Colonel Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker (1887-1964)

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THE FIRST FLIGHT OVER EVEREST: PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE HOUSTON MOUNT EVEREST EXPEDITION, 1933 In 1931 Colonel L.V.S. Blacker, an officer in the Indian army, assembled a committee including Lord Clydesdale, author John Buchan, Lord Peel and the Maharajah of Nawanagar, to plan the conquest of Mount Everest by air. With rival attempts being organised by France, Germany and the United States, the expedition fired the patriotic fervour of the public and received financial support from the British government as well as private backers, foremost amongst which was Lady Houston, widow of the shipping magnate Sir Robert Houston and after whom the expedition was named. The aims of the expedition were threefold: to achieve the first successful flight over the highest point on earth and the last remaining frontier of exploration; to photograph the uncharted area south of Everest; and to further understanding of meteorological conditions around high mountains. The expedition required extensive preparation and technical innovations both in aircraft and camera design. The Westland aircraft with Bristol Pegasus engines were modified to allow the planes to reach the required altitude in the thin and freezing air; specially heated suits, goggles and a liquid oxygen system was developed for the pilots and observes in the unpressurised cabins; and the expedition's survey and cine cameras were specially adapted for use in the extreme conditions. Weather conditions were crucial to the success of the flight, the most critical factor being the wind speed at high altitude. The aircraft could only carry fuel for 15 minutes at the summit; if the wind speed was too great they could be blown off course and would be unable to return safely. Little was known of the air currents around Everest, but the dangers were certain: updrafts that had the strength to tear the wings off the aircraft and downdrafts that could force the planes out of the sky and against the barren peaks. At 8.25am on 3 April 1933 the first aircraft took off, piloted by Clydesdale with Blacker as observer, carrying the vertical survey camera and equipment for oblique photography. They were closely followed by Flight Lt. David McIntyre and R.S. Bonnett from the Gaumont British Film Corporation with the heavier cine cameras. As they climbed up through 15,000 feet the plains below disappeared from sight. At 20,000 feet they emerged from the haze and saw the mountains for the first time. 'After ... flying at times practically blind in the haze for over half an hour, we found ourselves emerging into the most vividly clear, atmosphere with unlimited visibility. The aeroplanes seemed to be enclosed within a semicircle of the most gigantic mountains in the world ... This panorama presented itself to us in its startling white beauty, glistening in the bright morning sunshine and making a magnificent spectacle. The dust haze, completely obscuring the foothills, rose well above the snow line, with the result that this arc of great mountains appeared detached from the earth and suggested an eerie land floating in a drab sea somewhere between earth and sky.' (Clydesdale and D.F. M'Intyre, The Pilot's Book of Everest, New York, 1936, pp.165-66) The pilots intended to climb to 33,000 feet, then descend to 31,000 feet as they approached Everest, allowing them to clear the summit (29,028 feet) with a sufficient safety margin. But as they approached the mountain they still had some way to climb: '... a few minutes' distance from the summit, we discovered that our course had been lain too far to the east, with the result that we were approaching right on the leeward side of the mountain. Almost as soon as the thought occurred to me we encountered a powerful and persistent downdraught due to the deflection of the wind over Mount Everest.' (Clydesdale, op. cit., p.171) Descending faster than they could climb, Clydesdale's machine lost 2,000 feet in a matter of seconds and the summit towered above them offering little hope of escape. As they neared the ground an up-current caught them and carried them back up and over the summit, clearing it by 500 feet. Blacker later wrote, 'I really thought that the crest of the mountain was going to hit us'. Once over the summit the plane circled through the ice plume, a vortex of ice and snow downwind of the peak. 'Immediately over the summit we came into the plume, and so violent was it -- being composed of large particles of ice, that the windows of the cockpit were broken', recounted Blacker, fighting to protect the cameras and the fragile glass plate negatives. One of Clydesdale's aims was to discover traces of Mallory and Irvine, last seen close to the summit in 1924. He hoped that photographs from the flight might prove that they had reached the summit. 'As I came over the top I titled the right wing and looked down on the summit. It was just a passing glimpse, and it was not possible to discern any hint of human remains or of the apparatus of mountaineering. As I saw the summit from various angles during the next few minutes, I began to realize that it was unlikely that any trace of them could be seen from the air.' (Clydesdale, op. cit., p.174) After nearly fifteen minutes circling the summit while Blacker photographed the scene below, Clydesdale turned the aircraft for home and landed at 11.25am having crossed the summit at 10.05am. The Times bought extensive coverage of the flight and a detailed account of the expedition written by Fellowes, Blacker, Etherton and Clydesdale, First Over Everest was published the following year. THE PROPERTY OF MS KATE BLACKER

Colonel Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker (1887-1964)

The Houston Westland Mount Everest Flight: Everest above the clouds

Details

Colonel Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker (1887-1964)
The Houston Westland Mount Everest Flight: Everest above the clouds
titled on the reverse of the mount
gelatin silver print
unframed
10 11/16 x 18¼in. (27.2 x 46.3cm.)

Provenance

Colonel L.V.S. Blacker, and thence by descent to the present owner.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

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