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The Pioneering Houston-Mount…
Sale Title:
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
11-Feb-2024
Lot No.
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Description:
The Pioneering Houston-Mount Everest Expedition, 1933. An archive of original photographs issued to the Times (London) from the second Houston-Mount Everest flight on April 19 th, which produced the first successful aerial photography over mount Everest after the failure of the aviators' equipment during their first flight on April 3 Rd . All the larger photographs bear 'The Times Houston-Mt Everest Flight' copyright stamps and release date 8 th of May 1930 verso, in addition to the typed explanatory labels that feature on the reverse of all but one of the images in the complete set. Total: 17 photographs of dimensions 26 x 30.5 cm (10 items), 16.5 x 22 cm (1 item), and 25.5 x 25 cm (6 items). The first flight over mount Everest was performed in tandem in April of 1933 by Douglas Douglas-Hamilton and David McIntyre, with Stewart Blacker and Sidney Bonnett in each aircraft's respective observer seat. Effecting their pioneering flight at an altitude of 34,000ft, Douglas-Hamilton flew a converted Westland Pv-6 prototype aircraft registered as G-Acbr, with McIntyre piloting the experimental Pv-3 aircraft, registered G-Acaz . Having previously attained the rank of squadron leader in the RAF, Douglas-Hamilton was well placed to observe the advances in aviation taking place in the early 1930s, which led him to conceive of a new aviation first: an overflight of mount Everest. To secure the necessary funding for the venture, he approached lady Houston, a prominent philanthropist and political activist known for her championing of the work of pioneering British aviators. Houston agreed to fund the expedition in part due to her conviction that such an achievement would serve to emphasise the dominance of the British Empire and thereby demoralise supporters of the growing Indian independence movement. Although the first flight failed to produce any images of value due to poor atmospheric conditions, the second flight resulted in a treasure trove of aerial images so rich in detail that, when they were made public in their entirety in 1951, they served as key reference materials for Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary as they planned the route for their ascent of Everest in 1953. The images that resulted from the second flight of the Houston-Mount Everest Expedition stirred much public interest, going on to spark the production of the 1934 Oscar-winning documentary 'Wings over Everest'. Douglas-Hamilton went on to be warmly received in Germany by Hermann Goring and Rudolf Hess during the 1936 Olympics, a meeting that many believe provided the motivation for Hess' bizarre solo flight to Scotland in 1941.
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Unclassified