Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-09

(COntlnue0 from FrSJ PaSeJ
mum of 1875 milimeters and Capt
Gray's Paragraph showed minimum
Of 1872.
Eleventh Record to Come to u. S.
Soucek's fight gives to the United
States its eleventh world record since
January l. His record is more i'm
portant than any of the others in the
public eye however, as it is one Of the
four major world records: Speed, alti-
tude, duration and distance.
Although he has smashed the record
by a comfortable margin, it is possible
that Soucek will make another effort to
better his own record this week. He
believes that new propeller setting Will
enable him to gain even more altitude
than the combination he used Wednes-
day and has been waiting only for clear
weather to make another try.
Soucek's success in establishing a
new major worlds record Is the result
of year of intensive work, followed by
one of the most gallant struggles ever
made in an altitude flight After his
defeat by Neuenhofen year ago. Sou
eek set tc work to improve the little
Wasp-engined Wright Apache plane
used by himself and Lieut. c. C. Cham
pion before him for altitude flying.
Supercharger Was Changed.
He supervised changes in the super
charger system, oil cooling system and
the method of supplying oxygen to the
pilot. With his brother, Lieut.. Zeus
Soucek, formerly of the Philadelphia
Naval Aircraft Factory and himself the
holder of two worlds records for sea-
planes, he devised pair of electrically
heated goggles to overcome the danger
Of frosted goggles which almost spoiled
his first attempts. The wings Of the
was made of propellerS.
Wednesdays flight required only 2
hours and minutes and of this time,
Soucek spent more than 20 minutes at
the maximum altitude the plane could
reach, struggling in the thin and kill
ingly cold air to add few more feet to
his climb. Persistently he drove the
little plane up until the propeller no
longer could get hold on the thin air
and the plane would fall of on the
verge of a spin, only to be skillfully
checked and driven up once more.
Finally. only after he had convinced
himself there was nothing more to be
done, he turned back and returned for
a landing. He learned enough, how
ever, to convince him that a sharper
pitch on the setting of the propeller
blades or the use of a propeller with
larger surface might give him more
altitude.
Racing Against Time.
AS soon as a larger surfaced wooden
propeller could be installed he tried
again, on Thursday afternoon, but re-
turned after flying to only $4,000 feet,
when he had satisfied himself that the
propeller would not do and that the
clouds were too thick to justify any
further climbing. He landed and made
arrangements to increase the setting
of the propeller used for Wednesday,
flight He has been waiting since that
time for good weather.
The drama of his new world record
flight is increased by the fact that
Lieut.. Soucek was married just week
before and also by the fact that he
was racing against time, since he has
been ordered to sea duty aboard the
u. s. S. Lexington, aircraft carrier. as
| a pilot in one of the Nays fighter
squadrons, beginning June 16. His
squadron will be VF-38, known as the
Screaming Eagle" Squadron from its
insignia of a diving eagle, screaming
defiance as It. flies.
| Lieut.. Soucek Is a native of Oklahoma
! and early this year was awarded the
! Spartan Medal by the Chamber OF
| Commerce OF his State as Oklahoma s
| outstanding aviator