Evening star., 1931-04-10
ELIN0R SMITH GIVES
VIVID DESCRIPTION
OF ALTITUDE FLIGHT
fcontinued Prom Pirst Page.)

Continued From FIRST PageO
steady rise as I kept climbing. It Is
impossible for me TO state now which
of the altimeters was correct could
not accurately gauge the drop In tenn
stay below freezing. There was ice
fringing the tubes and mouthpiece, and
at one time, when put my bare hand
against the glass gas gauge, almost
peeled the skin on my hand.
As I stayed at 5000 for easily 20
minutes, it is really hard for me to ac-
curately say how high I went.
At no time was troubled with the
oxygen tube. Due to our dtfnculty last
year with the gauge freezing, we had
placed the gauge over the heater In the
cabin, 50 that it functioned perfectly
at all times. turned It on after $4,000
to give q much stronger now than was
necessary, Just In the event Of trouble
similar to that which experienced on
my last attempt
The oxygen was so cold and dry that
1t took most Of the skin on the top OF
my mouth. Due to the fact that my
gas gauges were covered and at that
altitude the effort to unhook the but
ton covering them was so great, soon
experienced slight pains IN the arms
and chest, but as long as ! sat still and
breathed deeply Of my oxygen noticed
that could combat this.
I have nothing but praise Tor the
ship and motor; they both acted splen-
did1y.
Motor Trouble MIsstated.
It was unfortunate at the time Of my
previous attempt two weeks ago that
people gained the mistaken idea that
there was serious trouble with the mo-
tor due to faulty construction. This ts
not so, as these motors for h1gh alt-
tude work are so supercharged as TO be
entirely experimental. They are not
standard Jobs. Hence I consider the
performance on the last attempt to be
perfect from the performance stand
point.
The ship used was Q stock Bellanca
Skyrocket, with the seats taken out
and the cushions removed. And, by the
way, she was christened Geraldine. The
motor spoken Of was q Pratt q Whitney
Wasp supercharged to develop $50
horsepower. Really, If may be par
doned for saying So Geraldine Is some
Airplane.
At the top Of the climb I believe I
could have gone higher. But 1t was get
ting late and my gas WAS going low,
and had stayed at that altitude so
long that my heat had dropped back TO
such an extent that knew 1t would be
impossible to gain any more during this
trial
However. I'm positive the ship was
capable Of more. The one altimeter that
was working was now registering 32,500
feet. and this Is the only thing by which
can judge the accuracy Of the test.
Descent Slowly Made.
The descent was made slowly in order
70 nurse the motor along and TO help
the pressure on my ears. II took me
about IS minutes TO come down again
in wide circles. and landed just as the
sun was going down.
This, by the way, marks my thou
sandth solo hour in the air. and II the
record Is made official I viii naturally
be doubly happy on this account.
At this time would like TO take an
opportunity to thank the thousands Of
people who wired their best wishes 70
me at the unhappy conclusion Of my
last attempt. The general spirit that
pervaded could not have been finer, and
did more than almost anything else to
buck me up mentally on this flight.
Till see you agair-happy landings.
(Copyright. 1891, BY the. North American
Newspaper Aniance)