At Great Heights

Many inexplicable accidents have been attributed to the lack of physical adaptability of pilots in the rarefied air and intense cold of great heights. To investigate this important problem, the French Air Ministry has constructed a pneumatic caisson from which air can be withdrawn at will and which can be cooled by means of a refrigerating machine, so that the occupants of the chamber may be made to experience these effects. Into this chamber three well known French military aviators, armed with oxygen tanks and clothed in fur costumes, were recently introduced and "ascended" some 30,000 feet without leaving the ground. At 3,500 meters the men were seen to don their oxygen masks, at 5,000 meters they stamped their feet and showed other signs of the extreme cold they were experiencing--at this altitude also telephone conversation became impossible, sound being scarcely transmissible in the rarefied air. The "flight" continued to 8,500 meters and a temperature of 30 degrees below zero centigrade. After a gradual return to normal ground conditions, the aviators stepped out smiling. Other men may not stand the test so well, and this highly scientific work may serve a most useful purpose in the selection of flying personnel.