A THRILLING FEAT

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 310, 24 September 1921, Page 5

A THRILLING FEAT

AIRMAN LANDS ON MONT BLANC DESCENT FROM ICY RIDGE 14,000 FEET HIGH The Swiss pilot M. Durafour has performed the thrilling feat of flying from Lausanne to tho summit-ridge of .Mont' Blanc —the highest mountain in Europe —and landing on tho JJome du Gouter, at the height of about 14,000 feet. It is a narrow shoulder, which this summer is principally composed of ice, with terrific descents on either side. Not only did ho land in safety, but he also made a moat hazardous ascent from the ridge though the point from which he iiad to lake off slopes steeply, and for some seconds there was doubt whether his maehino_,would not go hurtling into the abyss below. Starting from Lausanne at 6 o’clock on tho morning of J uiy 30, Durafour landed on the Dome du Gouter, 1200 ft below the summit of Mont Blanc. Describing his experiences, Durafour said on his arrival at Chamonix: "Weather conditions being perfect this morning at four o'clock I decided not' to await u signal from Chamonix, but to start right away. “An hour after leaving Lausanne I had risen 15,000 ft., at which altitude 1 circled twice round the summit of Alont Blanc, looking for a landing-place. The motor was running superbly, but the danger of air-pockets was great. 1 steered my Caudron toward a snowfield, and decided to land or perish in the attempt. Tho 'plane was caught by an eddy and Hung toward a deep crevasse. With great difficulty I was able to regain coutrol just in time. A few seconds later I alighted- on the snowfield as gently as if it were an aerodrome. My 'plane was fitted only with ordinary wheels. “Scarcely had I alighted when tho secretary of the French Alpine Club arrived, took photographs, and gave mo a certificate of my exploit. A number of friends, including several photographers, who had climbed the mountain in anticipation of my attempt, also had come to greet me. “The prospect of taking off again terrified me. With my engine at full speed I tore down the steep ice slope, expecting every moment to be engulfed in one of 'the crevasses that covered the slope. Then, with a lurch, the machine fell, rather than flew, into an abyss, against the icy sides of which I expected e veryminute to crash. But, with., an effort, the Caudron righted herself, plunged into space, and was safe. Soon afterwards 1 landed at Chamonix, and my dream of conquering Mont Blanc was realised. But not for a million francs,” added Durafour, "would I attempt such a flight again.” Several previous attempts have been made to land on or near mountain summits' in the Alps, without success. In 1919 Lieutenant Ackerman tried to descend on the Jungfraujoch. tho ridge below the summit of the Jungfrau, but failed. \ A few- days later another Swiss airman, Lieutenant Pillichody, tried to land at the same point. His machine .was calight by a sudden, gust and crashed in the snow with .serious damage. The airman escaped with nothing worse than a' few bruises. Two of the most extraordinary feats in airmanship were performed in 1919. In January the famous airman Vedrines, who came' in second for tho second 4110,000 “Daily Mail" air prize, awarded in July, 1911, for a flight of 1010 mues in Great Britain, won a prize of ,£lOOO offered to the first airman who landed on a roof. He came down in safety on the roof of a large shop near the Opera House in Paris, smashing his machine and being injured himself. A feat as daring and difficult was accomplished in August, 1919, by Godefroy, a French airman, who flew with a baby Nieuport through the Arc do Triomphe in Paris.