Physiology And Operational Comparison Of MC-1 And MC-3 (MC-4) Partial Pressure Suits

[beamjockey]

I owe my visitors an explanation of the peculiar picture in my last entry.


The mystery photo appears as Figure 1 in "Physiology And Operational Comparison Of MC-1 And MC-3 (MC-4) Partial Pressure Suits," by Capt. Terence F. McGuire, published in 1960 (PDF here).

The bizarre-looking device is a pressure differential tank, a way to apply different pressures to a subject's head and to his body.

Conceivably, in an aircraft, a pilot's lungs could be at a lower or higher pressure than his helmet. If lower, they would have to do extra work to exhale; if higher, extra work to inhale. Capt. McGuire and his colleagues were experimenting to find the limits of tolerance for these differentials. Within the cabinet, the subject was wearing one of the U.S. Air Force partial-pressure suits.

(Before you ask: yes, I believe this device could be made to function as a CPAP machine.)

Thanks to the folks at the IIT Contrails project for digitizing some of the Wright Air Development Center publications from the Jet Age.

Comments

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

(Before you ask: yes, I believe this device could be made to function as a CPAP machine.)

Oh, that's good to know. I'll bet that there's at least one person, somewhere, who would love to have that very machine to fit in with their '50s-style home. Might be a bit awkward for sleeping in, though.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

So, it's an iron lung but for constant pressure instead of cycling.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

My thoughts exactly--it must have been a fairly natural idea to people who still remembered the great polio epidemic.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

Yeah, wasn't the MC-1 designed to suck the subject out of their helmet, and the the other models to squeeze them into their helmet?

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

It looks like a Dalek with a bustle.