GREAT HAZARDS

Taranaki Daily News, 20 December 1932, Page 9

GREAT HAZARDS

EVEREST FLIGHT CLOUD MASSES HIDE SUMMIT. CLYDESDALE IS CONFIDENT. London, Nov. 5. Flying' men have never planned . a more-picturesque endeavour than the assault on Mount Everest which will be made by British pilots in the next few months, states the correspondent of ’the. Evening Post. Highest of the world’s mountain peaks, the Himalayan giant has defied many gallant climbing expeditions. Most of them retired when still thousands of feet from the summit, though it is posr sible that two British climbers reached the peak a few years ago. When last seen by their 'comrades they were going strong for the top—but they never came back.' ’ . ; ’ ■ . '*? ■ ' < ■

’i At first sight the task before the flying party is comparatively 'simple. Everest rises 29,000 feet above sea level. The world’s height record,' established last month by Cyril Uwins in a British biplane at Bristol’, England/-is ’43,976 feet, nearly three miles higher than Mount Everest’s summit.

But the mountain lies remote in the heart of a range of terrific peaks, many of which rival it in stature, in a region where a forced landing: would mean destruction, and where winds are of hurricane force. Further, the head of the giant is the'home of tremendous storms, and vast frozen cloud masses shroud the, peak from view for many-months, of the year. ‘ ■ ■ - ■ ■ ■ ■ , ■ - ■ - _ The men who take off from an airdrome in Northern Bengal at the foot of the great hills, to conquer Everest, will know they are beginning one of the most perilous adventures in the history of aviation,

PROMOTE BRITISH PRESTIGE.

Chief pilot of the expedition is the Marquis. of .Douglas and Clydesdale, a member of Parliament, squadron leader in the Auxiliary Air Force and wellknown amateur boxer. Lord Clydesdale, as he is usually calledj is 29, and is the eldest sori of the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, head of one of the most illustrious families in Great Britain. Providing the financial sinews is Lady Houston, widow of a great Liverpool shipowner, whose gift of £lOO,OOO enabled Britain to enter for the Schneider trophy contest in 1931. The Air Ministry and the India office are according the expedition hearty support, and the Maharajah of Nepal, ’ within whose territory the mountain stands, has given his permission for the flight. ■ In a speech to his Parliamentary constituents, whom he is asking for leave for the' expedition, Lord Clydesdale, explained that the object he and his friends have at heart is first and foremost to foster and promote British world prestige, particularly in India. He added that the flight over Mount Everest is the “only one original flight really worth while.”

, He'alluded to the danger of the attempt, not the smallest peril being the fact that 50 miles of the flight takes the ’plane above “impossible”, country, but said he had given that every consideration and had “no wish to subject this constituency again to the expense and trouble of a by-election.” In other words, like all great adventurers, Lord Clydesdale and his comrades have made careful plans, and while recognising the perils, believe in their own ability, linked with the. trustworthiness of their flying equipment, to overcome them. . . v.

' CHOICE OF PLANES.

A period of intensive training and flying trials must precede embarkation for India. . Each member of the party must attain perfection of physical fitness to withstand the ardours of flying above the Himalayas. Planes and engines must be exactly attuned to the task; there Will be no room for a single mechanical failure.

The plane most obviously fitted for the flight is the high-flying Vickers Vespa craft powered with a Bristol Pegasus motor, which Uwiris took to the stratosphere when he set the new world’s airplane height record. Negotiations are going forward to -obtain the. use of this machine and perhaps of another craft of similar performance. Two planes are likely to ascend together, one to make the actual .flight over the summit, the other to take a photographic record of the attempt, an obvious difficulty beh?g that of getting adequate evidence that the peak, actually is flown over. Both machines will carry cameras and it is hoped the record thus obtained will place the success of the expedition beyond the range of scepticism. The flyers will wear specially heated clothing, and will breathe through oxygen apparatus.—(N.A.N.A.)