Houston–Mount Everest Flight Expedition
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The first flight over
Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
was undertaken in April 1933 by two Westland aircraft. They were piloted by Douglas Douglas-Hamilton (then known as Lord Clydesdale) and David McIntyre, with
Stewart Blacker Lieutenant-Colonel Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker OBE (1 October 1887 – 19 April 1964) was a British Army officer and inventor of weapons; he invented the Blacker Bombard, from which was developed the Hedgehog anti-submarine spigot-mortar â ...
and Sidney Bonnett in the
observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Fiction * ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress * ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...
seats. The expedition was financed by
Lucy, Lady Houston Dame Fanny Lucy Houston, Lady Houston, (' Radmall; 8 April 1857 – 29 December 1936) was a British philanthropist, fascist sympathizer, political activist and suffragist. Beginning in 1933, she published the ''Saturday Review (London newspap ...
and led by Peregrine Fellowes.


Background

Prior to the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
(1914–1918), aircraft were limited to altitudes below about . Technical advances in military aviation during that war, such as the invention of
turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...
and
supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. It is a form of forced induction that is mechanically powered (usually by ...
aircraft engines, allowed aircraft to reach higher altitudes. In 1918,
Alexander Kellas Alexander Mitchell Kellas (21 June 1868 – 5 June 1921) was a British chemist, explorer, and mountaineer known for his studies of high-altitude physiology. Biography Kellas was born in Aberdeen, Scotland on 21 June 1868.Jill Neate, ''High A ...
(a British mountaineering physiologist) suggested that aircraft would soon be able to fly over
Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...
, the highest mountain on Earth at , which would be useful for reconnaissance of potential climbing routes. At that time, the mountain had never been climbed. In 1919,
Jean Casale Sous Lieutenant Jean Pie Hyacinthe Paul Jerome Casale, was a French World War I flying ace credited with thirteen aerial victories. He was one of the few aces that survived the entire course of fighter aviation in the war.The Aerodrome website ht ...
made the first flight to exceed the altitude of Everest, but only for a short period, and actually flying over the mountain would be far more challenging. The main limitation of high altitude flight at this time was keeping the crews alive in the low pressure and cold temperature air. No progress on the idea was made during the 1920s, partly because the diplomatic
Affair of the Dancing Lamas The Affair of the Dancing Lamas was an Anglo–Tibetan diplomatic controversy stemming mainly from the visit to Britain in 1924–25 of a party of Tibetan monks (only one of whom was a lama) as part of a publicity stunt for '' The Epic of Everes ...
prevented any attempt to climb the mountain from 1925 to 1933. In the early 1930s,
John Buchan John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, British Army officer, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. As a ...
(a member of parliament (MP) for
Scottish Universities There are fifteen universities in Scotland and three other institutions of higher education that have the authority to award academic degrees. The first university college in Scotland was founded at St John's College, St Andrews in 1418 by H ...
) became concerned that aviation firsts were being dominated by American aviators. Buchan approached Lord Clydesdale (MP for
East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire (; ) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It was formed in 1996, as a successor to the Eastwood (district), Eastwood district of the Strathclyde region. The northeastern part of the council area is close to Glasgow and ma ...
) to suggest a flight over Everest that would promote British aviation. Clydesdale was also the youngest
squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...
in the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
(he commanded the reserve 602 Squadron, which was equipped with
Westland Wapiti The Westland Wapiti was a British two-seat general-purpose military single-engined biplane of the 1920s. It was designed and built by Westland Aircraft Works to replace the Airco DH.9A in Royal Air Force service. First flying in 1927, the Wa ...
biplanes), and the son of
Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton Lieutenant Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton and 10th Duke of Brandon TD, DL (6 March 1862 – 16 March 1940) was a Scottish nobleman and sailor. Early life Hamilton was born at Shanklin, Isle of Wight, in 1862, the son ...
. No attempt could be made without substantial funding, so in September 1932 Clydesdale visited
Lucy, Lady Houston Dame Fanny Lucy Houston, Lady Houston, (' Radmall; 8 April 1857 – 29 December 1936) was a British philanthropist, fascist sympathizer, political activist and suffragist. Beginning in 1933, she published the ''Saturday Review (London newspap ...
at Kinrara (her estate in Scotland) to ask her to fund the expedition. The highly
nationalistic Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...
Lady Houston was excited by the idea that Clydesdale put forward, feeling that flying over Everest would strengthen
British rule in India The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...
(Houston was an outspoken opponent of the
Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed. The first nationalistic ...
) and impressed that Clydesdale had worn his
kilt A kilt ( ) is a garment resembling a wrap-around knee-length skirt, made of twill-woven worsted wool with heavy pleats at the sides and back and traditionally a tartan pattern. Originating in the Scottish Highland dress for men, it is first r ...
for dinner. She agreed to fund the expedition and became involved in its planning.


Planning

The inventor
Stewart Blacker Lieutenant-Colonel Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker OBE (1 October 1887 – 19 April 1964) was a British Army officer and inventor of weapons; he invented the Blacker Bombard, from which was developed the Hedgehog anti-submarine spigot-mortar â ...
joined the expedition; he was an experienced pilot who had served in the
British Indian Army The Indian Army was the force of British Raj, British India, until Indian Independence Act 1947, national independence in 1947. Formed in 1895 by uniting the three Presidency armies, it was responsible for the defence of both British India and ...
from 1907 to 1932 (reaching the rank of
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
), so was familiar with the region.
Air commodore Air commodore (Air Cdre or Air Cmde) is an air officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes ...
Peregrine Fellowes was brought in to lead the expedition and head its planning. Fellowes and Blacker obtained the necessary permissions from the
Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...
,
India Office The India Office was a British government department in London established in 1858 to oversee the administration of the Provinces of India, through the British viceroy and other officials. The administered territories comprised most of the mo ...
and the
government of Nepal The Government of Nepal () is the central executive authority of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. The government is led by the Prime Minister of Nepal, prime minister (K. P. Sharma Oli, K.P. Oli since 15 July 2024) who selects all the o ...
to allow the flight to occur. Nepal granted permission for only a single flight; while the
13th Dalai Lama The 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso (full given name: Ngawang Lobsang Thupten Gyatso Jigdral Chokley Namgyal; abbreviated to Thubten Gyatso) (; 12 February 1876 – 17 December 1933) was the 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet, enthroned during a turbulen ...
of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
refused permission for the aircraft to enter Tibetan
airspace Airspace is the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere. It is not the same as outer space which is t ...
. Blacker also convinced the
Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
that a flight would provide valuable information for the planned
1933 British Mount Everest expedition Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...
, which aimed to climb to the summit. A flight might also search for evidence of
George Mallory George Herbert Leigh-Mallory (18 June 1886 â€“ 8 or 9 June 1924) was an English Mountaineering, mountaineer who participated in the first three British Mount Everest expeditions from the early to mid-1920s. He and climbing partner An ...
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. The Royal Geographical Society agreed to support the expedition. Clydesdale decided to use two
biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
aircraft for the attempt: the first Westland PV-6 to be built (a prototype of the
Westland Wallace The Westland Wallace was a British two-seat, general-purpose biplane of the Royal Air Force, developed by Westland Aircraft, Westland as a follow-on to their successful Westland Wapiti, Wapiti.Philpott, pp. 431-432. As the last of the interwar ...
bomber), registered G-ACBR; and a modified
Westland PV-3 The Westland PV-3 was a British two-seat torpedo bomber of the 1930s built by Westland Aircraft Works. The aircraft was a private venture development and based on the Westland Wapiti. It never entered production. The aircraft is best known as o ...
, registered G-ACAZ (referred to as the Houston-Westland). He selected David Fowler McIntyre, a flight lieutenant from 602 Squadron, to pilot the other aircraft. Each pilot would be accompanied by an observer in the second seat of the aircraft: Blacker accompanied Clydesdale in the PV-3, and Sidney R. G. Bonnett, a cinematographer for
Gaumont British News Gaumont SA () is a French film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Neuilly-sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; 'Neuilly-on-Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is an urban Communes of France, commune in the Haut ...
, accompanied McIntyre in the PV-6. Both aircraft were modified (by Blacker) to enclose the observer positions, but retained open pilot's
cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...
s. Oxygen systems were installed, to keep the crew alive using
oxygen mask An oxygen mask is a mask that provides a method to transfer breathing gas, breathing oxygen gas from a storage tank to the lungs. Oxygen masks may cover only the nose and mouth (oral nasal mask) or the entire face (full-face mask). They may be ma ...
s. The crews wore multiple layers of sheepskin clothing and the aircraft were modified to provide connections for heated
flying suit A flight suit is a full-body garment, worn while flying aircraft such as military airplanes, gliders and helicopters. These suits are generally made to keep the wearer warm, as well as being practical (plenty of pockets), and durable (includin ...
s. To save weight, there were no
parachutes A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating drag or aerodynamic lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves various purposes like slowing ...
. Special fuel was developed, that would not freeze at the low temperatures expected. The supplies of fuel and oxygen were sufficient for only 15 minutes at high altitude. To obtain a photographic mosaic of the terrain, each aircraft was equipped with a fixed downwards-pointing
film camera A movie camera (also known as a film camera and cine-camera) is a type of photographic camera that rapidly takes a sequence of photographs, either onto film stock or an image sensor, in order to produce a moving image to display on a screen. In c ...
in the fuselage, while the observers carried
still camera A camera is an instrument used to capture and store images and videos, either digitally via an electronic image sensor, or chemically via a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. As a pivotal technology in the fields of photograp ...
s. Bonnett selected a Williamson Automatic Eagle III camera for the task.


Expedition

Both aircraft were shipped from Britain to
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
by sea, arriving in February. The crews then flew the aircraft to
Purnea Purnia (; also romanized and officially known as Purnea) is the fourth largest city of Bihar and is emerging as the largest economic hub in North Bihar. It serves as the administrative headquarters of both Purnia district and Purnia divisio ...
, in
Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
state, where they were based at Lalbalu Airfield, approximately south of Mount Everest. The journey from England had taken 25 days. 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. For nine days, conditions were adjudged to be unsuitable. While they awaited clear weather, the expedition crews relaxed by swimming, until an encounter with a crocodile required McIntyre to shoot the animal. On 3 April, Fellowes reported no clouds between the airfield and the summit. Winds were below but there was lots of dust in the atmosphere; Fellowes described conditions as "reasonably satisfactory". The expedition took off from Lulbalu at 8:25 am on 3 April. After 9 am they reached their maximum altitude of as they passed over
Lhotse Lhotse ( ; ; ) is the List of highest mountains#List, fourth-highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. At an elevation of above sea level, the main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of Chin ...
, 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 . Bonnett briefly lost consciousness due to hypoxia after damaging his oxygen line; he successfully repaired the leak with a
handkerchief A handkerchief (; also called a hankie or, historically, a handkercher or a ) is a form of a kerchief or bandanna, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric which can be carried in the pocket or handbag for personal hygiene purposes such as w ...
. A strap holding McIntyre's oxygen mask broke, forcing him to hold it in place with one hand while flying the aircraft with the other. At 10:05 am both planes passed approximately over the summit. McIntyre required three attempts to pass over the summit. Clydesdale looked for signs of Mallory & Irvine, but saw none (Mallory's body would not be found until 1999; Irvine's partial remains were found in 2024). The aircraft then had to make a sharp turn to avoid entering Tibet. Both aircraft returned to the airfield about 3 hours after they had departed. News of the successful flight was sent to London by
telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...
. The reply congratulated the team, but forbade them from repeating the feat, due to the dangerous problems experienced with the oxygen supply. However, the quality of the photographs taken on the first flight was compromised by dust, so the crews determined to ignore the instructions from London and make a second flight. They successfully did so on 19 April, when weather conditions were clearer. This time they were able to obtain high quality photographs of the surface.


Aftermath

The flight set milestones for developments in technology, aviation and photography. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' reported that "It is a splendid achievement - not for any material gains, any additions to aeronautical knowledge that it brings, for it brings few or none, but simply because it was one of the few last great spectacular flights in aviation which remained to be done." The aerial photographs were obtained too late to assist the
1933 British Mount Everest expedition Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...
, which had already reached
Rongbuk Monastery ''Rongbuk Monastery'' (; other spellings include ''Rongpu'', ''Rongphu'', ''Rongphuk'' and ''Rong sbug'' ()), also known as Dzarongpu or Dzarong, is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma sect in Basum Township, Dingri County, in Shigatse ...
– on the other side of the Himalayas from the airfield – and was ultimately unsuccessful. The photographs were made public in 1951 and were used by
Edmund Hillary Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineering, mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa people, Sherpa mountaineer Tenzing Norgay became the Timeline of M ...
and
Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; May 1914 â€“ 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepalese-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. On 29 May 1953, he and Edmund Hillary were the first confirmed to ...
to plan their route to the top of Mount Everest, which they successfully climbed in 1953. A half-hour
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
about the flight, '' Wings Over Everest'', won an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
in 1936. It combined real footage from the expedition with staged shots of the participants (not actors). Fellowes, Blacker and wrote a book, ''First Over Everest! The Houston-Mount Everest Expedition, 1933'' which was published in 1934. Buchan wrote the
foreword A foreword is a (usually short) piece of writing, sometimes placed at the beginning of a book or other piece of literature. Typically written by someone other than the primary author of the work, it often tells of some interaction between th ...
.


References


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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Houston-Mount Everest flight expedition Mount Everest expeditions April 1933 in Asia 1933 in aviation 1933 in Nepal 1930s in Tibet