Evening Star Newspaper, June 5, 1930, Page 10

A—10 SOUCEK POSSIBLY MADE NEW RECORD Naval Avnator Awaits Testing of Instruments After Alti- tude Attempt. BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTO! Aviation Editor of The Star. More than eight miles above the | earth’s surface, in a region of intoler- able cold, where life itself depends upon “eanned” air, airtight clothing and electrically heated goggles, Lleut Apollo Soucek of the Navy after- noon fought for 20 inutes & batile of skill and sclence against nature to gain # dew hundred feet which may mean a new world altitude record to him and the United States. “The results of his gallant struggle afove the National Capital are con- densed in wavy lines traced upon two rerording drums now undergoing the Jealous scrutiny of Government scientists atrthe Bureau of Standards. Until their werk is completed it will not be known whether or not Lieut. Soucek has re- gfined the world record which he lost a.year ago to Willi Neuenhofen, who flew to an altitude of 41,794 feet above IQly by fellow pilots, foll!ht hll fl!ht unseen by human eyes, too high for even powerful fleld glasses to follow hffn. At the treme’ndo\u heights he attained the world vanished in hasze, extept for & small circular patch di- rectly below in which rivers were barely discernible and the National Capital appeared like a delicately traced etch- ing, on which only the widest avenues could be seen as hairlike threads. After nearly an hour of climbing straight up from the Anacostia Naval Afr Station he reached, at an indicated alfitude of 41,500 feet, & point where m plane no lon‘er climbed, but seemed ‘motionless on its roaring pro- pd.le-r while powerful shrieked as keep the ‘working. Altimeter Hand Unsteady. For 20 minutes Soucek kept the plane’s nose up and the e wide open in an effort to gain a few more precious feet. “The altimeter,” he said upon land- ing, “hovered above 41,500 feet during all this time, but the hand would not remain steady on the indicator dial. It flickered back and forth, now down 41 500, now up around 42,000, never “fh t be read definitely. At one time Tt swung up above the 42,000~ ::t mark, but could not keep it man to welcome Soucek when he landed was Rear Admiral Wil- A. Moffett, chief of the Navy Bu- Tedu of Aeronautics. +How do you feel?” was Admiral ffett’s first question as Soucek “cut” motor and pulled off the grotesque jther mask which completely covered head and face. “I feel Perfecfly normal, sir,” Lieut. Sducek repl] n'Do toine o0 made the grade?” | SUPS Moffett asked. ut. Soucek’s effort yesterday n‘;ntm:iymbo xounwe'd by er at- P! a new type of propeller, though this has not yet been deter- mined. He has not much more time to mijke another such flight, however, as ived orders to report for June 16. He is to squadron, aboard squadron by Lieut. E. assigned by the Navy Department to asist authorities of u':{ District govern- gent in making the municipal afrport years ago. T . Carried Heat Recorder. jputation of the h rec- mmmm include w‘;‘mmv based ugun uu':.g:nture and other factors af- delicate tmmunn In mderdz ohdmn Anm m‘h" B perature repording \mng !L Hen- riekson of the aviation instrument sec- fl& Bureau of Standards, w! observer of the National Aeronautic Associa tHp Federation Aeronautique Interna- tienale, devised a small, light and com- temperature recorder which was mounted on an interplane strut of the alutide plane at the hrthul possible pdlnt from the propeller IIMum 50 as not to be affected by warm W8S | s0nal equipment. ly P! llfltude record flight by Miss Elinor Bmith-and worked perfectly on that trip, 8 it did yesterday on the much more severe test. The recorder consists of & perature-sensitive unit operating a stylus, which traces s line on a revolv~ disk smoked with lampblack. The difk is driven by the “works” of a dol- la» watch and the entire device is no llgler than the of a man’s hand. ther conditions for the flight were Rimost ideal, except for & ground haze, which obscured vision toward the hori- gon. The sky was cloudless and the luflue wind was in t-he proper direction the take-off and landing of the lm-climbln‘ little blpllm de Seaplane lcunl. Yesterday was the annive ol Lieut. Boueek'n flight of June 4 mn, 1l ui with single- float type landing gear in which he established the present world's altitude regord for seaplanes of 38,560 feet. On that flight Lieut. Boucek reported that altimeter showed an altitude of only 00 feet, the calibration of the baro- figh giving him an additional 60 feet. however, was regarded as unusual, since the altimeter error usually is in the otper direction. sing the plane in which he flew yes- mly, Lieut. Soucek on May 8, 1929, hed a world's record for all types of planes when he reached an official llflmde of 39,140 feet. On that occasion his altimeter gave him & reading of ap- proximately 40,000 feet, the bration costing him more than 800 feet. het record was held by Lieut. Sou- cek only until May 25, 1929, when Neu- enhofen established the 41,794-foot ree- ord, which has stood for more than a ¥ Neuenhofen used a Junker W-34 LEVIA WORLD'S THE EVENING ‘The Navy' monoplane powered with a Bristol-Jupi- ‘er 420-horsepower engine, supercharged. Soucek has made all his altitude flights in the same plane. It is a Wright Apache single-seater with high-lift wi and is powered with a Pratt & wmuuy 425-horsepower Wasp engine, . Every effort been nude to spare weight and to this end t.hewinnu‘enolpun , 50 as to save the weight of the paint. They are “doped” and given & single coat of pre- servative lacquer. At extreme altitudes, Lieut. Soucek explained, a few pounds may mean all the mflermee in altitude, between success and failure. ‘Wings Resurfaced. During the past few months the Mt- tle gray altitude plane has beén in the shops being groomed for yut-rdnya at- tempt. A new engine, better super- charger, modified ofl-cooling system, improved oxygen apparatus and new wing covering were provided and in- tensive study was made of propeuerl which would permit safe taking off and climb in the thick lower air, and yet would-give maximum em:izncy at high llt.ltudu. It was found that much of the upper air efficlency must be lost to meet the other requirements and the compromise type had to be employed. Final preparations were completed early in the week and on Tuesday aft- ernoon Lieut. Soucek took the plane up for a test flight, reaching an I.“lmdn of 40,000 feet, accordi to his alti- meter. ‘Yesterday morni the plane was thoroughly checked again and, after Junch with officers of the Ana- costia Station, Lieut. Soucek was ready to go. He dressed after his own fashion for thn flight, wearing a mr-llned leather fiying suit with nothing beneath it. Full face mask combined with helmet, heavy fur-lined gloves and boots and electrically heat goggles, designed by himself and his brother, Lieut. Zeus Soucek, who recently resigned from the Navy with several seaplane world rec- ords to his credit, completed his per- Heating of the gog- gles is necessary to prevent them be- coming covered with frost and ren- dered useless. The oxygen apparatus, another source of much trouble to alti- tude flyers, ow! to the tendency to- ward ice formation in the tubes, also bears improvements worked out by Lieut. Soucek. ‘The take-off for the trip was as mat- ter-of-fact as any ordinary practice flight around the fleld. AMr pos\n: for camera men with Comdr. A. H. Doug- 1as, commandant of the Anacostia sta- tion, Lieut. Soucek climbed into the plane, the motor of which had been warmed up by mechanics, taxied out into the field and took off with an amazingly at an altitude of nearly 3 miles Married Last Week. He took off at 2:18 p.m., disappeared at approximately 2:30, and nothing more was seen to indicate that a world- record attempt was in progress until after 4 o'clock, when a fine white streak of vapor appeared across the sky. It was caused by condensation of vapor from the plane’s exhaust as the plane was descending, and its altitude was estimated at 20,000 feet. The plane was invisibel even to observers with power- ful fleld glasses. ‘The plane became visible to the naked eye only a few minutes before landing, at 4:25 o'clock. Lieut. Soucek interrupted his honey- moon to make yesterday's flight., He was married here last week. o Germany's great expansion of foreign trade has materially checked the num- ber of unemployed. THAN LARG EST SH P Cherbourg—Soufhcmpton 5 days, 6 Hours Gorgeous Club Leviathan ... Talkies” ... A Sweep of New Luxuries OTHER SAILINGS JUNE 28 —*JULY 16 —AUGUST 2 *Lower Intermadiate Season Fares in Effect with July 16 Sailing Consult Your LocalfSteamship Agent or UNITED STATES LINES JOHN W. CHILD! RESS, General Aj; 1027 Connecticut Ave,, Washington. Phone dAtumll 1563. s crack fiyer is shown in the upper photograph as at the end of the flight which may have broken the world record. Below: Lieut. Soucek delivers the two barographs, on the checking of which the record will be determined, to H. B. Henrickson of the Bureau of Standards.—Star Staff Photos. he appeared STAR, WASHING1LUN, 13 S O VR VR 5, 1930. [ sovens avmen_surmrooe v BOARD REDUES HUNT TO PRIVATE Police Sergeant Found Guilty of Charge of In- toxication. Found guilty of intoxication yesterday by the Police Trial Board, Sergt. Odessa 8. Hunt, former instructor of the Police Training School, was ordered reduced to the rank of private and fined $200. The board’s action was by a vote of 2 to 1. Inspector Louis swu its chair- man, voted for a sentence of dismissal. Capts. Willlam G. Stott of the second precinct and C. E. Peck of the eleventh goecmct were the other members of the Hunt was arrested on May 3 and later suspended from the force on the drunkenness charge. A dozen charac- ter witnesses appeared for the accused policeman at his trial, including former Commissioner Frederick A. Fenning. Inspector Willlam S. Shelby, assistant superintendent of police in charge of the Detective Bureau, also appeared in Hunt's defense. Pvt. L. L. Leich of the eleventh pre- cinct was ordered dismissed from the force by the trial board on charges re- sulting out of the wreck of an auto- mobile he was dril last March. Leich was injured and the hospltal for several weeks. ¥ The policeman said he had been || Cadet Wins Award FRANK E. GIBSON, JR., 927 I street, who was awarded second place in the non-commissioned officers’ competitive drill in the annual high school cadet competition. He is a stu- dent at Tech. chasing a suspected liquor car, which threw out a smoke screen, but his story was contradicted by several witnesses, who said they had seen no other car pass at a high nu of speed at the scene of the accident. Develop That “Saving Habit” It's just as easy as that first H cigarette—and times more profitable! a thousand Start with one dollar—and deposit regularly—even amount. 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