Accession No. PA.2011.0037: Gerald Newsom, 2011 December
[identification of item], Gerald Newsom Analysis of Byrd Arctic Expedition North Pole Flight Data, SPEC.PA.56.5009, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University
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Processed by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2026 May; Finding aid written by: Audrey Wimbiscus, 2026 May
On May 9, 1926, Admiral Richard E. Byrd and pilot Floyd Bennett took off from Spitsbergen, Norway on a round-trip flight to the North Pole in a Fokker Tri-Motor airplane named the Josephine Ford. The expedition was funded by the Ford Motor Company and John D. Rockefeller. Byrd and Bennett spent a total of 15 hours and 57 minutes in the air, with 13 minutes spent circling the North Pole, a distance of 1535 miles from Spitsbergen. They were the first people to fly over the North Pole. Upon their return to the United States from the Arctic, Byrd and Bennett were both awarded the Medal of Honor and honored by an act of Congress.
Since 1926, there has been debate by the scientific community over whether it was physically possible for Byrd and Bennett to have reached the North Pole in the amount of time stated, based on the stated airspeed of the plane and the sextant sights taken during the trip.
Professor Emeritus Gerald H. Newsom joined the Ohio State University Astronomy Department in 1969 as a faculty member; his research focused on laboratory astrophysics. After his retirement from Ohio State, Newsom studied the navigation data that Byrd created during his claimed first flight to the North Pole. This study resulted in the 2012 publication of Newsom's article "Byrd's Arctic flight in the context of model atmospheres" by Cambridge University Press. As of 2026, Newsom works with the Ohio State University Retirees' Association and represents retired faculty from public universities in Ohio with the State Teachers Retirement System.
The Gerald Newsom Analysis of Byrd Arctic Expedition North Pole Flight Data dates from August 23, 2001; it is a digital xls file that contains graphs and data created from barograph readings taken by Admiral Richard E. Byrd during his 1926 North Pole Flight. Newsom used this data and graphs as the basis for his 2012 article titled "Byrd's Arctic flight in the context of model atmospheres" published by Cambridge University Press in the journal
Admiral Byrd's original flight barograph readings for the North Pole Flight can be found in "Ac-Ai" Box 113, Folder 4239, Admiral Richard E. Byrd Papers, SPEC.PA.56.0001, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center Archival Program, Ohio State University