It has been so rewarding to follow the development of aviation through the pages of these old National Geographic Magazines. The first flight over the Atlantic Ocean. . . the first flight to the North Pole. . . the first flight to the South Pole. . . the creation of mail air routes country by country, over the whole world. . . the RISK. . . the failures: all very exciting! In 1933, many major challenges had been overcome, except one, flying over the largest mountain on earth, Mount Everest.
In the August, 1933 issue, Lieut. Col. L. V. S. Blacker, O.B.E., recounts for us his journey in The Aerial Conquest of Everest: Flying Over the World's Highest Mountain Realizes the Objective of Many Heroic Explorers. Thus he begins, "Ever since it was discovered, in 1852, to be the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest has exercised a hypnotic fascination for explorers," (p. 127).
Even though the Colonel had given up flying for years, he watched the development of airplanes and their engines until in April, 1932, he noticed a new engine that promised to be capable of rising to the more than 30,000 feet required to ascend over the mountain. He contacted someone that was more than capable of piloting this challenge, Col. P. T. Etherton, an old friend.
They faced three obstacles: technical, political, and financial. "The super-charged Pegasus engine in a suitable airplane promised to take us over the technical fence, in spite of the fact that it had at that time hardly emerged from the trial stage. . . months of hard work, punctuated with periods of intense anxiety took us over the technical obstacles at long last." (p. 128).
The political difficulties were immense. ". . . many British officials assured us gloomily that we could not hope to surmount them," (p. 128). The problem was that Mount Everest is in a mountain range that is located in several remote Asian countries. Flying over the country of Tibet was immediately ruled out. Eventually, the ruler of Nepal gave permission for the flight.
Now for the financial problem. "But while we had been feverishly at work making secure these two essentials, the third, most essential of all, threatened to slip from our grasp. The world depression had set in, in full force," (p. 128). Finally, they remembered that a British benefactoress, Lady Houston, may be interested in the project. A letter was written, a prompt reply received: Lady Houston would give unconditional support to the project!
We must remember that aircraft of this era were open to the air! There were no pressurized cabins. The Colonel and his team had to plan for heating their clothing, and bringing an adequate supply of oxygen needed for high-altitude flights, in addition to the photographic equipment they wanted for recording their achievement. I am most impressed by the accomplishment of gathering the necessary equipment, primitive by our standards.
The lack of appropriate testing for their 'warming' apparatus takes my breath away! They had to wrap an electrical battery with felt. Even the cameras and their goggles had to be warmed, to withstand temperatures of minus 76 degrees below zero, Fahrenheit. The Colonel comments, "At length we made everything work, but only just in time. . . it will be realized that each camera needed a flexible cable to be led to it, and the multiplicity of these in the cockpit formed a veritable spider's web," (p. 135). The plane was named the Houston-Westland in honor of Lady Houston.
The flight plan originated in Purnea, India, went 154 miles due north to Mount Everest, circled the mountain, then returned back to Purnea, a British possession. Trials were done and the equipment functioned beyond expectations.
What an exciting photograph it was, from the cockpit of the plane, "Man's First Near View of Mount Everest from the Air. Over the engines of the Houston-Westland on the first flight loomed this memorable spectacle. At this point first became evident the astounding rugged formation of the rock masses and the horizontal trail of the long snow plume, indication of a wind blizzard force tearing across the summit and lifting the clouds of powdered snow and ice particles," (photo caption, p. 136). The snow plume made Mount Everest look like an active volcano!
Tomorrow this blog will continue the epic journey.
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