EIGHT MILES UP

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 138, 8 December 1921, Page 15

EIGHT MILES UP

AVIATION HEIGHT RECORD

THE LIMIT OF-ENDURANCE.

Lieutenant John A., Macready, of the United States Army Air Force, who broke the world's altitude record recently at Dayton, Ohio, drove a Lepere battle-plane 40,800 ft, or, nearly eiglit miles, above sea-level in 1 hour 30 minutes. The last 3000 ft were achieved under the severest conditions, as the temperature, 60 degrees. below zero, froze up the tube through which he Breathed oxygen, and formed a film of ice over his goggles, completely blinding the aviator. Despite his electrically-heated costume, Lieutenant Macready was desperately cold, and with great difficulty succeeded in connecting • his headgear with the emergency oxygen tank. At 40,800 ft the engine stopped. Lieutenant Macready plunged downward to within a few thousand ,feet of the earth, restarted his1 engine, and made a perfect landing. Aeronautical experts declare that the flight will have a profound effect upon military and commercial aviation by establishing the worth of the supercharger, or turbine air-compressor, which compresses the ..thin air and delivers ii/into the carburetter at the same density as at sea-leyel. Lieutenant Macready attributes his success also to a new propellor, so constructed that" the aviator can increase the pitch of the blades as he climbs, which enables him to grip the thin air with, greater power than with the fixed type of propeller. Describing his experiences and sensations, Lieut. Macready expresses the opinion that it will be impossible for a man to fly much higher than the 40,800 feet (nearly eight miles) he attained, because,the rarefied atmosphere at such an altitude precludes proper control, while the intense cold and lack of oxygen prevent a human being retaining his full faculties and tend to render him unconscious. Lieut. Macready had no intention of breaking the altitude record when he started from Dayton Field, Ohio. He says he went up to test a new propeller designed to grip thin air, and a supercharger which fed the rarefied air into the carburetter at sea-level density. '. . .* "I did not feel any ill effects until I was well abovi 30,000 feet," says Lieut. Macready, "because I was well protected against the cold by an electricallyheated suit, and had a good supply of oxygen. After that, however, there was a slight slowing-up of one's senses and faculties, which increased slowly as the plane climbed. The slightest movement of the body required extra oxygen. At 39,000 feet ice from my breath must have formed in the tube from the""supply flask, and I began to feel very bad until I was able to secure * fresh supply of,oxygent from the emergency flask." The lieutenant describes how at 40,800 ft his supercharger refused to function properly, and as soon as sealevel conditions were not maintained the engines lost power, so that, by the utmost effort, he was unable to push the plane above 41,200 indicated altitude, which was calibrated later to 40,800 ft. "At this height," says Lieutenant Macready, "the plana swung and rolled, and the controls were almost useless1, as there was not enough sustaining surface to move the plane in the direction I desired to go. I held the plane there for five minutes before I -was. convinced that I could go no farther. I was feeling weak and groggy; my mind was not active, and I could not think fast or correctly. The intense cold fanned ice on the inside of my goggles, almost blinding me, and I was afraid of losing consciousness altogether. I knew that by' reducing my 'altitude I would return to the normal, however, and although I could not handle the plane correctly, I knew enough to pull back the throttle slightly and shoot quickly earthward. While at the supreme altitude I looked above, but could not see any stars, but I noted that the atmosphere was extremely bright and light. The sky, instead of being dark blue, was very light in colour—only a slight blue tinge. There was far more sunlight and greater brilliancy than there was closer to the\ ground. Altitude records, in my opinion, will be'gauged in the future by the physical limitations of the pilots. To get much higher,with present methods wilt be impossible, because of the inability of the pilot to sustain extreme hardship."