On August 4, 1931, Pressler and Capt. Bill Bleakley tested a new Curtiss-Wright Junior to determine the airplane’s altitude capability. She flew around cloud formations, which boosted the craft for two hours and fifteen minutes, reached a height of 16,091 feet, and broke the previous record of approximately 15,000 feet for light-altitude airplanes weighing less than a thousand pounds. After landing, she discovered that because the India ink used in the barograph had frozen, her record was unofficial.