He said he climbed in a series of wide circles until he estimated that he had reached a height of about 46,000 ft. and had petrol for only on hour's more fying.
Looking down from this great height, Swain declared, the light was almost dazzling, but, looking up, the sky was of the deepest blue, in' fact almost black.
Below, he could see the whole English ' coast-line from Margate Land's End, and had the impression that England was a very minute country.
'Than the pressure of the sult he was wearing began to cause discomfort, and he had difficulty in moving his' arms and legs. There were slight symptoms of "cramp in his Fight arm, but he had no dimieulty breathing.
When he reached 51,000 ft, the airman found he could not climb higher and decided to call it a day. He began to glide.
The window of his glass helmet was then covered with haze, and the windows of his cabin were obscured by frost. He was unable to see anything, even to read his compass.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.