The Washington herald., 1910-11-27
HOW FLYING FEELS
10000 FEET In AIR
Drexel POrtrays Sensation in
Mountaineering Trip.
WAS ALMOST UNCONSCIOUS
Descent Worse Than Ascent, as
system Could Not Accommodate
Itself 20 Rapid Changes-Giddy
from Reduced Air Pressure as
Higher Strata Are Reached.

Philadelphia. Nov. 26-How does it feel
to swim at comet speed through extra
thin air, 10000 feet above tie nearest
hitting place-if suddenly you should FAM
What are the thoughts and sensations
OF one who has thus hung circling be-
tween solid ground and the infinite
stretches OF space?
Only one man in the world knows. and
that man answered these questions Ia
about the same way the average person
would tell OF having met John Jones on
the way home.
For ]. Armstrong Drexel, the young
and daring Philadelphia aviator. who
once again holds the altitude pennant. is
not a sensationalist.
You don't think, except about your
work" he said TO a reporter. THAT is,
you don't think much about other things.
I admit that every little while / wonder
what the wires may be planning to do
and how the engine is liking the game!
''As to sensations, why, what can one
say! There are no bases for comparison.
Now. l can't look down from the roof OF
a Zl-story building without holding to
something or somebody. yet I've never
been the least dizzy in the machine. An
English scientist told me this was due
10 the fact that there was no longer any
contact with solids; that the total lack
OF material surroundings made the diff
ference
You see, when got Well started We'd
nesday. l was making probably fifty
miles an hour, as / swung around in ten
mile circles. That rate OF speed stirs up
some breeze. Add to this the rush of
air from the propeller. which in the
Bleriot is directly In front of the aviator.
and you get total blow in your face
that about equals the effect OF travelling
a hundred miles an hour. I've Travelled
10 miles an hour. and it's little worse
then.
Wanted to Laugh.
when 1 was up about 1900 or $500
feet l began 10 feel queer. 1t was just a
touch OF nausea. guess. due. perhaps. TO
the swift changes in air pressure. for
was ascending rapidly For a moment my
head was all sort Of light. and I had a
passing sensation as If everything were
extremely funny. I wanted to laugh.
THE Paragraph showed me still had
a long way to 30 to get the record had
determined 10 bring down. That brought
ne 10 my senses. 1 rather think l had
passed through a momentary period OF
Inconsistencies.
after 5000 feet the air was so thin
that the propeller didn't have nearly the
same pushing power as lower down.
saw that the only way to reach my goal
would be 10 bounce.
You see. it's this way: I pointed the
machine down ana let out the engine fun
force. stIn going down until top speed
was reached-maybe as much as seventy
miles an hour. Then quickly Tilted her
up. and the terrific momentum carried
her hundreds of feet higher
1T was that bounce which put the bar
Ograph out OF business. The ink spilled
and while there's a visible pen scratch
on the 1000 line, they won't let me have
more than the $3.50 recorded in ink. Oh
no; I'm not complaining, but l really
think I went up 1890 feet.
It's easy enough to go up-that's mere
play-but coming down Is different.
can't tell you why, but there's something
about the descent that tests my nerve
You see. the engine was Just barely going.
II was a slide, about seven miles long.
should say. and at about this angle"
He had his forehnger at what l should
call 30 degrees.
THE swift-ehanging winds are always
a menace whether one Is going up or
coming down, and you never know when
a sudden gust will tilt your machine to
an angle beyond Fighting II that hap
pens-goOd-by!
Unconscious Second or Two.
THE fan was so swift that my system
couldn't accommodate itself to the rapid
changes. and I again felt sick don't
know any way to describe the sensation
OF dropping out OF space into space-you
have to 10 II TO know how 1t makes you
feel But once or twice on the down
slide I think I must have slipped the
moose of consciousness for a second or
two
Going through the clouds was like
going through heavy fog Il made the
wind wet. but didn't have time to take
notice OF whether or not il was at all
beautiful. It was Just about as much as
! could do 10 keep the machine balanced.
Yes: there's a sense OF the risk and
tho danger But, oh. it's fascinatingi
Why, it makes automobiling. even at ex-
press speed, look ridiculous"
VI course you expect 70 ran some
day?" I said.
mot exactly that: but | have sense
enough 10 know that every time I get
back safely my future chances are re-
duced just that much. It's all luck"
Then why do you do it?'
why. it's my business. l took Il up
for sport but I've made II my business
My speciality is climbing, just as Ora
hame- Whites is endurance and Moi
SAINTS speed. It would bore me to death
To circle for an hour few hundred feet
above the ground. Yet / can't say I'm
particularly happy or comfortable when
climbing. / just want 10 do It."
Asked what he will do if any one
eclipses his record, Mr. Drexel replied:
Why, so up to beat him. of course"