Evening star., 1934-09-17
NEW ATMOSPHERE
WOULD FLY SHIPS
AR Breathed by Passengers
May Be Used in
DirigibIe.
BY THOMAS X. HENRY.


novel proposal which allegedly
VIC lid enable man to fly by the all
he breathes is included among the
pa erlts issued here this week.
t would make possible, according
TO the claims set forth by the in
vel tor, dirigibles whose entire ca
pa ity could be utilized both for lift
ine and for carrying passengers or
FIRE ght, thus changing an almost pro-
hit itively expensive method of trans
DO! tation to a comparatively cheap
on especially for long trips over
wa er.
verything would be inside the gas
baf and the passengers would breathe
the gas which was lifting them. The
on constituent of ordinary atmos-
ph re which a human being needs for
res y ration, the inventor sets forth,
Is 1gygen. Yet the oxygen content
of .lle air is only about 81 per cent.
TIL rest is made up of relatively
hes Wy gases. chiefly the inert gas
nit gen, which constitutes four-flfthS
of the atmosphere. Yet, he main
tailf, if everything else could be taken
out Df the air except that fifth part
of oxygen and the same pressure
ma rtained a human being never
wolli know the difference. In fact,
the absolute amount of oxygen could
be reduced somewhat lower without
producing notable effects.
Helium Gas.
Furthermore, it is claimed, the
atm sphere might be filled with other
gasts without producing notable
differ ence, SO long as they were highly
ine1t and would not enter into COM
bini tions with oxygen. Such a gas
is lflium, the "sun gas" which is
the next lightest material to hydrogen
and 30 resistant that it will not enter
into chemical combination with any
thir 2 1t has considerably less lift
ing rower than hydrogen, due to its
gres r weight, but, since it is so
chem cally inert 1t will not explode.
Ths inventor proposes to mix
helil n and oxygen, with enough of
the latter to support life in comfort.
The mixture would not have the lift
ing 1ower of helium alone, but it
would be sufficiently lighter than air
to keep the dirigible aloft and the
low.T lifting power would be partly
con pensated for by the greater cubic
cap city of the bag"
Such a mixture, he claims, would
have approximately 73 per cent of the
Hitting power of a pure vacuum,
while that of helium is 86.6 per cent
ant that Of hydrogen, 93z The
mo- lecular weight of the mixture
would be 1853, compared to only 2.01
for hydrogen, but 20 for ordinary air.
Present Space Used.
In such dirigible, with every cubic
inca Of its space available for utiliza-
tioll, person weighing $50 pounds
wollld require about $500 cubic feet
to support his weight. This, he claims,
is atout the space allowed at present
for !, first-class dirigible passenger
The passenger would breathe only the
oxyg:n in the air around him and
neve' be aware of the presence of the
heliun. The helium he breathed into
his hlngs would have no effect because
it m'uld not enter into any organic
corat nations.
sSu IN an aifSnip, ne claims, would
be G;iapted primarily for long, low
nigh $, such as across the Atlantic.
For ss-continental flights where it
migf t be necessary to rise to con-
Eder tbly greater heights, various
mod iications would be necessary.
Ca I'bon dioxide exhaled by the pas
sens rs would automatically be re-
NOV d and the proper portion Of
oxyg IN, the vitiated atmosphere
with the ship, would be brought in
cont .ct with a spray of sodium car
bona 5e at room temperature which,
the inventor states, would absorb
mos of the carbon dioxide. The soda
solu ion then would be boiled by the
exhs lst from the motors and the
carb IN dioxide boiled off and ex-
pelle l. This would be equivalent to
abol nine-tenths of the oxygen
brea he'd by passengers and crew.
t. e carbon dioxide, it is pointed
out, might be made use of in addi-
tion to stored supply for maneuver-
ing he craft. This material is easily
tran formed from a solid to a gas.
1t c ,uld be taken up as solid and,
whe more lifting power was de-