GAMBLE ON A JUMP

Evening Star, Issue 21620, 16 January 1934, Page 5

GAMBLE ON A JUMP

DROP OF TWENTY-FIVE MILES PARACHUTIST’S DARING PLAN. • " I want to be the first man to drop from the stratosphere; 1 want to gamble my life on a jump from a height of twenty-live miles.” In these words John Tranum, the famous parachutist, lately outlined to the ‘ Sunday Chronicle ' the most daring aeronautical feat that has ever been planned. Subsequently Mr Tranum made to Mr M. E. Ridge, the young American who hopes to ascend by balloon to a height of twenty-five miles, the offer that a parachute descent should be made from the balloon—an endeavour which would double the scientific value of the attempt, Mr Tranum offers to" make the drop; The man who has survived. more than 2,000 parachute jumps wants to attempt a feat from which experts say he wilt only have a tifty-lifty chance of emerging alive. But Mr Tranum does not agree with them.:. He says he believes he will come safely through the terrible ordeal if he is equipped with the proper clothing and breathing apparatus. Considerable interest in. . scientific circles in Europe and America has followed the announcement by . Mr Ridge that he is to attempt to ascend twenty-five miles into the stratosphere —more than twice the height of the existing record. . . : - v Flans have already been made for the balloon ascent, which is supported by such distinguished men as Professor J. H. S. Haldane, the foremost authority on respiration, and Sir Robert Davis, the inventor of diving suits and scientific apparatus. . Both these men say they believe that it is possible to ascend in a balloon with an open car to a height of twenty-five miles. But on the possibility of surviving a parachute jump from that height Mr Tranum relies on his own judgment alone. “If 1 were not convinced that it could be done 1 would not suggest it for a minute,’’ Mr Tranum says.. “ All the experience 1 have gained in my 2,000 parachute drops convince me that this colossal drop is humanly possible. , “Of course, I shall need to be equipped with a diving suit similar to that the baljoonist will wear. I shall need’‘heated clothing and oxygen apparatus*. with these aids 1 think 1 can survive. If Mr Ridge accepts my offsr 1 shall ask to be strapped to the outside of the balloon car in such a way that I can readily release myself at the opportune moment, “1 have «already been up to a height of over four miles, and my record delayed drop was made from a height of- three and a-half miles.”