Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-02-28
Machine Carrying Major R.
w. Schroeder at Dayton,
PIungeS From Altitude
&. 020 Feet.
.PlL0Tf $50 AND
PAR1Sss:sea, BLINDED
Accident Happens fter Bat
ting for Two Hours With
Changing Air Currents;
Breaks RohIfS' Record.
rsy MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED wlEr,

|
carrying Maj. r. w, Schroeder chief
test pilot at McCook field. today
fell over five miles, after reaching
an altitude of 5000 feet, said to
be 5000 feet higher than the
worlds record.
Tonight the major is in a hospi-
tai suffering from shock and tens
porary partial blindness. Instru-f
ments on the machine indicate that
1t fell more than five miles in two
minutes. While still 2,000 feet
above the ground, the airplane
| righted itself and gliding to q
graceful landing. when the plane
settled, attendants who rushed to-
ward it found Major Schroeder sit
ting erect in the machine apparent
ly lifeless. For u brief time, resi-
dents were sure a meteor had ap-
peared in the sky. They had mis-
| taken the track of vapor escaping
from the machine as it sped down.
ward, for u stranger from the
heavens"
Maj. schroeder lost consciousness
when his machine had reached a
height recorded by instruments as
5000, or 5000 feet higher than
the worlds record established by
Roland Rolfs last summer.
His senses numbed and his eyes
frozen shut in a temperature said
to have been 81 degrees below
zero, Schroeder regained partial
consciousness when 1000 feet
above the earth in time to right his
machine and prevent it from crash
ing to the ground out of control
Major Schroeder was temporarily
blineded and his limbs were numb.
despite the electrically heated suit
in which he was encased. He was
suffering from the effects of "a lack
Of oxygen. When nearly seven
miles above the earth, his oxygen
| tanks became exhausted and 1t was
this which robbed him of con-
seriousness, causing the fall.
The instruments on his machine
recorded the best story of the ex-
perience 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
a temperature of fifty-five degrees
below zero centigrade, or sixty sew
en- degrees below zero fahren-
heit. Altitude figures from the ba-
rograph reading indicated a height
of 81, 900 feet and when calibrated
by capt Harrison w. Flickinger,
showed an official altitude of 49,
| 020 feet, a new worlds record and
a variation of less than 1000 feet.
The mark set by Major Schroe-
which Rohlfs won from him July
which Rahlfs won from him July
i20, 1919, with an official altitude
| OF 10000 feet, and later increased
| in a second flight to 81 900 feet. 4 1t
also breaks the record of Adtutant
Casale, a French pilot, who was
credited with an unofficial record
of 33,137 feet.
Major Schroeder's first altitude
record was made at Dayton Sep
tember IS. 1918, when he flew O
Bristol flying machine to an alti-
tude of 2S.900 feet, vsr
Leaving the field at 10:45 o'clociS'
this morning Major Schroeder bat4
tied for two hours and five minutes
against changing air currents and
in a bitter cold atmosphere until
he reached an altitude of 36,O2O
feet.
Riding alone, almost seven miles
above the earth in a Polar climate
and against wind like Peary en-
oountered-that blows always at
100 miles an hour or more-Major
Schroeder fought foot by foot to
drive his plane higher.
Officers of the field say his ma
chine must have fallen into a tail
spin, as otherwise his plane would
have collapsed when he regained
consciousness and righted 1t after
the descent of more than i've
miles.
The sudden change in air pres
sure from less than three pounds
at $4,000 feet to 14.7 pounds at
sea level, crushed the gasoline
tanks on his plane and caused
them to collapse, besides jolting
Major Schroeder to his senses.
Modern inventions unthought OF
before the war, made not only
Major Schroeder's voyage possible,
lint also enabled him to return
with an accurate scientific record
of the flight. His machine was
equipped with Moss supercharg-
er and was the same as used Au-
gust 2. 1919, when he broke the
worlds speed record for high alti-
tude by flying 1871 miles an hour
at a height OF ts,400 feet.
The Moss supercharger is de-
vice composed of a gas turbine and
centrifugal air compressor. The
turbine derives its power from the
red hot exhaust gasses from tina
liberty motor, The power generat-
ed by the gas turbine is used to
operate the air compressor at about
1900 revolutions per minute, and
the air so compressed is fed to the
carburetor at the same pressure as
at the air level.
Thus the liberty motor delivered
full 400 horse power, even though
at high altitude.
Major Schroeder was dressed
heavier than any polar explorer.
He was wrapped in flexible electric
heaters. His flying suit was lined
with the fur of Chinese uchwang
dogs and between the fur and outer
lining, flexible. electric heat units,
connected by silk covered wires with
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