Rome. The High Altitude Unit was established within the Guidonia-Montecelio Experimental Center, near Rome. In April of the same year, before the unit was actually established, Renato Donati set the altitude record with a modified Caproni 113 AQ (High Altitude) biplane, equipped with a 550 hp Alfa Romeo engine, reaching 14,443 meters, over 1,000 meters higher than the record held by the Frenchman Lemonine. However, after completing the feat, Donati collapsed after a forced landing. He had exposed himself to temperatures of -56ºC, entering, after passing through the stratosphere and the tropopause (the uppermost region of the troposphere), a zone that was still completely unknown. Although his equipment may have seemed rudimentary, it had significantly improved compared to previous attempts: it had just been discovered that at altitudes above 12,000 meters, oxygen must be delivered under positive pressure (at these altitudes, the partial pressure of water vapor in the lungs is equal to that of oxygen, and without positive oxygen pressure, the pilot cannot survive). A year later, even the fairer sex decided to try their hand at the competition: pilot Carina Massone Negrone…
