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Contact Info
Home Town Tveit, Norway
Last Address Chappaqua, New York
Date of Passing Oct 17, 1973
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Bernt Balchen was born on October 23, 1899, in Tveit, Norway. During World War I, he served in the French Foreign Legion, the Royal Norwegian Army, and was wounded while serving with the Finnish Army during the Finnish Civil War in 1918. Balchen joined the Royal Norwegian Naval Air Service in 1921 and was commissioned as a Naval Aviator in 1924, where he served as a test pilot and arctic explorer. He was the pilot on the trans-Atlantic flight in the America in 1927, and was the pilot for the first aircraft flight over the South Pole with the Byrd Antarctic Expedition in 1929. During the 1930's, Balchen became a U.S. Citizen, helped create the Norwegian Airlines and the Nordic Postal Union, and he helped negotiate an aviation treaty with the United States. He joined the British Royal Air Force at the outbreak of World War II, and was commissioned in the U.S. Army Air Forces on September 5, 1941. Col Balchen built, organized, and commanded Bluie West-8 base in Greenland from October 1941 to January 1943, and then operated a courier air transport service between Britain and Sweden, as well as other clandestine missions, from January 1943 until the end of the war. He left active duty on April 20, 1946, and then helped organize the Scandinavian Airlines System until returning to active duty with the U.S. Air Force on October 11, 1948. Col Balchen served as commander of the 10th Air Rescue Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, from November 1948 to July 1950, and then as a staff officer with Alaskan Air Command from July 1950 to January 1951.During this time, he flew an aircraft non-stop from Alaska to Norway in 1949 to become the first person to pilot an airplane over both poles. Col Balchen next served as advisor for the construction of the Air Force Base at Thule, Greenland, before serving as the Assistant for Arctic Activities at Headquarters U.S. Air Force in the Pentagon from August 1951 until his retirement from the Air Force on October 31, 1956. He was awarded the Harmon Trophy in 1953, was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1973, and became the only non-Canadian enshrined into the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame in 1974. Bernt Balchen died on October 17, 1973, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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Aircraft/Missile Information
C-54s began service with the Army Air Forces in 1942, carrying up to 26 passengers. (Later versions carried up to 50 passengers.) The U.S. Navy also acquired the type, under the designation R5D. The C-54 was one of the most commonly used long-range transports by the U.S. armed forces in World War II. 515 C-54s were manufactured in Santa Monica, CA and 655 were manufactured in Chicago, Illinois.
After World War II, the C-54 continued to serve as the primary airlifter of the new United States Air Force and with the United States Navy.
The USAF Strategic Air Command had C-54 Skymasters in service from 1946 through 1975.
Model Douglas C-54A (R5D-1) Skymaster Length 93.83 ft | 28.60 m Width 117.49 ft | 35.81 m Height 27.49 ft | 8.38 m Engine(s) 4 x Pratt & Whitney E-2000-7 Twin Wasp radial engines generating 1,290hp each. Empty Weight 37,000 lbs | 16,783 kg MTOW 62,005 lbs | 28,125 kg Max Speed 265 mph | 426 km/h | 230 kts Max Range 3,899 miles | 6,275 km Ceiling 21,982 ft | 6,700 m | 4.2 miles Climb Rate Not Available Hardpoints 0 Armament None. Accommodations 6 + 86 Operators the United States of America
