Morris tribune., 1911-08-18

have seen men crawl down from
] their aeroplanes after long flight and
have seen their friends rush up to
them to shake hands in congratula.
ton for noteworthy feat. And l have
seen the hand dropped at once, for it
could not respond to the grasp that
was given it. There was no life in
1t. 1t hung limp, inert, powerless and
! feelingless from the fatigue Of grip
| ping a lever with little or no change
| Of position for SO long a time.
Yet endurance flights such as those
| made for the Michelin trophy and
prize are flown over good courses,
clearly marked by pylons or posts, and
| almost invariably over good grounds
| that provide safe landing places at
| any time. In this way there is as lit
| tie as possible Of nervous and mental
strain. Otherwise such flights as that
Of Henri Farman, who stayed up over
eight hours, would be impossible.
When these long fights are made
| across country the nerve and mind ell
ter into the equation against the man.
He faces uneven and probably broken
land untitled for quick decent if any
thing goes wrong, and he frequently
flies across country that is unfamiliar
| to him, and that keeps him in mental
uncertainty that adds great deal to
the physical fatigue he has to suffer.
The Greatest Strain of All.
Those Of us who are foolish enough
to climb for height have all Of these
torments infinitely multiplied, and,
added to them, we face conditions that
are not met with in the ordinary
work closer to the ground.
To most people the strain of altitude
climbing appears to be only matter
of enduring the rarefed air met with
a couple of miles above the earth, but
the big torture comes with the sudden
descent-with the rapid change of
pressures as we drop a thousand feet
minute or more-and this is indeed
torture long to be remembered.
In the early days Of my altitude
ord at Lanark. Scotland, kept fight
ing for each extra inch as long as
there was any strength or endurance
left in me. l struggled at the top un-
til it was useless to struggle any long
er, and then, with all my strength
fall back to earth with my aeroplane
pointed as sharply toward the earth as
safety would allow.
When the Head Feels Like Bursting.
l came down like a thunderbolt AS
the descent began the pressure began
to change rapidly with my entering
into heavier and heavier strata of air,
and 1 began to feel pains in my head
and ears These pains got worse with
every second of the descent, and when
was within hailing distance Of the
earth I felt as though something in
side my head would surely burst with
the awful tightening about my ears
and temples. l can appreciate now
the tortures suffered by medieval mar
tyrs who had bands of iron gradually
tightened about their heads. The rec
objection of that descent at Lanark
makes me sympathize with them pro-
foundly.
At Philadelphia last November rose
more than 5000 feet higher than at
Lanark and l fell faster on my de-
scent to earth, but while my sufferings
were intense they were not so great as
in Scotland, for l had been told of
- +bo csi
pressure and used it with great sue
cess. I had shortly before this been
talking to Clifford B. Harmon about
some of his ballooning experiences and
had asked him if he had ever suffered
during rapid descents as did at Lam
ark
81 did quite frequently in my early
days." said Harmon, "but Captain
Baldwin told me a way to avoid it."
*'What is that?' I asked.
"SWallow-swallow constantly" said
Harmon.
So on this plunge from the clouds
above Philadelphia, when my nerves
were racked to pieces and my physi-
cal faculties were utterly worn out, l
suddenly thought of this scheme when
the pressure became painful on my
ears, and the relief was immense.
Effect of an Hour In the Air.
An altitude fight of this kind does
not last long according to the time Of
the watch. 1t seems ages, but my
barograph record for my highest climb.
9.S97 feet, showed that it took me just
about fifty minutes to reach the maxi
mum altitude. It could not have taken
more than four or five minutes to de-
scend, but my plunge was so rapid
that the ink could not flow fast enough
from the stylo Of the instrument to re-
cord. so l cannot tell exactly.
Assuming that the total flight from
the time of starting to the time OF
landing occupied one hour the physical
Strain of Suoh work can ha ina pinp cd