Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-07-25
Official Announcement of
Success Awaits Celebration
of Barograph He Risked
His Life to Save.
FOUR SEPARATE FIRES
OVERCOME IN DESCENT
Piston Reds Completely Torn Out
of Engine as Craft Plunges
Toward Earth-Aviator Lands
Safely in Corn Patch as His
Fellow Flyers Marvel.
BY FREDERICK r. NEELY.

S@e @aA"A
BY FREDERICK r. NEELY.
Reaching an indicated altitude OF
$4,000 feet above Washington today
nearly 1000 feet higher than the
worlds record, which France has
held for two years-Lieut. Carlton
c. Champion, jr., of the Navy, a
student at the Post Graduate School
at Annapolis, today battled for his
life as he descended to earth with
his engine afire and partly disin-
tegrated.
The pilot carried two paragraphs
on his flight, one OF which was de-
stroyed. and the otfer..it it is believed,
either damaged or slightly affected
by the vibration and fire which
licked the little inclosure iii which
it was kept.
Has Faith i'm Mark.
After a hurried examination of the
remaining 5arograph at the Bureau
altitude of between $4,000 and $4,000
feet was indicated, considerably short
of the world record of 40,S2O feet.
This. however, is entirely unofficial,
as it will require about SO hours to
calibrate the instrument Should cal
ibration either because OF damage 10
the barograph or otherwise, faii 10
substantiate Lieut.. Champions claim,
he will not get official credit Tor
new altitude.
Lieut.. Champion has unquestionable
faith in the accuracy Of the altimeter
which he carried in his cockpit and
which pointed to AT on his climb
this morning. In past altitude flight
tests the calibrated Paragraph has
agreed almost exactly, with the read
ings he took of the instrument. me
altimeter is of British make and has
been subjected to severe tests for ac-
curacy and finally was adopted after
IT had proven more satisfactory than
other makes of this instrument.
Lands i'm Corn Patch.
With several pistons completely
torn out of the nine cylinder air-cooled
engine, due probably to the lack of
lubricating oil, Lieut.. Champion slid
down from his high perch, where the
temperature was about 80 degrees be-
low zero, and made forced landing
in a corn patch on the edge of Boil
ing Field, whence the flight started
at 6:471a o'clock this morning. On
the downward flight he battied with
four separate fires in his engine.
On the descent, Lieut.. Champion S
engine caught fire on four different
occasions. At one time the pilot was
1,nIf ~ of on1laif r.
ing to jump when he thought of the
Paragraphs. To jump would have
meant the destruction of the baro-
. graphs in the crash as well as the
loss of the plane, so with flames
shooting out of the engine in front.
he battled all the way down with
dead stick" and made beautiful
landing in the corn patch.
Fellow Flyers Marvel.
Fellow naval aviators marvelled at
the miraculous escape of Champion.
but they were quick to explain that
if he had not put up such a battle
against the tremendous odds he
would not have won.
Lieut.. Champion took off early
this morning with all confidence that
the record would return to America
Soon he was out of sight and the
drone of the supercharger on his
little Wright Apache" plane was
heard for many minutes after. Time
wore on while handful Of personal
friends on the Iield awaited his re
turn. He would have TO be back
on the ground after the expiration
OF an hour as the fuel supply would
not accommodate a longer flight.
Suddenly a tremendous drone was
heard and in the sky his plane was
seen diving down with a long stream
of white smoke emitting from the
tail. 1t looked like skywriter plane
and then it disappeared. Those on
the ground did not know that it was
the fourth fire he was battling away
up there in the deep blue. After a
few minutes delay his plane was
again sighted dropping toward The
field through the haze, and as though
It were smooth as a table he put il
down in the cornpatch.
Plane Slightly Damaged.
Should the record be substantiatet
bv the Bureau OF Standards Lieut.
Champion would hold the most covet
ed air mark in aeronautics. He al
ready holds the seaplane altitude rec
ord. made in the same type OF shlI
he flew today. at mark OF 37,393
The French record has withstoo'
many attempts IN TINS country Hldu
by Lieut.. John A. Macready Of th
Army Air Corps.
The plane was not damaged in it!
forced landing. other than the en-
gine. which had seven cylinder heads
missing and several pistons gone
Hoover Field. a nearby commercial
fIying field; reported the falling o
these parts of the engine on th'
ground.
The power plant, a 400.horsepowe
Pratt & Whitney air-cooled engine, i
the pride Of the Navy and has glVel
brilliant service in the little more thai
q year it has been in use. This en-
gine was especially developed by tn
manufacturers in connection with tn
Navy Department and has pro"ei
itself admirably suited to the needs o
The service.
1t 10 particularly suited for high al
@tude work In pursuit planes and fas
observation ships. 1t is more power
tll than the well known Liberty ant
- Installed weight is about one-hal
, OF that The fact that 1t reached wha
ts believed 10 be the highest poin
ever Touched ny man in nPffpct run