Eelsen chemical toilet

In the early aircraft design, due to the limitation of voyage and air time, most designers simply did not consider the discharge needs of pilots and passengers, so they found a bottle, carton or something to solve temporarily, or released it directly outside the aircraft. In 1930s, the flight distance of airplanes became farther and farther, and the flight time increased to several hours, so the sound of designing toilets for airplanes became louder and louder. The first plane equipped with toilet was Italian caproni ca.60 passenger plane. The plane is huge and designed as a luxury passenger plane, so there is enough room for toilets. Unlike civil aircraft, the interior space of large bombers is very narrow, so don't expect the luxurious setting of toilets. Urine bags and catheters are standard, but the reserves of these things are limited, which can only solve the "small" problem, but not the "big" problem.

During World War II, British bombers were equipped with a chemical toilet called Eelsen, whose function was to help the crew solve the problem of excretion. However, the evaluation of this toilet in the army is quite bad, and even the Germans as opponents hate eielson. Elsan is not really a complicated high-tech. Its appearance is a lead bucket with corresponding seat ring and toilet cover. Chemicals need to be added to neutralize the taste after use. Elsan is a reusable equipment, which is equipped by British forces on Lancaster bombers and used in some air-raid shelters or other underground bunkers. On the bomber, a Eelsen toilet seems to be only enough in capacity, but it is actually very bad to use. Bombers need to climb the altitude after take-off, because there is no compression chamber, and they need to wear oxygen bottles when they are used at high altitude, and they have to face the cold. It's just a little troublesome to use. The actual situation is the same as the vomit bag. The bomber itself will encounter turbulence when performing its mission. After being attacked by enemy fighters, it needs to make substantial evasive actions, which will be fatal. The contents of the bucket will splash around uncontrollably, and the deck and ceiling in the cabin may be covered with excrement after a mission. Of course, the crew who are close to each other can't escape, and the tail gunner is often the worst, because they are the closest. Even if you don't encounter the above situation, the capacity of the small toilet is not enough. The crew often complained that when sitting on it to excrete, the material in the bucket was too full, and it collided with the plane and got all over. According to some crew members' memories, almost all of them have experienced such a bad moment. A bomber's toilet was even hit by an enemy plane, and the radio operator splashed his head. I can't eat at the thought of that scene. In this way, the bomber crew began to be superstitious. Before taking off, they will water the wheels or pee for good luck. Urinating can reduce the amount of defecation in the air. I think there is a certain scientific truth, and it is more reliable for the crew to silently abide by the rule of "only used in an emergency". The ground crew also hated the toilets in Eelsen, because the cleaning after the bomber landed was theirs. Think about the scene at that time. Washing toilets is better than treating toilets. You can't complain The crew fought hard at the front line and were all war heroes. At least the ground crew doesn't have to fight with their heads. As for the fact that Germans hate toilets in Eelsen, it's just a legend, because it is rumored that the British crew will throw full toilets with bombs at the Germans. Whether the Germans really don't like it is unknown. After all, even if a toilet with a small capacity is thrown from a height of several kilometers, even if it is thrown in a densely populated city, the excrement will not have much impact. However, according to the memories of some crew members, many people did this, the starting point was more to reduce their own harm, and throwing it to the Germans could still make them happy.