Symcas, Inc. - Your Partner in Technology!

Admiral Richard Byrd’s "Snow Cruiser" to the Antarctic [1940]

The Editors

A lesson that common sense is the main factor of success for any project

One of the most incredible vehicles I have researched is the Snow Cruiser, nicknamed the "Penguin", that was to be used by Admiral Byrd in his exploration of Antarctic a [South pole for some people]. This half truck/half tank was huge. The Snow Cruiser was to be used as a mobile base and measured 55 feet long, 20 feet wide and 15 feet tall. It was powered by four 75hp electric motors [remember this is 1940], one at each wheel. The electric generators were driven by two 150hp diesel motors. Power could be directed to one or any combination of wheels. The wheels had tires that were 10 fee t high [120x66x33.5] and were designed not to have any snow tread. There was so much confidence that it was designed to carry a ski-equipped biplane on top so that the crew could do Arial surveillance.

The reason for no snow treads was the theory that much of the Antarctic surface is composed of tiny crystalline particles which is more like sand, not ice or soft snow. Tire inflation could be adjusted from the driver’s seat and generally was set at 15 to 25 psi. This means the Snow Cruiser had eight square feet of surface contact.

The operation design of the Snow Cruiser was wild. Rubber will freeze and crack at 75 degrees below zero [I never verified this], therefore the Snow Cruiser was designed so that the wheels could be retracted and heated by the diesel exhaust when the vehicle was stationary. This retraction capability also helped the Snow Cruiser across ice crevasses up to 15 feet wide [in theory].

The overhand of the front and rear sections [distance from the tires to the edge of the Snow Cruiser] was over 17 feet. This meant if the Snow Cruiser hit a gap, it could run its' nose to the other side, retract the front wheel and let the back wheels push it forward. The rear wheels would retract, the front wheels were extended, then the Snow Cruiser would pull itself across the gap. It would then extend the rear wheels and continue on its way. Not much could stop this vehicle! There was so much confidence and publicity about the Snow Cruise that they actually created postal envelopes and stationary about it.

At Symcas, we see a lot of projects like this. Technically, everything looks good, people using impressive words and the consultants acting like they understand what is going on. We look at this and ask a few what we consider common sense questions and then everyone feels we are insulting. What is even worst, we look at some of the operation issues for which we feel should cause some concern only to see them shrugged off as not being worth considering. Common sense is the major key to success and those that choose to ignore it are doomed for failure because something always happens.

System Theory: Fail safe systems always fail by failing to fail safe!

Everyone was hyped up about the Snow Cruiser so it was set to make a trip from Chicago to Boston. Thousands of people showed up to watch the unstoppable machine. But the cruiser's trip from Chicago to Boston was plagued with problems. In Columbia City, Indiana, a truck sideswiped it. In Ft. Wayne, Indiana, a fuel pump developed trouble. Then, near Lima, Ohio the cruiser struck the corner of a bridge and plunged eight feet into a small creek. It was stuck in the creek for three days. The trip to Boston took a total of 19 days!

Once the cruiser arrived in Antarctica, it was based out of Little America [Byrd's station on the continent]. But it was quickly discovered that the vehicle's smooth tires developed very little traction in the Antarctic snow. It took only a small amount of snow in front of each tire to stop the "unstoppable." Though two spare tires were mounted on the front axles to provide extra traction, nothing seemed to help. That's until someone discovered the vehicle operated better in reverse. The cruiser's longest venture was 92 miles--all driven backwards.

What happened to the cruiser? It was left behind in Antarctica in an underground ice garage. In the late 1940s another expedition found the vehicle and discovered it needed only air in the tires and some servicing to make it operational. It was again rediscovered in 1962, still perfectly preserved. Where is Byrd's snow cruiser now? As of 1985 there had been speculation as to its whereabouts. Antarctic ice is in constant motion, and the ice shelf the cruiser was on is constantly moving out to sea. In the mid-1960s, a large chunk of the Ross Ice Shelf broke off and drifted away. The break occurred right through Little America. On which side of the break was the snow cruiser? No one seemed to know at the time. The end of this story is still uncertain. Either the vehicle is buried under many, many feet of ice--where it might possibly be discovered by future explorers. Or it could be resting on the bottom of the Southern Ocean. Whatever its fate, it was still a magnificent machine. But what a flop!

One needs to use common sense and one of the common sense theories is "What if your are wrong", plan for that. Even Microsoft has a good handle on this. One of their major planning steps [from the training we have received] is to plan what can go wrong, even slightly and what will be the impact? They call this phase "Mitigation of Risk". A lot of effort in our training was what can impact success of projects [mainly external events] and how to mitigate them.