CONQUEST OF THE AIR.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume XXIV, 8 April 1927, Page 7

CONQUEST OF THE AIR.

(Per Press Association—Copyright. • PARIS, April 7.

Sensations while flying, art: tie 1 greatest height ever reached, are described by Lieutenant De Moiigecut, who established the world’s record, reaching an ffititu-de of 31,164 feet.

Lieutenant De Mougecut says Ute climbing was more difficult after 15,000 feet had been reached. After that it took half an hour to reach 27,000 feet. Beyond that he citatbed only 1500 ft. in half an hour. Vv'liei at the peak of the flight, he had to gasp painfully for every breath. As he was not wearing goggles his: eyes were half blinded by frozen, tears. Slight movements of the oxygen mask caused. blisters on the cheeks and chin, while even the gas from the exhaust pipe was frozen as it exuded, leaving a trail of snowy substance behind. He was completely deaf on landing. His hands and, feet were extremely painful, though protected by special gloves and shoes. NEW YORK, April! 6. Messages from Rooseveldt Dam, Ar, zona, state that Marquise, De Pinedo "s flight ended to-day, when his seaplane, Santa Maria, caught fire as she was. refuelling there, preparatory to hoppiitg off for San Diego. De Pinedo and his crew are safe but the machine is a total loss. Immediate efforts will be made to raise the engine which is resting at the bottom of Roosevelt Lake, at a depth of sixty feet . NEW YORK, April 6. De Pinedo’s flight was halted at Roosevelt Lake, Arizona, when a fire destroyed his giant twin motored monoplane. De Pinedo was talk ng to newspaper men on the shore when a sudden blast was heard on the lake, at the landing buoy, and the big ship was instantly a mass of flames. Mechanics adjusting the motor in preparation for the next leg of the flight leaped overboard and swam to safety, while th© plane burned furiously. Nobody was injured.

De Pinedo had come ashore only a short time previous to the disaster. He had stayed with the craft in the middle of the lake while the mechanics tuned up the engines and began refuelling with three hundred gallons of petrol.

The blast occurred just as the airman was outlining his plans for proceeding to San Diego immediately on a non-stop flight of four hundred miles.

It is presumed that some gasolene being poured into the fuel tanks dripped on to part of the heated engine causing the explosion. WASHINGTON, April 6.

The assistant secretary to the War Division offered Marquis De Pinedo trfe full use of a United States army plane, equipment and personnel, to replace the burned plane, and so enable him to continue his flight till the Italian replacement plane can be shipped. The War Department also cabled its regrets at the accident to Signor Mussolini. Marquis De Pinedo thanked the War Department, but will wait the arrival of a new plane from Italy, before resuming the flight.