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Aviation History
1916
1916 - 0895.PDF
OCTOBERJ j, 1916. (AJcRg THE "PYRENE" FIRE EXTINGUISHER. HRES are not infrequently caused by some trivial outbreak, and many hundreds of pounds worth of damage might have been saved had the source of trouble been quelled at the outset. It is essential, however, that such an outbreak lie dealt with promptly and effectively. To accomplish this something better than buckets ol sand or water and the se- called portable chemical fire extinguishers (so often relied upon) are required, and for such requirements the extin guisher marketed by the Pvrene Co.. Ltd of IQ ji, Great ceases as soon as the opatntoi leave* of jumping, and the remaining liquid it available In further asa until exhsuMe.f. when the container is recharged vrnh a frv-.li supply ttm»njjl» the filler-cap. The Mai IQ vvlu.lt ail cKtiugtiishcl lUCb .IN the I'vtriK could be put in connection with the Aircraft industry are to- numerable Not only can fhe\ bt f art led OR .1m1.HI them selves, but the\ could i>e cimvenienth placed to advantagi ^t varum- paste n an aerndrooM la certain 1 ranch aerodrome* Diagrammatic views of the " Pyrene ftre extinguisher in section, showing the action of the double- acting pump. Queen Street, London, has justified its existence on more than one occasion. The Pyrene extinguisher is extremely port able, measuring only 14 ins. in length and 1 ins diameter, and, what is more important, is very simple and reliable in its operation, being nothing more nor less than a double-acting hand pump contained within its own reservoir of fire-extin guishing liquid. This latter is, perhaps, the principal feature of the Pyrene extinguisher, for it is a harmless liquid, con sisting of a combination of purely organic materials, ami contains neither acid, alkali, salts nor moisture. When directed on to the flames its vapour, being several tunes heavier than air, clitjgs to the burning obje< 1 and the flames from the atmosphere, thereby extinguishing th<- fire by smothering it. Petrol, oils, grease celluloid, tar. acetylene and wther inflammable substances are thus easily extinguished with little or no damage to the burning orsur- rounding objects. Pyrene has the further important advan tage of being a non-conductor of electricity, and it can then fore be used with safety and effect in extinguishing dec tn< al fires. The mechanical action of the extinguisher may readily be gathered from the accompanying diagrams. At each end of the central pump tube are ball valves, and these are con nected by an outer tube within which is a rod with a feed cap valve at each end. This rod is longer than the distance between its two valves, so that when the weight of the rod causes the uppermost valve to close on its seat the lower valve is open. The central pump tube, together with the valve gear, is free to move around its own axis, so that no matter in what position the extinguisher is held, the feed valves are always under the pump and at least one is sub merged, since they revolve by their own weight, and the liquid is always drawn from the lowest part of the container. When the piston-rod, with its sliding piston-valve, is pulled out on the first stroke (Fig. 1), the liquid is drawn through the lower ball valve. On the return or in-stroke the liquid previously drawn in and filling the pump tube is forced through the piston valve into the hollow piston-rod and through the outlet tube within the latter. The lower ball valve has in the meanwhile closed and the upper one opened, admitting liquid to the upper portion of the pump tube (Fig. a). On the next out-stroke liquid is again drawn into the lower portion of the pump tube and that contained in the upper portion is forced through the piston-valve as before (Fig. 3). With each further stroke a continual flow of liquid is forced through the outlet tube and nozzle. The flow mec.h N ceiling to meet an ta eomiag ntechliu .,I>N..V carry a " Pyrenc M extinguisher with them in hangars, and, ol rouise. m the varum'. -.Ii<>|. ..( an eta tall fsi tdfj In con 1 lusioil. It 111.iv be of interest to I I'vt.-in- rvliu Ruishers are supplied, amongst many others to tin CoQowing The W.11 Office, Admiralty, the Allied Government Royal Flying Corps, and mpsl ol out aircraft and Aotm manufacturers. HI • FROM THE BRITISH FLYING GROUNDS. Grahame-White School, Hendon. LANDINI. practice last week Messrs. Green and Kaiser, Straights with InstfiK toi [i*Ot Hitchcock, It.H circuit Messrs. Lord, Norris and K.inson. Instructors; Messrs, Manton, Wtotar, Pashicy Btatd and Hale. ;•: • Tribute from the Enemy. IN spite of the persistent way in Which th, Getmati Headquarters comrnmnimAi tie as to tbeii aircraft tosses, the truth will out as to the effective work ol ih< K I < 1 h, most striking tribute to hand lately k contained <i> the memorandum by General Sixt von Arnist, commanding the IVth German Corps, on the eaperieno of (hat < oaps W ti» battle of the SoatXM 111 July lant He hay. " The means for providing the artillery with aerial obser vation has proved insufficient. . . . The numerical superiority of the enemy's airmen and the fact th.it thru machines were better were made disagreeably apparent to us, particularly in their direction of the enemy's artilie. and in bomb-dropping. . . . The number of our b planes was also too small The enemy's airmen wen often able to fire successfully on our troops with machine gum., by descending to a height of a few hundred metres. 1 nt anti-aircraft gun sections could not continue firing at that height without exposing their own troops to serum daagW from fragments of shells. This has produced a desire for the anti-aircraft defences to be supplemented by machine guns. A further lesson from this surprisingly bold procedure Ol thi English airmen is that the. infantry make too little use of their rifles as a means of driving off aircraft." He makes a number of recommendations for improving the anti-aircraft establishments, with advice as to the types and number of guns to be used. 891
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