Materials are arranged in the order created during the interview process with the first file containing notes created before, during, and after the interview.
Accession No. PA.2001.0010: Elgen Long, 2001
[identification of item], Elgen Long Oral History, SPEC.PA.56.0091, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
Contains audiocassettes.
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2020 October; finding aid written by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2021 January
Elgen Long (1927-) is an American aviator and author. He enlisted in the United States Navy during World War Two on the day after his 15th birthday, and saw combat in the South Pacific. After his enlistment was up in 1946, Long enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles to study electrical engineering, but soon left to work as a radio operator and naviator for Flying Tiger Airlines; he was hired by Flying Tiger as a pilot in 1952, and spent most of his career with them.
In 1971, Long flew a solo flight around the world over both the North and South Poles in a Piper Navajo airplane; on this flight, which was primarily self-funded, he set 15 world records. He was the first man to have crossed Antarctica alone via the South Pole, and the first to use inertial navigation in crossing the Antarctic Continent.
Elgen retired from Flying Tiger Airlines in 1987, and has spent much of his retirement researching what happened to Amelia Earhart. As of 2021, Long is helping plan an underwater search for Earhart's plane near Howland Island.
The Elgen Long Oral History, dated 2001-2003, contains audio recordings, administrative information, and transcripts of the interview between Elgen Long and Brian Shoemaker of the American Polar Society conducted on May 8, 2001. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by the American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics discussed include Elgen's naval career as a pilot during World War Two, his civilian pilot career with Flying Tiger Airlines, his record-setting flight around the world via the North and South Poles in 1971, and his research into Amelia Earhart's disappearance.
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