Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-15
NAVY WILL SEEK
ALTITUDE RECORD
Early Attempt to Beat ltaly's
Unofficial Mark Expect
ed Here.

Early action toward establishing q
world altitude record which. IL is
hoped. will be too high to be en-
dangered by foreign competition for 6
LONG period to come, is expected from
naval aviation within very few
weeks, according TO information OBJ
tanned at the Navy Department.
The United States now is credited
with the world mark as a result of the
fight last July IS Of Lieut.. c. C
Champion, who reached AL officially
elaborated altitude of SS.4lS feet
However. unoficially. the record is
held by Italy, now retainerS of two OF
the most coveted honors in fiving-ths
record for maximum speed Of an air
plane and the record for airline dis
lance.
One Of Premier Mussolini's sirnen
surpassed the 3S,als figure. but not by
the required 100 meters or 800 feet to
be recognized as a new world mark.
But this feet has disturbed American
sirnlen, as It proves that italy has the
ecuipment almost equal to If not Su-
perior TO the little Wright "Apache"
single-seater biplane now repoSing III
the northeast corner OF seaplane han
gar. No /, at the Naval Air Station at
Anacostis
Theories on Equipment Differ.
Several theories are in existence as
to the best equipment to be used for a
flight many miles above the earth. The
Navy bears down on the type of equip
ment it has - a small, comparatively
light plane. with a 400-horsepower air
cooled radial englne-as the best. The
Army theory has been for a larger
plane. with more wing surface and a
4o0-horSepower water-cooled engine,
which. together with the construction
in the plane. makes it much heavier.
Both type engines are superchargeo to
give sea level pressure and breathing"
Of the engine IN the rarefied atmosphere.
The Navy feels that Lieut.. Cham
pion's fight of last July for the world
record by no means represents the
maximum ceiling" Of the little plane.
His trip into the upper zones was
startlingly interrupted when the engine
caught fire, necessitating rapid de-
scent.
The Army at Wright Field. which has
been making high-altitude experiments
with pursuit planes. but not for record
purposes, has Just about abandoned the
use of the old McCook Field special
altitude biplane used by former Lieut..
John A Macready In ms attempts 70
beat the since proven fraudulent figure
of Jean Calico of France. Lieut., VIII
liam H. Bleakley made one valiant at
tempt to better the existing mark in
this plane. but fell short of the Cham
pion figure.
Germans Hold Records.
The record held by the United States
at any time may be snatched away by
the aggressive Italian and German air.
men, who between them hold four OF
the five most coveted marks II aero
xautics. In the meantime, infornla-
ton received here from France and Eng
land indicates that the atrmen OF those
nations are by no means dormant.
The Army and Navy, which at one
time waged a successful campaign Tor
the world aviation laurels and got them.
are prone to turn this task over to the
civilian, If for no other purpose than
demonstrating that large sums OF Gov
eminent money are not the keys to
new records. The civilians In this
country have given forceful demonstra-
tons Of their ability to establish records.
at least for duration, 6istanee-air-ar1e
and distance closed-course.