First Over Everest -The Houston Mount Everest Expedition, 1933 (Paperback)

FIRST OVER EVEREST The Houston-Mount Everest Expedition, AIR-COMMODORE P. F. M. FELLOWES, D. S. O., SQUADRON LEADER THE MARQUIS OF DOUGLAS AND CLYDESDALE, M. P., L. V. STEWART BLACKER, O. B. E., AND COLONEL P. T. ETHERTON FOREWORD BY JOHN BUCHAX, CH., M. P. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS ROBERT M. MC BRIDE COMPANY, NEW YORK Contents PAGE FOREWORD u CHRONOLOGY OF THE EVEREST FLIGHT 19 CHAPTER I. THE CHALLENGE OF EVEREST 25 II. STRATEGY AND PRELIMINARY TACTICS 33 III. FINAL TACTICS AND OB JECTIVES 42 IV. THE FLIGHT TO INDIA 61 y. FLIGHTS ACROSS INDIA 95 VL NEPAL, LAND OF MYSTERY AND CONTRASTS 123 VII. THE FLYING HOUSE-PARTY AT PURNEA 156 VIII. THE GREAT ADVENTURE 179 IX. THE FLIGHT OVER KANGCHENJUNGA 204 X. THE SECOND ASSAULT OF MOUNT EVEREST 221 APPENDIX I 241 APPENDIX II 259 APPENDIX III 262 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Everest Through the Struts 81 Ancient Transport and Modern 96 The Arbiter of the Flight 97 Darjeeling Seen from the Air 112 The Nest of the Conquering Bird Men 113 A Holy Man of Nepal 120 Sacred Image 120 The Aerial Highway Around Everest 121 Ready for the Roof of the World 128 The Ground Force Looks Upward 129 The Honor Roll of the First Flight Over Everest 129 Everest and Its Mighty Neighbors 144 Looking Toward Makalu from Everest 145 An Unknown Titan of the Himalayas 160 The South Face of Everest 161 Map To Show the Flight from Lalbalu to Everest and Kangchenjunga 168 and 169 The Conquerors of Everest . 176 100 Miles from the Himalayan Ramparts 177 Circling the Worlds Highest Mountain 192 Everests Majestic Neighbor 193 Plumed Giant 208 Mountain Panorama 209 The Monarch on His Throne of Clouds 224 Over Six Miles Up 225 Second Only to Everest 240 Bottled Air for theFlight 241 10 Foreword By JOHN BUCHAN, C. H., M. P. T HAVE been asked by my colleagues of the Everest - Flight Committee, to set out briefly in untechnical language what seem to be the major results of the expedition. The first point to make clear is that its purpose was not to perform a feat of daring and endurance, to break a record, to do something for the first time. These are doubtless excellent things, and the expedition in fact achieved them but it was incidentally. The true pur pose was austerely scientific to show that the airplane and the air camera could be made the means of acquir ing important knowledge which would otherwise be unattainable. The second point is that for this purpose die most intricate and patient organization was required. The culminating work would occupy a very small space of time it took actually less than six hours, but to make it possible there had to be months of labor and thought behind it. The case was parallel to that of a great battle, which may be won in half an hour, but ii FOREWORD where victory is the fruit of laborious preparation. It involved exploration in an unknown and inaccessible area, and therefore every care had to be taken to re duce the risks to a minimum. The technical problems, in the machines and the cameras, had to be worked out to the last decimal, and there were novel features in both which required elaborate experiments. The suc cess of the expedition was largely determined by the months of hard work in Chelsea, Yeovil, Bristol, Lon don and Karachi, between March 1932 and its arrival at Purnea in March 1933. It must also be remembered that the Committee as sumed grave responsibilities. The Air Council gave the project itsbenediction, and the trust of the Air Council had to be justified. The Government of India approved, and the Government of Nepal agreed to what was an unprecedented request. There was a heavy responsibility, too, to the patriotic lady who provided the funds, and to the flying men themselves, to see that nothing was left undone to insure safety and success. The expedition was no light-hearted escapade, but an enterprise based in every detail on the most serious thought. To turn to the results...