AMAZING AIR ADVENTURE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 185, 1 May 1920, Page 7

AMAZING AIR ADVENTURE

■ FALL FROM A. RECORD HEIGHT; Major R. ."VVt Schropde/, chief test pilot at Dayton (Ohio), recently ascended "ro tjio, record, height of 36,020 feet (nearly seven miles), then fainted and, ftjll over five miles in a sheer nose dive,.,yet lives to tell tale.

■ Major Schroeder came ivitliiii. seven .seconds',of being dashed to death,, hut his subconscious' ■ sense,, his hroth.eMffice.rs .say, must have saved him'wli.en'2ooo feet ahov'o'the earth, for lie mado.'a perfect' landing. When lifted' from the machine, ,where'he was. sea ted apparently lifeless, the airman's eyeballs and lids were frozen, and his heart thundering in pulsations which, were noticeable through ■his thick, flying clothes. In; the lies, pititl, where-, the doctors expressed the liodc that lie Would regain his sight in a few days,/ Major Schroeder, told tlio following remarkable tale:—. ... "I wa» thiuking of nothing hut attaining; a, lieigh'l of:40,000 feet, which 1' know to .lie possible, when the oxygen suddenly ceased tq fldw." I leaned-forward and turned the cock' wide: open, liut 110 oxygen came. Realising that Something was "wroiig, I msed' my . goggles, , which were : coated with ice within.and,without; just, '.to see'whether I' had fully opened the 'tank containing''my .'emergency' supply. All at once it seemed as though a terrific explosion ' had taken' place - inside my head. My eyes Irur.t terribly. I coiild liot 'opeii-them. I seemed, to be.peeping through'a crack. • There was a tremendous'rush of air, and I seemed to be falling. ."I think I must have pulled'hard on, th«,-stick, because- I- knew , I .mast* straighten;out for the glide and the.machine appeared to -ride easily. Again I opened my eyes and saw the .Wilbur Wright. Field, and the-lhanjmrs.. 1 could not-land .there, aud i was afraid my eyes >voukt fail., I.tilted the' machine for a climb,.-intending to make- sure of a good altitude, then jump for it with n parachute, because I knew this could tie done with eyes closed. At that instant- M'CooUi Field earno in sight.'. I clo not ' rein ember landing; I 'had no .•sense>f l'e'ar.- I knew only of the pain ill my eyes and the, awful explosion in my head." '' ' ■ ■-.>. Major : Sehroeder's .clothes ,were electrically heated. For two hours iie kept the machiue: at the steepest. ..possib'm angle. . .His thermometer showed that n« flew in a temperature of, 55deg. below zero.. Army nfficeivs who Calibrated the barographs aa : y ' that .Major .Schroedur readied a height 2000 feet 'higher than the previous altituue record.