In 1929, three years after his flight overthe North Pole, the American explorer,R. E. Byrd, successfully flew over theSouth Pole for the first time. Though, atfirst, Byrd and his men were able to takea great many photographs of the moun-tains that lay below, they soon ran intoserious trouble. At one point, it seemed certain that their plane would crash. Itcould only get over the mountains if it rose to 10,000 feet. Byrd at once orderedhis men to throw out two heavy food sacks. The plane was then able to rise andit cleared the mountains by 400 feet.Byrd now knew that he would be able toreach the South Pole which was 300 miles away, for there were no more mountains in sight. The aircraft was able to flyover the endless white plains without difficulty.
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