The first flights

In the summer of 1909, some specially constructed kites hover in the air over Vealøs, an island off the coast of Horten, south of Oslo.

The kites were designed by Einar Sem-Jacobsen, one of Norway’s aviation pioneers. He was inspired by Samuel Franklin Cody, a traveling American-British showman who became known for his kite-shaped boxes before dying in a plane crash a few years later.

Sem-Jacobsen’s kites were intended to lift a person several hundred meters into the air.

Dressed in a suit and bowler hat, Amundsen rises into the sky for the first time.

But already during the test flights, the kites prove to be life-threatening.

On July 23, 1909, Einar Sem-Jacobsen and the expedition’s second-in-command, Ole Engelstad, are testing the kites.

But the weather is bad—clouds are dark and heavy. Thunder and lightning soon roll in, and they agree to pack up the equipment. The kite still flying is tethered with copper wire. Engelstad takes on the task of bringing it down. And just as he grabs the copper wire, lightning strikes.

Those nearby say smoke started rising from his body. That his boots nearly burned off.

Unconscious, he falls backward.

Sem-Jacobsen rushes to him, but it’s too late. Engelstad dies in Sem-Jacobsen’s arms.

The kites are never used on any expedition.

The following year, Christoffersen completes an impressive flight with one of Amundsen’s flying boats from San Francisco to San Diego, and then over the mountains to Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, the airplanes are not designed to fly across the Atlantic, and transporting them to Norway proves too expensive. Amundsen ends up selling the planes in America.

In the winter of 1914, Amundsen visited the Army Air Force’s Technical Department at Kjeller several times, where Einar Sem-Jacobsen was in charge.

They went flying on multiple occasions, but space was tight. Sem-Jacobsen sat in front in a small wicker seat, with Amundsen right behind him, perched on top of the fuel tank.

It wasn’t ideal for training either. In order to steer, Amundsen had to reach his arms forward and around Sem-Jacobsen.

Sem-Jacobsen described it like this:

To his student, Einar Sem-Jacobsen repeats a lesson he himself had learned from his own mentor, the French aircraft designer Maurice Farman:

“Il faut jamais d’être pressé dans l’aviation.”
(“One must never be in a hurry in aviation.”)

In the search for a suitable aircraft for a future North Pole journey, Amundsen and Sem-Jacobsen travel to Germany and France, visiting several airplane factories and testing different machines. In Paris, Amundsen purchases a Farman aircraft. Sem-Jacobsen is tasked with flying it back to Norway, but when he reaches Liège, he receives orders to ship the plane home by train. When war breaks out, Amundsen donates the aircraft to the Army Air Force.

In the spring of 1914, Amundsen resumes contact with Einar Sem-Jacobsen—now determined to learn to fly. They make several flights together, and in April, they fly from Lillestrøm to Lillehammer. Following the railway line about 200 meters above the ground, they land in the Lysgårdsjordet field.

To the local journalists in Lillehammer, Amundsen says he enjoys being in the air, but when asked if he’ll soon be taking the controls himself, he remains doubtful.

Gardermoen, June 11, 1914. Over 800 people have gathered. The sun is shining, and the time is nearing 8 o’clock in the evening.

Roald Amundsen is about to show what he has learned. The reward is a pilot license.

The first flight goes well. In “Army Airplane No. 3,” Amundsen and Sem-Jacobsen glide in towards the landing field.

Journalists report:

The next task is to fly in a figure-eight pattern through the air. Sem-Jacobsen is to demonstrate, and Amundsen takes a seat in the back.

With the engine running, the airplane begins to shake, slowly moving forward until it finally lifts off the ground.

However, at around 30 meters in the air, Sem-Jacobsen realizes something is wrong.

The control cable snaps and becomes entangled in the propeller.

Suddenly, the aircraft begins an uncontrolled descent toward the ground.

Then there’s a crash.

No one expects that they have survived.

But eventually, a man emerges from the wreckage. It’s Amundsen, who finally manages to get to his feet. Sem-Jacobsen is trapped but is eventually helped out.

Both appear to be unharmed, but the airplane is a total wreck.

Yet, Amundsen is not frightened. He requests to use one of the other airplanes for his actual test. Not long after, he is at the controls, ascending into the air and performing the required figure-eight maneuvers.

Amundsen is awarded the first civilian pilot’s license in Norway.