930s, she said, “The money slipped through my fingers and soon there was nothing.”
Theater lobby card for “The Winged Horseman.” (Universal Studios)
Ruth Elder was married six times. In the 1950s she was employed as a secretary for Howard Hughes’ aircraft company.
She died in San Francisco, California, 9 October 1977. Her remains were cremated and the ashes were spread over the ocean.
Ruth Elder’s American Girl. (San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives Catalog #: 10_0015271)
The Stinson SM-1 was a six-place, single-engine, high-wing strut-braced monoplane, derived from the company’s earlier SB-1 Detroiter biplane. It was built at the Stinson Aircraft Corporation factory in Northville, Michigan. Miss Elder’s Stinson was serial number M-207. Modified with extra fuel tanks for the transatlantic flight, it was registered NX1384. The airplane was paid for by investor’s from Wheeling, West Virginia. It was registered to Wheeling Aero Exhibitors Inc.
The SM-1 was 32 feet (9.754 meters) long with a wingspan of 45 feet, 10 inches (13.970 meters) and height of 8 feet, 3 inches (2.515 meters). The wing had a chord of 7 feet, 0 inches (2.134 meters) and an area of 292 square feet (21.13 square meters). It used a Stinson M-6 airfoil. The standard production airplane had an empty weight of 1,970 pounds (894 kilograms) and gross weight of 3,485 pounds (1,581 kilograms). The fuselage was built of welded chrome-moly steel tubing while the wing was built of wood spars and ribs. The airplane was covered with doped fabric. The angle of the vertical fin could be adjusted on the ground, and the horizontal stabilizer was adjustable in flight.
The first 36 SM-1s were powered by an air-cooled, normally-aspirated 787.26-cubic-inch-displacement (12.901 liter) Wright Aeronautical Corporation Model J-5C Whirlwind nine-cylinder radial engine, serial number 7331. This was a direct-drive engine with a compression ratio of 5.1:1.
The J-5 was built with a cylindrical cast aluminum crankcase and steel cylinder barrels with integral cooling fins. The cylinder head was cast aluminum with a hemispherical combustion chamber, which allowed larger valves and improved combustion efficiency. There were two valves per cylinder, actuated by pushrods and rocker arms.
The Wright J-5C was rated at 200 horsepower at 1,800 r.p.m., and 220 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m. The engine was 2 feet, 10 inches (0.864 meters) long and 3 feet, 9 inches (1.143 meters) in diameter. It weighed 508 pounds (230.4 kilograms).
The Stinson SM-1 had a cruising speed of 105 miles per hour (169 kilometers per hour) and maximum speed of 122 miles per hour (196 kilometers per hour). Its ceiling was 14,000 feet (4,267 meters). With a fuel capacity of 90 gallons (341 liters), it had a range of 700 miles (1,127 kilometers).
Contemporary newspapers reported that American Girl weighed 5,680 pounds (2,576 kilograms) at takeoff and carried 520 gallons (1,968 liters) of gasoline.
The Stinson SM-1 sold for $12,000–12,500. More than 100 were built.
Stinson SM-1 Detroiter NX1384, “American Girl.” (National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, NASM SI-90-5876)
¹ Sources vary as to Elder’s year of birth, with most citing 1902. A 1910 U.S. Census form, dated 5 May 1910, lists her age as 7 years, supporting the 1902 date. The 1920 Census form, dated 2 January 1920, however, gives her age as 16, which suggests that she was born in 1903. A 12 October 1927 newspaper article gives her date of birth as “September 12, 1902.” When she returned to the United States aboard S.S Aquitania after her unsuccessful transatlantic flight, the U.S. government form, LIST OF UNITED STATES CITIZENS, required by immigration officials at the port of entry (in this case, the Port of New York), gives Elder’s date of birth as “Sept. 8th 1904.” The following year, 1928, again returning from France, this time aboard S.S. France, her date of birth on the U.S. passenger entry form list her date of birth as “Sept.8-1904-Anniston-Alabama.” She traveled from New York to Los Angeles aboard S.S. Pennsylvania in 1932, and her date of birth on the passenger list is given as “9/8/04.” Arriving from Mexico aboard an airplane in 1933, her age is listed as “27,” which would mean that she had been born in 1906.
