The Norge was a semi-rigid Italian-built airship that carried out the first verified trip of any kind to the North Pole, an overflight on 12 May 1926. It was also the first aircraft to fly over the polar ice cap between Europe and America. The expedition was the brainchild of polar explorer and expedition leader Roald Amundsen, the airship's designer and pilot Umberto Nobile and American adventurer and explorer Lincoln Ellsworth who, along with the Aero Club of Norway, financed the trip, which was known as the Amundsen-Ellsworth 1926 Transpolar Flight. Design and development [[File:NorgeTailplane.jpg|thumb|left|Fragments from the Norge'''s tail|120px]]Norge was the first N-class semi-rigid airship designed by Umberto Nobile, and its construction started in 1923. As part of the selling contract [as the Norge] it was refitted for Arctic conditions. The pressurised envelope was reinforced with metal frames at the nose and tail, with a flexible tubular metal keel connecting the two. This was covered with fabric and used as storage and crew space. Three engine gondolas and the separate control cabin were attached to the bottom of the keel. Norge was the first Italian semi-rigid to be fitted with the cruciform tail fins first developed by the Schütte-Lanz company. Polar expedition In 1925, Amundsen telegraphed Nobile asking to meet him at Oslo, where he proposed an airship trip across the Arctic. With a contract in place, Nobile modified the N-1 for flight in arctic weather. As the expedition was being financed by the Aero Club of Norway, the modified N-1 was christened the Norge (English: Norway). On 29 March 1926 at a ceremony at Ciampino aerodrome the Norge was handed over to the Aero Club of Norway. The flight north was due to leave Rome on 6 April but was delayed due to strong winds and departed at 09:25 on 10 April. The ship arrived at RNAS Pulham Airship Station in England at 15:20; because of the bad weather was not moored in the hangar until 18:30. Delayed again by weather, the Norge left Pulham for Oslo at 11:45 on 12 April. At 01:00 on 15 April 1926, the Norge left Ekeberg in Oslo for Gatchina near Leningrad; after a 17-hour flight, the airship arrived at 19:30, delayed by dense fog along the way. Following the arrival at Gatchina, Nobile announced that the Norge would remain in the airship shed for a week for engine overhaul and maintenance; this