Post Up

The first time Wiley Post flew Winnie Mae into the stratosphere last week he thought he climbed 48,000 ft. The second time, he thought he reached 55,000 ft. but had no way of telling because his altimeter froze at 35,000 ft. Not until the barographs used on the flights are checked will Pilot Post know whether he beat the world's airplane altitude record of 47,352 ft. held by Italy's Renato Donati. Because of the thin air and --70DEG temperature of the stratozone, Pilot Post had encased himself in a grotesque suit made of white asbestos. Topping it was a big metal helmet with one panel of thick glass. Inside this airtight, electrically heated outfit, oxygen was fed under pressure to chubby, tousle-haired Pilot Post. On his first flight Post got lost, had trouble with his oxygen valve, spent some bad moments in fear he might literally blow up. On the second, his motor quit, forced him to make a dead-stick landing after 150-m.p.h. gales had chipped paint from his plane, torn rivets out of place.

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