Houston–Mount Everest flight expedition
The first flight over Mount Everest was undertaken in April 1933 by two Westland aircraft. They were piloted by Douglas Douglas-Hamilton (then known as Lord Clydesdale) and David McIntyre,[1] with Stewart Blacker and Sidney Bonnett in the observer seats. The expedition was financed by Lucy, Lady Houston and led by Peregrine Fellowes.[2]
Background
Prior to the
No progress on the idea was made during the 1920s, partly because the diplomatic
No attempt could be made without substantial funding, so in September 1932 Clydesdale visited
Planning
The inventor Stewart Blacker joined the expedition; he was an experienced pilot who had served in the British Indian Army from 1907 to 1932 (reaching the rank of major), so was familiar with the region.[3] Air commodore Peregrine Fellowes was brought in to lead the expedition and head its planning.[2] Fellowes and Blacker obtained the necessary permissions from the Air Ministry, India Office and the government of Nepal to allow the flight to occur.[3][2] Nepal granted permission for only a single flight; while the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet refused permission for the aircraft to enter Tibetan airspace.[2]
Blacker also convinced the Royal Geographical Society that a flight would provide valuable information for the planned 1933 British Mount Everest expedition, which aimed to climb to the summit.[3] A flight might also search for evidence of George Mallory and Andrew Irvine, who had disappeared during an attempt to reach the summit during the 1924 expedition. If Mallory and Irvine had reached the summit before dying on the descent, they might have left some record or abandoned equipment at the summit.[4] The Royal Geographical Society agreed to support the expedition.
Clydesdale decided to use two
Both aircraft were modified (by Blacker)
Expedition
Both aircraft were shipped from Britain to
The flight would require clear weather over the mountain, which had to be reconnoitred using daily 5:30 am flights by a third aircraft, a Puss Moth flown by Fellowes.[4][2] For nine days, conditions were adjudged to be unsuitable.[2] While they awaited clear weather, the expedition crews relaxed by swimming, until an encounter with a crocodile required McIntyre to shoot the animal.[4] On 3 April, Fellowes reported no clouds between the airfield and the summit.[4] Winds were below 40 miles per hour (60 km/h) but there was lots of dust in the atmosphere; Fellowes described conditions as "reasonably satisfactory".[2]
The expedition took off from Lulbalu at 8:25 am on 3 April.[3][10][11][12] After 9 am they reached their maximum altitude of 31,000 ft (9,400 m) as they passed over Lhotse,[2] the fourth-highest mountain in the world, located two miles south of Everest. Downward air currents induced by the mountains then caused both aircraft to lose about 1,500 feet (460 m).[10]
Bonnett briefly lost consciousness due to
News of the successful flight was sent to London by
Aftermath
The flight set milestones[
The aerial photographs were obtained too late to assist the 1933 British Mount Everest expedition, which had already reached Rongbuk Monastery – on the other side of the Himalayas from the airfield – and was ultimately unsuccessful. The photographs were made public in 1951[3] and were used by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to plan their route to the top of Mount Everest, which they successfully climbed in 1953.[8]
A half-hour
Fellowes, Blacker and Percy Thomas Etherton wrote a book, First Over Everest! The Houston-Mount Everest Expedition, 1933 which was published in 1934. Buchan wrote the foreword.[14]
References
- ^ a b c d "Houston Mount Everest Flying Expedition Archives – This Day in Aviation". This Day in Aviation. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Aeronautics: Wings Over Everest". Time. 10 April 1933.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Heggie, Vanessa (3 April 2013). "The first flight over Everest: a physiologist's dream". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Kerevan, George (25 March 2013). "Remembering the Scots who flew over Everest some 80 years ago". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019.
- from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ Crompton, Teresa (2020). Adventuress: The Life and Loves of Lucy, Lady Houston. The History Press. pp. 189ff.
- ^ a b "From the archive, 4 April 1933: Everest conquered from the air". The Guardian. 4 April 2013 [4 April 1933].
- ^ a b c Douglas-Hamilton, Iain (19 April 2013). "First Person: My Uncle Was First to Fly Over Everest". Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ "up up and away over the tallest mountain in the world by airplane". transportationhistory.org. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Arbuckle, Alex. "The first men to fly over Mount Everest did so in an unpressurized biplane". Mashable. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ "The 1933 Houston Everest Flight". www.content-delivery.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ "Over Everest; aeroplanes". www.flymicro.com. Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (26 May 2017). "81 years ago, the first movie camera over Everest won an Oscar". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 27 September 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2023.
- ^ Fellowes, Peregrine Forbes Morant; Blacker, Latham Valentine Stewart; Etherton, Percy Thomas (1934). First Over Everest! The Houston-Mount Everest Expedition, 1933. Robert M. McBride.
Further reading
- First over Everest: The Houston – Mount Everest Expedition 1933, London & Manchester: Cherry Tree (Withy Grove Press), (1938), Fellowes, P. F. M. with L. V. Stewart Blacker and P. T. Etherton and the Marquess of Douglas and Clydesdale.