Evening star., 1937-06-08
BY CAPT. c. r. DISHER.

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Everything that planning and prepa-
ration can do to insure the success of
the an-American-Grace Flying OBJ
servstory Mission to study todays
eclipse has been done No matter how
the conditions OF surface visibility turn
out this evening, no matter what
measure Of success the ground expedi-
tions waiting below us may have In
observing and recording the various
phenomena which make . solar eclipse
Of such intense value to science, the
observations 1t win be our share to
make from point near the base of he
stratosphere seem assured.
For more than . week our mechan-
ical specialists have been going over
every last detail OF the Santa Silvia
the big twin-engined Douglas airliner
that has been detached from Pam
American Grace service for the expe-
dition. Its powerful sO0-hp. engines
have been tuned to super perfection
against their task of climbing to the
ships service ceiling.
Oxygen Equipment Supplemented.
The oxygen equipment carried for
our regular operations across the high
mountain passes Of the Andes has been
supplemented to permit n to cruise for
more than An hour far above the
l5,00O-foot level, where oxygen be-
comes necessary for every one aboa rd.
The door and several windows have
been removed from the ca bin to per-
nit the free operation Of motion pie
ture and still cameras and the delicate
machines used for the measurement of
cosmic ray intensity
Several short test flights showed us
their removal has had no serious effect
on the flying qualities Of our ship.
Yesterday, to make proof positive that
every last detail was in order, We made
= full dress rehearsal of the ascent We
will make just prior to the eclipse to-
morrow evening Five OF US took
part In the rehearsaHE ". Gray,
who will serve a. co-pilot and radio
operator; Harold Harris. vice president
Of Pan-American-G Grace Airvays, in
charge Of operations: william Cockrell,
chief OF maintenance, and Maj. Albert
w. Stevens, who has been assigned to
our Observatory" by the American
Museum OF Natural History.
We made our take-on at midafter-
noon from the big and magnif,cently
equipped Limatambo Airport outside
Lima. As is frequently the case this
time Of year, low clouds obscured most
=. the sky from view at this near
SIs-level airport. But . few minutes
Ater we were climbing rapidly be-
Meath 4 brilliantly clear blue dome
A hundred miles to the westward
stretched the Pacific, clearly visible
beyond the band Of coastal clouds. To
the east Of us the long backbone Of
the Andes thrust upward like q wall
As We headed northward in re-
heArsal OF today's plan we could see
Mount Huascarans great 3now-capped
summit far inland from the coast,
yet 70 high-22,1so feet-as to be
clearly visible. An hour after our
take-on our altimeter showed US at
An altitude OF $4,000 feet. Our radio
direction finder fixed our position As
dead over Chimbote. the Peruvian
coastal town which will be directly in
the middle Of the eclipse's totality and
which will be our station for tomorrow.
Temperature 1s Below.
Outside the ship, the temperature
had fallen to Is degrees below zero
oentigrade. In the control room, the
planes heater kept Gray and myself
in snug comfort. Back in the doorleas
cabin, our three observers were thank
ful for the heavy flying suits. boots and
gloves they had donned before the
take-o1.
At $4,000 feet. our Douglas was
still climbing steadily, Its motors
sang in the clear cold as though
they were on some test stand. Every
one on board had been steadily using
oxygen for half an hour in complete
comfort. For An hour we coursed
back and forth over the invisible
line along which We expect to study
the eclipse tomorrow. Then, our pre-
liminary plans all carefully checked,
We throttled back and turned toward
home, landing 1T dusk We had been
gone just over two hours. The re-
hearsal had been letter perfect.
lcopyrisht. 1897. BY the North American
Newspaper Alliance. lneJ