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Aviation History
1942
1942 - 1229.PDF
JUNE IITH, 1942 FLIGHT 581 100 000 98.000- 95.000- 90.000- 85,000- 80 000' 75,000 74,000 72,000- 70.000 65000- 60 000- 56 000 55 000 54,000-53.000- 50,0004 REOENSR must BALUSOHS T2UQ00 FT. mm- wmtvm AH**y * ADAM I QREAT &RITAIN 54-.000 FT 1937 45,000-, 43,000-1 40,000-1 35,0004 ©RAY •:-43,0OO' *92T HEUENHOFE ^AVJER 3S,O0- 30,000- 29 000 - 28 000- 25.000- 23 000-— 16.000 -*-'•- 15.000- ^WtWtliil GAY-UJSSAC 23,000 FT - 1604/ MOUNT EVEREST £9,000 FT. CLOUD FORMATtON UP TO ,20,000 FT STRATOSPHERE FLIGHT Advantages of High Altitude : Problems of Rarefied Air and Low Pressure : What the Human Body Requires : Effect on Aircraft Equipment By DR. V. L. GRUBERG THE attraction of high-altitude flight is that a much higher speed is possible in the thinner air with less expenditure of power. High-altitude flight is therefore more economical: already, at a height of some 33,000ft., an aircraft gains 40 per cent, in speed and 50 per cent, in range compared with a machine flying on the same quantity of fuel but at lower altitude. Furthermore, at these heights the influence of the weather ceases to exist, and the interference of thermic influences of the earth, bad weather, and icing no longer trouble the crew. Last but not least, an aircraft flying at a high altitude has a wide radius in which to find a suitable place in the event of a forced landing, while it can also keep outside the range of modern A.A. guns. The extension of human flight into the higher alti tudes has been made possible by the unceasing reseaich work of many scientists in different countries. Their observations have resulted in a detailed picture of the conditions and peculiarities of these regions. The surface of the earth is enveloped by a mantle composed of two distinct layers of atmosphere. The lower extends from the immediate earth surface to a height of some six to ten miles and is known as the troposphere. The composition of this layer remains constant up to 7.4 miles, while the temperature decreases with the distance from the earth's surface at a uniform rate of 3 deg. F. for every 1,000ft. altitude. Thus at a height of approximately seven miles the temperature is something like -60 deg. F. or —40 deg. F., compared with 40 deg. F. or 60 deg. F. at ground level. Conditions at Higher Altitudes At this height the temperature remains largely con stant, the contents of water vapour in the atmosphere is only 0.01 per cent. This layer, which extends to a height of some 30 miles, is known as the stratosphere. Recent researches conducted by the staff of the Copen hagen astronomical and meteorological observatory deny, however, that with increasing altitude there is a gradual reduction of temperature. According to these observa tions the temperature rises slowly in altitudes from i8| miles and reaches 212 deg. F. at heights of between 37 to 43 miles. Prof. Regener, a German scientist, states that there is a layer of moderate warmth at 24 to 31 miles altitude, and that above 62 miles the tem perature increases even further. Except for the rather rare appearance of the so-called '' Mother of Pearl clouds and the "Silver Blue Night" luminous clouds (which are composed of fine particles of dust), clouds do not exist in this region. The troposphere and the stratosphere are not actually contiguous, for between them there is the tropopause in which the transition from one layer to the other is made. This region varies considerably in different parts of the world, and is lower in high altitudes (about seven miles) and highest above the Equator. The relative composition of the air up to a height of Higher and higher : this picture shows the many ascents which have been made to study the conditions of the higher altitudes.
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