HEIGHT WITHOUT OXYGEN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20532, 25 September 1936, Page 9

HEIGHT WITHOUT OXYGEN

BRITISH PILOT’S ABILITY UNUSUAL PHYSICAL STANDARD LONDON, August 26. A Royal Air Force officer who can breathe without the aid of oxygen in an aeroplane 27.000 feet up may capture the altitude record for Britain. He is Mr A. E. Clouston, whose name, with that of Mr Cyril Unwins, holder of the British record, appears in a short list now before the Air Ministry. Mr Clouston is one of the mast brilliant pilots in Britain—many say in Europe. He is reputed to be one of the strongest men in the Air Force. His high physical standard, combined with his ability as a pilot, made him a likely entrant from the start. But added to these qualifications is the fact that he has an unusual aptitude for withstanding the severe conditions found at great heights. Air Force colleagues call him a human freak. He claimed that he could fly at 27,000 feet without oxygen or other artificial breathing aids. This claim was regarded as impossible. Most men need oxygen at 22.000 feet. Mr Clouston was put in a compression chamber to test his claim. This chamber is hermetically sealed. Air can be pumped out of it until conditions exactly identical to those found at great heights are reproduced. Up and up went the dial. First 20,000 feet, 25.000—26,000 feet were passed. Observers saw Mr Clouston still behaving normally. At 27.000 feet the pilot began to need oxygen. But his claim was proved.