Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1920-03-04
ARMY h|RPlANE
FALLS FIVE MILES
Rights Itself 1000 TT. Above
Earth--Maj. Schroeder, Pilot.
Still; Lives-Ascended 36.O20
Tt.--A New Worlds Record

Dayton Ohio. Feb 27.--An a!r2lanr
= Frying Major +. w. Schroeder. ehicf
.cst pilot at McCook FIELD. to-day tell
over tive miles after reaching an al
tit1Ge Of 5000 feet said I" be 6'oAo
lect higher .han the worlds record.
Tonight The major is IN r hospital
suffering f-orn shock and temporary
..,:iaI tp1daess. Instruments on the
nachin? indicate that Il fell more
.hnn five miios IN two minutes. While
still 2IaO "c.t s.nove the ground tho
,irpiaDc rigIt.d itself and Ci'ded to
era ccful landing when the plane Get
.,O1. attendants who rush"s toward II
'oucd Major Schrocd 81 erect il tt"
aS..',ine. Apparently ,.f-iess Tor y
D, icf tine. residents OF Daytoy. wers
SIRE u comot nad appeared IL the oky.
rlny hf-2 mistaken tho trail! IF <a2of
e. clpirr from Tho machine rs It spe!
| lownw...A ~ stranger III the
a..nvcrs"
Thousands ~ p,rsors gazod skyward
w chins thu risnH. which assembled
two hours before, plunge, downward
Major Schroeder lost consciousness
wher ais machine reached n height
recorded by Instruments AZ 5000, or
&c feet higher than ~" Worlds
record established ny Roland Rolphe
iest summer.
lis senses numbcd and his eyes frozeT.
yTut in a Temperatures said TO have bcor
z; Iegre"s below zero, Schroeder regaired
yntt!al consciousness when 2.oC feel aHove
The earth in time to right his machine aid
r., . re.'t Il from crashing to tbs ground.
oui IF coatroi
The thousands of spectators were UNI
aware NJ the time that they were witness
ing ii drama of the sky
They saw Il speck of black silhouctted
against the blue. to which was attached
tail of Ereysh color. Gradually the
object was enlarged as it hurtled TO the
earth. When but n few thousand feet
above them, those watching saw that II
was an arplane. turning in tail spin.
II was at this point that Major Schroeder
regained control Of his plane and headed
it toward McCook field.
He made safe landing and collapsed.
He was blinded and his limbs were
numb, despite his electrically heated suit
He was suffering from the effects of
Ia elk of oxygen. When nearly seven miles
above the earth his oxygen tanks became
exhausted and il was this which robbed
him of consciousness and caused him to
fall
Mechanics and officers at McCook field
lifted the officer from his plane and gave
him first aid treatmen later removing
him to the post hospital, where it was
said his blindness will be only temporary.
The instruments on the machine rec
orded the best story of the experiences
of the aviator in his flight to beat the
record of Roland Rohlfs and bring first
honors to the air forces of the United
States army. The thermometer registered
temperature of So degrees below zero
hall nrf.
fahrenheit. Altitude figures from the
Paragraph reading indicated a height Of
s. 900 feet and when elaborated by Captain
Harrison w. Flickinger, showed an Off
cal altitude of 5000 feet. new world
record and a variation of less than 1000
feet.
The mark set by Major Schroeder again
gives him the record which Roland Rohlfs
won from him July 80 1919, with an off,
cial altitude of 30. 300 feet and later in
creased In a second fight to 81 900 feet. 1t
also breaks the record of Adjutant Casale.
French pilot. who was credited with an
unofficial record of 33.l37 feet.
Leaving the field this morning, Major
Schroeder pattlcd for two hours and FIVE
minutes against changing air currents
and In bitter cold atmosphere until
he reached an altitude of 5000 feet.
the earth in a polar climate and against
wind which blows at 100 miles an hour
or more, Major Schroeder fought foot by
foot to drive his plane higher.
Officers of the field say his machine
must have fallen into tail spin. as
otherwise his plane would have collapsed
when he regained consciousness and
righted it, after the descent of more than
FIVE miles.
| The sudden change in air pressure from
less than three pounds at 5000 feet to
M pounds at sea level crushed the gaso-
line tanks and caused them to collapse,
besides iolting Major Schroeder to his
senses
The machine was equipped with a Moss
super charger device composed of a
gas turbine and centrifugal air compress
cor. The turbine derives its power from,
the red hot exhaust gases from the Lib
erty motor. The power generated by the
gas turbine is used to operate the centri-
fucal air compressor at about %, ono rcvo-
lutions per minute and the air so com
pressed is fed to the carbureter at the
same pressure as the air at sea level
Thus the Liberty motor delivered full
IN horsepower. even though at high alti-
tude
Major Schroeder was dressed heavier
than any polar explorer who ever set
forth He literally wrapped II. flexible
electric heaters. His flying suit was lined
| with the fur of Chinese nuchwang dogs
and between the fur and outer lining fex-
ihle electric heat Ints, connected by silk
|, covered wires with the dynamo of the
engine, heated the entire suit.
!n p Ike manner his headgear gloves
and nnccassinS were heated.
nGly Of l,tc