about midday
My machine groaned and trembled in every joint and rivet as she faced it , and swept away like a sheet of paper when I banked her on the turn , skimming down wind at a greater pace , perhaps , than ever mortal man has moved . Yet I had always to turn again and tack up in the wind 's eye , for it was not merely a height record that I was after . By all my calculations it was above little Wiltshire that my air-jungle lay , and all my labour might be lost if I struck the outer layers at some farther point . `` When I reached the nineteen-thousand-foot level , which was about midday , the wind was so severe that I looked with some anxiety to the stays of my wings , expecting momentarily to see them snap or slacken . I even cast loose the parachute behind me , and fastened its hook into the ring of my leathern belt , so as to be ready for the worst . Now was the time when a bit of scamped work by the mechanic is paid for by the life of the aeronaut . But she held together bravely .