Polar Pilot: The Carl Ben Eielson Story

xvi, 409 pp. This is a story of the one of America's unsung heroes in the field of aviation-Carl Ben Eielson. Eielson grew up in an upper-middle-class family in Hatton, North Dakota, and was endowed with sufficient talent to make a comfortable living in any career he desired. Since early in life he dreamed of nothing but flying. This is a story of the one of America's unsung heroes in the field of aviation-Carl Ben Eielson. Eielson grew up in an upper-middle-class family in Hatton, North Dakota, and was endowed with sufficient talent to make a comfortable living in any career he desired. Since early in life he dreamed of nothing but flying. His fame as a pioneer bush pilot enabled him to win the pilot's position with Sir Hubert Wilkins, and the two thrilled the world with their flight from Barrow to Spitzbergen and later with their flights in the Atlantic. In 1929, at age 32, Eielson met death while on a flight over the frozen wastes of Siberia. A 100-day, three-nation search kept his name before the public in 1929-30, but exploits and contributions have all been forgotten."