Airplane vs. Airship: The 1926 Race to the North Pole episode artwork

EPISODE · Aug 19, 2026 · 9 MIN

Airplane vs. Airship: The 1926 Race to the North Pole

from Our American Stories · host iHeartPodcasts

On this episode of Our American Stories, by 1926, explorers had spent decades risking their lives trying to conquer the world's most hostile places. Now, two of the greatest were racing toward the North Pole in radically different machines. American naval aviator Richard Byrd bet on the speed of a Fokker trimotor airplane. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen put his faith in the Norge, a massive hydrogen-filled airship.Who would win? Our regular contributor The History Guy shares the story of the dangerous 1926 race that tested two explorers, two technologies, and the future of flight. Support the show (https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donate)Support the show: https://www.ouramericanstories.com/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Aug 19, 2026

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Airplane vs. Airship: The 1926 Race to the North Pole

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