The Nenana daily news. (Nenana, Alaska) 1918-1921, 1918-05-13
AVATORS WILL Be
ABLE TO ASCEND
TO EIGHT MILES

in the air and far outstrip their
enemies.
At present aviators rarely ascend
above two miles, because the thin
ming of the atmosphere makes active
exertion impossible at that great
height. The greatest height claimed
for any of the aviators now fight
ing Europe is three miles.
Ii our aviators are able to rise
far above their enemies they will
have them more or less at their
mercy The machine that can win
a position above another is able to
keep a steady fire of machine gun
bullets directed upon it, while the
other cannot reply effectively. it
is we'll recognized that the machine
able to keep the upper position is
sure to down its opponent The
power to rise to q great height will
also enable machine to escape
when necessary. Many other ad-
vantages of such a device will be
apparent to all experienced airmen
A human being at an elevation
of four miles can with difficulty sur
vive even for short time At five
miles the air is so thin that he can
not get enough oxygen to supply
his lungs. He loses his mind, be-
comes unconscious and quickly dies
as has been proved by experiences
of balloonists.
The Liberty" oxygen apparatus
however, enables the aviator to take
enough oxygen with him to last
in the most tenuous atmosphere for
three hours. He could get along
for that length of time if there
were no oxygen at all in the air
through which he was flying.
The contrivance weighs only a
few pounds. There is no helmet.
a rubber mouthpiece fits inside the
mouth, with Tugs" on which the
teeth are clenched to hold it in
position. An attached nose-clip ire
sembling a football players nose
guard is used t. compress the nos
trils, preventing the wearer from
breathing the outside air.
He breathes into and from a
small bellows. When the latter is
sucked flat, valve opens, allowing
oxygen to enter from a steel cylind- |
er in which the life-supporting gas
is compressed. Thus the oxygen
supply is automatically controlled |
by the aviator's breathing, adjust
ing itself to his needs, which con-
stantly vary with the activity of |
his muscular exertions.
The air he breathes into the bel |
lows is, of course. laden with car
bonic acid gas, but the latter is alb
sorbed by soda lime, thus getting
rid of it. On other words, the oxy-
gen is replaced as fast as he con-
sumes it, and the carbonic acid is !
removed as fast as he exhales it. !
By this process the air is kept |
continually fresh.
Experiments have already been
made with the apparatus, not in ac-
tual flying, but at various elevations |
on Pixies Peak, in Colorado, and |
even on the summit of that highest |
mountain in the United States, which |
is $4,000 feet, or not far from three !
miles, above the level of the sea. !;
The air pressure at sea level is |
thirty pounds to the square inch |
At the top of Pixies Peak it is only |
eighteen pounds. 1hls means, of |
course, that the atmosphere so far
aloft is not much more than half |
as dense as at the level of the sea. |
Up there nobody can attempt Wig
orous exercise without suffering ex-
IRENE breathlessness and distress |
because of the limited oxygen
supply.
But it was proved by trial that |
a man wearing the oxygen breath
ing continuance on the summit of |
the Colorado mountain could in |
dulge in arduous muscular effort |
without the slightest inconvenience.