Smyrna times., 1932-12-14
TO FLY OVER TOP
OF MT. EVEREST
British Party Will Film Tall
est Point of Globe Early
Next Year
ORGANIZE EXPEDITION

LOndon.-With the Marques Of
Douglas and Clydesdale. NJ. p, as
chief pilot of the expedition. and
Lady Houston providing the finan-
cial backing, British flying men are
planning to make an assault on Mt.
Everest within the next few
months.
The highest point on the globe,
10000 feet above sea level, the giant
of the Himalayas has defied many
gallant Alpine expeditions, most Of
them retiring while still several
thousands of feet from the sum
nit.
1t would appear that the task be-
fore the flyers is fairly easy. The
world altitude record, established
in September by the British flyer,
Cyril Unwins. is 1876 feet
nearly three miles above the sum
nit of the mountain. Everest, how
| ever, lies remote in the heart 0f
mighty range of peaks, in a region
where a forced landing would mean
destruction and where winds Of
hurricane force prevail.
Face Tremendous Storms.
The head of the mountain is the
4 seat of tremendous storms; and
! vast masses of frozen cloud shroud
the summit for many months Of the
/ year. The men who take off from
flying field in northern Bengal, at
4 the foot of the great range, will
\ know that they are beginning one
Of the most perilous adventures in
\ the history Of aviation.
/ The british air ministry and the
India Office are supporting the eX-
\ peditiOn, and the Maharaja of
i Nepal. within whose territory the
mountain stands, has given permis-
mission for the flight over the sum
nit.
/ 4 period Of intensive training
and flying trials will precede en-
4 barkation for India. Every member
OF the expedition must be physical
\ ly fit to withstand the strain of fly
I ing above the mountains. Airplanes
and engines must be tuned per
i fectly for the task: for mechanical
4 failure will mean disaster.
! Negotiations are being made to
secure the high-fying yickers YES
pa plane with Bristol Pegasus mo
tor which Cyril Unwins used to set
the new altitude record. and anoth-
j er craft Of similar powers.
! It is probable that two machines
will ascend together, one to make
the fight over the summit, the
o.hpr to photograph the attempt,
/ since an obvious difficulty is the
problem of securing adequate evi-
dence that the peak is actually
flown over.
To Wear Heated Clothing.
Both machines viii carry cameras
and it is hoped that the record
thus obtained viii place the success
Of the venture beyond doubt. The
flyers will wear specially heated
clothing and will use oxygen ap-
paratus.
Af tile time of the preliminary
trials. or perhaps preceding them,
Mr. Unwins may attempt to reach
nm altitude greater than the pres
ent record. He Is confident that
his plane is capable of another
1000 feet.
In a speech to his constituents.
! when ne was asking for leave OF
absence from his parliamentary
duties during the period Of the ex-
pedltion, Lord Clydesdale explained
that the chief object which he and
his friends have at heart Is to pro
mote British world prestige-par-
| ticularly in India.
He added that the flight over
Mt. Everest Is the "only one orig
inal flight really worth while;
every other significant part Of the
world having been flown over. He
briefly sketched the danger Of the
attempt; one great peril being that
fifty miles Of the flight takes the
airplanes over impossible" coun-
try. He explained, however, that he
had given that aspect every con
sideration and had "no wish TO sub
ject this constituency again TO the
expense and trouble Of a by-elec-
tlon."