Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1919-1980, 1920-02-28
Daring Aoiator Tells of
Reaching Record Height
and Fall Of Fioe Miles

Dayton. O.. Feb. sS.-Major r. W.
Schroeder. chief test pilot at McCook
field who yesterday fell more than
five miles in two minutes after shat
tering the worlds altitude record.
mfraculously escaping death. lies to-
day in tie army post hospital near
here. recovering from partial blind
ness, and determined to make another
ascent into the heavens at the first
opportunity.
Major Schroeder climbed yesterday
to height OF 5000 feet, then plung-
ed downward more than five miles
when he lost control of his machine
after his oxygen supply was exhaust
ed. While still 1900 feet above the
ground the aviator righted the plane.
and sailed down to make graceful
landing on McCook field.
When attendants rushed to the ma
chine they found him sitting erect In
the plane. blinded and unconscious
His eyeballs had been frozen. the
temperature at the height to which
he has assembled being 81 degrees be-
low zero. Fahrenheit.
Tells or Climb.
At the hospital last night Major
Schroeder told of the climb to
heights never before attained, of his
battle against the cold, wind and lack
Of air, and of his determination to
mount 10000 feet above the ground
his objective when he took the air
yesterday.
II was thinking only Of my desire
to climb forty thousand feet when
suddenly my oxygen stopped flowing"
he said. Then, all at once II seemed
than an explosion took place inside
my head. My eyes hurt so that
could not open them and knew /
was falling. l guess pulled hard on
the stick, for | knew / must straight
en- out for a glide. The plane rode
easy | opened my eyes but could
see nothing of the ground. Then l
closed my eyes again for a moment
and when / opened them saw Wilbur
Wright field. | knew couldn't land
there because of the hangers and
tilted my machine for a climb, in
tending to make sure of a good alti-
tude and then jump with my para
chute. But at that instant l saw Nc
Cook field and came down"
Major Schroeder took the air yes-
terday forenoon. He climbed above
the clouds, but the exhaust gas from
his plane freezing In the frigld TOM
perature, caused cloud.like forma-
ton to hang in the sky. AS the plane
was not visible from the earth thous-
ands of Dayton citizens believed 1t
to be the tail Of a comet,
Thousands Saw Fall.
Some witnesses inclined to the be-
lief that a strange body was coming
| with a message from Mars Professor
William Beck, Astronomer at st.
Marys College observed the airplane
through a telescope, however.
Thousands saw the machine ap-
pear, mere black speck against the
larger, leaving a long white tail
sky. They saw II become larger and
/ in Its wake as 1t fell. When the ma
chine was about 1000 feet above the
ground the watchers saw the ma
chine suddenly righted. 1t was at this
time that Major Schroeder pulled the
control stick,
The instruments on Major Schroe-
der's machine tell the story of his
fight against the elements as he
climbed upward. His thermometer
recorded a temperature of 81 degrees
below zero. The barograph reading
indicated ah altitude of $1,000 feet
and when calibrated by Captain Har-
rison w. Flickinger, showed an Off
cial altitude of 5000 feet, q new
worlds record, and a variation of
less than 1000 feet.