DIET FOR PILOTS

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21576, 12 February 1940, Page 10

DIET FOR PILOTS

IMPORTANCE OF CARROTS

LONDON. January 17

British stratosphere pilots are flying higher and staying up longer because of carrots in their diet. "Experts have found that carrots build up physical resistance against lack of oxygen,” states the “Daily Express.” “Also in the pilots’ diet are apples, bananas, beetroot, starch foods, glucose, lard, and plenty of salt. Food researches as they affect high-flying airmen are very important, since bombing from the stratosphere may develop.

“The experiments began by testing the resistance of rats to lack of oxygen. They were placed in a decompression chamber at the air pressure experienced at a height of five miles and a-half. They died quickly. After one week on a diet of carrots, rats lived for an hour at the same pressure.”

A bottle of soda water was found in one aeroplane after it took off for the night flight over Austria and Bohemia. The Scottish crew made bets about the altitude at which it would burst.

The bottle survived the flight, but was filled with solid ice when the aeroplane returned.