Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1910-11-12
Both He and tombstone Breat
Altitude Record.
FEAR IN AIR MEANS DEATH
When the American Millionaire Aviatc,
Went Up Over Seven Thousand Feet
In Monoplane at Belmont Park
Describes His Sensations - Awfully
Cold AIoft, but Great Sport.

The day the American altitude rec.
ord was broken there were eighteen
aeroplanes in the air at Belmont park,
New York, sixteen OF them contrasting
for prizes and ten of them at one time
circling the mile and a half course
There were solid. plodding Wright bi.
planes, wasplike Bleriots, a gracefui
.Antoinette, dainty Demoiselle, a
bulky Farman and speedy Curtiss
fiers. The star fiier of the day was
]. Armstrong Drexel, millionaire avi
ator, who flies for sport and who broke
the American record for height, later
broken again by another American.
Ralph tombstone Drexel reached an
altitude of 7,105 feet Swimming up-
ward until he almost seemed about to
break through the dome of blue. but
returning finally to earth.
The altitude of Drexel surpasses his
own record made several weeks ago
in England, and also the record made
by Walter Brookins, who flew CITE
feet in Atlantic City last summer. He
lacked more than 1000 feet of break
ing the worlds record of 9.1S6 feet
made by Henry Wynmalen, but he
flew upward SO easily and gracefully
the feat looked simple Rising from
the aerodrome, he circled upward his
machine growing smaller and smaller
until he looked like spider crawling
along on the underside of the tenuous
white clouds that f1ecked the sky, and
then he became smaller still. until il
was hard for the eye to follow him.
Still higher he went, and to the
naked eye he seemed fixed in one
place, destined never to descend. If
the eyes fell from him for a moment
1t took minutes to find him again. 1t
took him more than twenty-five min
utes to wind his way upward, but
once he pointed the nose of his ma
chine earthward he grew slowly larger,
and as he neared the earth the pound
ing Of his engine became family audi
Bile, and it was evident lack of fuel
did not force him to fit back to the
aerodrome
ut was cold as the devil up there"
he remarked as he crawled slowly out
of the machine. He rubbed his face
and twirled out his little mustache
with stiff fingers. But" he continued
as he took several steps to warm up,
II will go higher yet 1t was awfully
cold. and the wind was stiff. but 1t
was easy. | had no difficulty what
ever. My engine worked superbly. but
as it tended to heel over to the left I
had to be on my guard constantly.
Except for this fact, which compelled
me to be on the alert, ii was great
sport, but the next time l go up am
going to be dressed more warmly.
However, had good experience. and
i hope l may go higher STILL"
Drexel by his altitude record and by
his various other feats in his Bleriot
has been rising rapidly to the fore
most of the worlds aviators. In his
flying he shows excellent skill, cool
ness and resource that equal those OF
such men as Leon Morane, Hubert
Latham and Alfred Leblanc. He Is
without fear, for. as he said:
IF you think of fear you are dead
man."
Drexel is the American millionaire
Of the famous Philadelphia family,
who lives In England. where he con-
ducts an aviation school at Beaulieu.
Shortly before he set off on his record
breaking whirl to the aerial heights
he had visited his sister-in-law, Mrs.
Marjory Gould Drexel, at the grand
stand. Without any ostentation ne
ordered his trim little monoplane
brought out on the turf So far as the
crowd knew the aviator. who stood
twirling the ends of his mustache,
simply was off to make an ordinary