As man's conquest of the air was gathering momentum in the 1920s, there came a longing among explorers of the Arctic, to overfly the icy waters which had hitherto taken such a heavy toll in men and ships. Men who, like Wilkins, had already made their mark in sailing through the ice and walking over the eternal snows, looked to the aeroplane or airship as a wonderful observation platform and as a means of quicker travel. And of the great of many nations who tried their skill and courage in the early attempts to fly across the Arctic, George Hubert Wilkins stands out as greatest of them all.