|
NO place on Earth held more allure in the 1930‘s than the highest summit of the Himalayas. Everest remained an even more elusive prize following the disappearance of the climbers Irvin and Mallory.
In 1932 a prestigious team of aviators proposed to fly over the mountain to further the cause of science. For a world mired in Depression, the concept of open-cockpit biplanes roaring towards the peak soon caught the public’s imagination.
The team included John Buchan, the novelist, who focused on the media allowing Blacker to attend to practical elements. Percy Etherton would deal with permits, sponsors and diplomats leaving Clydesdale to liaise with the Air Ministry and the sponsor, Lady Houston.
The notorious heiress, a former dancer, had sponsored the Schneider Trophy Air Race. She now accepted that high-altitude flight was crucial to the future of aviation. She would sponsor the team.
Two adapated Westland biplanes were shipped to India with their team of engineers and specialists. The aircrew flew out on a long, hazardous journey to the airfield base in north-east India where they would wait for ideal weather over the mountains a hundred miles to the north.
|
“I cast quick, anxious glances behind and below to see if we had passed over. Then suddenly there was a terrific bump - just one terrific impact as one might receive flying low over an explosive factory as it blew up.”
Report by McIntyre 1933
|
|
The heat of India tested crew patience as they tuned engines or posed reluctantly for an assertive film director. Their host, a Maharajah, did his best to entertain his guests but accounts of crocodiles and cobras got back to Lady Houston who grew increasingly anxious.
When the weather improved the two Westlands, loaded with oxygen and cameras, finally took off. Emerging from a thick haze, the pilots could see the Himalayas ahead. Bouncing on currents of freezing air, Clydesdale’s biplane soon skimmed over the peak of Everest.
Back at base their elation faded on learning that all the photos had failed. While testing the cameras, Fellowes nearly met disaster.
On hearing this, Lady Houston tried to recall the expedition who ignored her and made a second flight over Everest without insurance. Luckily everything went to plan, suggesting that it was the most technical and arguably the most glamorous of Himalayan expeditions.
The documentary film won an Oscar but it would be twenty years until Tenzing and Hilary, referred to Blacker’s survey photographs and finally set foot upon the summit itself.
|
