27,000 FT. BY PARACHUTE

Taranaki Daily News, 26 May 1933, Page 7

27,000 FT. BY PARACHUTE

BRITISH AVIATOR’S FEAT PROBABLY WORLD RECORD HIS SENSATIONS DESCRIBED TERRIFIC RATE OF DESCENT By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright Rec. 8 p.m. London, May 24. Diving head first from an Air Force bomber at a height of 27,000 feet a parachutist, John Tranum, is believed to have created a world’s record at Netheravon. He delayed his drop, fell like a stone for 18,000 feet before expanding his parachute, and thereafter drifted five miles, narrowly escaping a tree in landing. The previous record, held by an American, is 15,000 feet. “I fell nicely through a hole in the clouds, tumbling head over heels, but my brain, worked clearly. After tumbling a mile I straightened into a beautiful dive with my body at an angle of 45 degrees, but must clouded my goggles. I began to fall at the rate of 144 miles an hour.

“I pulled the ripcord when my stopwatch showed I was falling at the rate of 144 miles an hour. The effect was a terrific shock and hard to describe. I felt as though my body was leaving my head behind in the clouds when suddenly it popped back again. I floated tranquilly and hit the grass at a rate of about 13 miles an hour.”