Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 3:49 am
I've always wondered how pilots or crew dealt with natures call.
I can just imagine the early morning briefing with coffee in hand, then running out to the
planes for the mission. How many hours at a time did the fighter pilots stay up?
I can just imagine the early morning briefing with coffee in hand, then running out to the
planes for the mission. How many hours at a time did the fighter pilots stay up?
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:05 am
The PV-2 had a chemical toilet and relief tubes. Even had a toilet paper holder. Fouteen hour missions from Attu To Japan's Kurile Islands, so you had to go somewhere. Relief tubes usually froze up and made a mess.
PJ
PV-2 Harpoon "Hot Stuff"
www.amhf.org
PJ
PV-2 Harpoon "Hot Stuff"
www.amhf.org
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:24 am
And the guy who used the sh*tter was the most unpopular guy on the plane, too--or so I have been told by visiting vets. It didn't smell like flowers, that's for sure.
Small planes almost always had a relief tube of some kind. Big planes--especially long-range bombers, flying boats, and the like--would have more expansive facilities, like the "head" in our Harpoon that PJ describes above. Longer duration in the air makes for a greater need for such things.
Small planes almost always had a relief tube of some kind. Big planes--especially long-range bombers, flying boats, and the like--would have more expansive facilities, like the "head" in our Harpoon that PJ describes above. Longer duration in the air makes for a greater need for such things.
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 6:42 am
The Short Sunderland when introduced into RAF service in the late 30s was regarded as the bees knees with a toilet in a private compartment, as well as a galley and dining area!
RAF four engine bombers - 10+ hours operations - mostly had an Elsan chemical toilet.
RAF four engine bombers - 10+ hours operations - mostly had an Elsan chemical toilet.
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 8:01 am
Hurricane and Spitfire pilots converting to the Thunderbolt used to say if they got cramped they could get up and run around the cockpit so I imagine it had a loo, galley and mezzanine... 
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 10:49 am
The B-25C also had the toilet paper holder, relief tubes and chemical toilet that also served as the seat for the camera operator as well.
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:41 am
B-29's had a 'pot' in the back for #2 and relief tubes in front and back. Here is the story of one of our 330th's own.., a Navigator:
Drift Meter vs. Relief Tube
Long flights do test a person’s endurance – especially if they are combat missions that are 14 to 16 hours and most of the time is spent over water – the Pacific Ocean.
Our B-29 had a commode (potty) in the back section. The support cylinder was riveted to the floor and there was a portable pail that fit inside. Rule #1, first man to use the potty was to remove it upon landing. Rule #2, constipation was your own fault so don’t complain.
For less stressful needs, there were relief tubes, a funnel attached thru a hose into a canister that contained overflow hydraulic fluid. No problem, the fluids were compatible and the canisters were large enough to satisfy the requirements of our long flights. Recognizing the anatomical arrangement, one hand held the funnel and the other hand should have provided guidance. I am trying to be discreet.
On one mission I bent over to place my eye over the rubber cup that sat atop of my drift meter. The rubber cup was wet – very wet – and the funnel to the nearby relief tube was very nearby.
Using my throat mike, I asked, “Who pee’d on my drift meter?” No response. Again, “Who the hell pissed on my Drift Meter?” Still no response, “This is Jack Rodin, the GD navigator on this plane, who the Hell pissed all over my Drift Meter?” “And the Deck?” “And everywhere else?” Still no response! But I was mad, even more than mad - maybe even furious. War makes men mean and vicious.
It was 1946 or 1947 when I got a phone call from Bill Dolan. Bill was in a bar, of course, near Yankee Stadium. He came to see the Army vs. Notre Dame football game, and knowing I lived in the Bronx, not far from the Stadium, he called. After he told me which bar, I told him to wait there, I would meet him, and we would do the NYC thing.
We did our NYC thing, a bit of bar hopping and a lot of boozing. When we had maybe one too many, or maybe we needed one more, Bill confessed.
“I was the guy who pee’d on the Drift Meter, but you sounded so GD angry I was afraid to admit it. I don’t know what you would have done to me so I kept quiet.”
Although the Drift Meter and Relief Tube were reasonably close, there was no excuse for mistaking one for the other. Their functions were very different, but after all the booze what could I do to Bill Dolan. Have him buy me the next drink!"
Drift Meter vs. Relief Tube
Long flights do test a person’s endurance – especially if they are combat missions that are 14 to 16 hours and most of the time is spent over water – the Pacific Ocean.
Our B-29 had a commode (potty) in the back section. The support cylinder was riveted to the floor and there was a portable pail that fit inside. Rule #1, first man to use the potty was to remove it upon landing. Rule #2, constipation was your own fault so don’t complain.
For less stressful needs, there were relief tubes, a funnel attached thru a hose into a canister that contained overflow hydraulic fluid. No problem, the fluids were compatible and the canisters were large enough to satisfy the requirements of our long flights. Recognizing the anatomical arrangement, one hand held the funnel and the other hand should have provided guidance. I am trying to be discreet.
On one mission I bent over to place my eye over the rubber cup that sat atop of my drift meter. The rubber cup was wet – very wet – and the funnel to the nearby relief tube was very nearby.
Using my throat mike, I asked, “Who pee’d on my drift meter?” No response. Again, “Who the hell pissed on my Drift Meter?” Still no response, “This is Jack Rodin, the GD navigator on this plane, who the Hell pissed all over my Drift Meter?” “And the Deck?” “And everywhere else?” Still no response! But I was mad, even more than mad - maybe even furious. War makes men mean and vicious.
It was 1946 or 1947 when I got a phone call from Bill Dolan. Bill was in a bar, of course, near Yankee Stadium. He came to see the Army vs. Notre Dame football game, and knowing I lived in the Bronx, not far from the Stadium, he called. After he told me which bar, I told him to wait there, I would meet him, and we would do the NYC thing.
We did our NYC thing, a bit of bar hopping and a lot of boozing. When we had maybe one too many, or maybe we needed one more, Bill confessed.
“I was the guy who pee’d on the Drift Meter, but you sounded so GD angry I was afraid to admit it. I don’t know what you would have done to me so I kept quiet.”
Although the Drift Meter and Relief Tube were reasonably close, there was no excuse for mistaking one for the other. Their functions were very different, but after all the booze what could I do to Bill Dolan. Have him buy me the next drink!"
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 11:56 am
JDK wrote:RAF four engine bombers - 10+ hours operations - mostly had an Elsan chemical toilet.
Which were sometimes dropped overboard along with the bomb load causing the Germans to complain about being victims of chemical warfare...
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:07 pm
330, great storey, and it even sounds true.
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:35 pm
Our man Hot Rod Steve reports that they used ammo cans on the Spooky's in Vietnam then tossed the whole thing overboard on the VC.
PJ
PV-2 Harpoon "Hot Stuff"
www.amhf.org
PJ
PV-2 Harpoon "Hot Stuff"
www.amhf.org
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 12:39 pm
I read of one B-17 crewman that used a helmet nearly every mission that he then left on the bomb bay doors so it was Bombs away! Go through a lot of helmets that way, wonder what they said in supply?
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 4:27 pm
PJ wrote:Our man Hot Rod Steve reports that they used ammo cans on the Spooky's in Vietnam then tossed the whole thing overboard on the VC.
PJ
PV-2 Harpoon "Hot Stuff"
http://www.amhf.org
They still use em in Afghanistan...
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 7:18 pm
Dobodura, New Guinea, late 1943... P-38 unit left unidentified...
Diary by a crew chief cites rest room problems...
Diaharrea was rampant. After many long missions, some P-38 cockpits had to be hosed out.
The diary noted that one ace halted his plane just before entering the active runway, ran to the wingtip, dropped his pants in attempts to keep the cockpit crap to a minimum.
Diary by a crew chief cites rest room problems...
Diaharrea was rampant. After many long missions, some P-38 cockpits had to be hosed out.
The diary noted that one ace halted his plane just before entering the active runway, ran to the wingtip, dropped his pants in attempts to keep the cockpit crap to a minimum.
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:03 pm
I think this is the first offer of an open cockpit biplane as used in the N Atlantic and Murmansk Runs in sub-zero conditions. From my researches for the Aircrew feature in Aeroplane magazine, may I present Fairey Swordfish relief tails?
Fairey Swordfish.
'I cannot recall how the Swordfish pilot spent a penny, but the procedure for the observer was to use an aluminium dust marker intended for use in wind-finding. These came in black cube-shaped tins, about six inches square and six inches high, and were probably quite expensive. The procedure was to remove the top of the tin, tip the aluminium dust over the side. fill the tin with the fluid in question, replace the top and then ditch the tin. When I first flew in an Albacore. I was delighted to find in the rear cockpit a tube. complete with a stainless steel funnel, which made the whole operation much more civilized.
Fairey Albacore - Charles E Brown, RAF Museum Collection.
'On this subject, I heard of an observer in a Swordfish who had to do a photographic exercise from Lee-on-Solent. On his return to base he was absolutely bursting, so he parked his service camera on the tailplane of the aircraft and beetled off to relieve himself behind a convenient hut. Meanwhile the photographic rating had spotted the camera, so he nipped out and took it inside to remove the film and develop it. The observer then returned and was horrified to find his camera missing. After searching everywhere he could think of, he finally assumed it had been stolen and sat down to write the requisite formal letter to the Captain — "Sir, I have the honour to report with regret the loss of a service camera. I was engaged in a service exercise, taking obliques in the vicinity of Brighton pier. with the lanyard attached to the camera securely around my neck, when suddenly without warning the lanyard snapped and the camera fell into the sea..."
'In due course the observer was summoned to appear before the Captain and, on entering the room, saw not only his letter but also the camera on the Captain's desk. Fortunately for him the Captain had a sense of humour and saw the funny side of the incident, so that he got of with nothing worse then a rocket.'
Anon.
Fairey Swordfish.
'I cannot recall how the Swordfish pilot spent a penny, but the procedure for the observer was to use an aluminium dust marker intended for use in wind-finding. These came in black cube-shaped tins, about six inches square and six inches high, and were probably quite expensive. The procedure was to remove the top of the tin, tip the aluminium dust over the side. fill the tin with the fluid in question, replace the top and then ditch the tin. When I first flew in an Albacore. I was delighted to find in the rear cockpit a tube. complete with a stainless steel funnel, which made the whole operation much more civilized.
Fairey Albacore - Charles E Brown, RAF Museum Collection.
'On this subject, I heard of an observer in a Swordfish who had to do a photographic exercise from Lee-on-Solent. On his return to base he was absolutely bursting, so he parked his service camera on the tailplane of the aircraft and beetled off to relieve himself behind a convenient hut. Meanwhile the photographic rating had spotted the camera, so he nipped out and took it inside to remove the film and develop it. The observer then returned and was horrified to find his camera missing. After searching everywhere he could think of, he finally assumed it had been stolen and sat down to write the requisite formal letter to the Captain — "Sir, I have the honour to report with regret the loss of a service camera. I was engaged in a service exercise, taking obliques in the vicinity of Brighton pier. with the lanyard attached to the camera securely around my neck, when suddenly without warning the lanyard snapped and the camera fell into the sea..."
'In due course the observer was summoned to appear before the Captain and, on entering the room, saw not only his letter but also the camera on the Captain's desk. Fortunately for him the Captain had a sense of humour and saw the funny side of the incident, so that he got of with nothing worse then a rocket.'
Anon.
Re: Did WWII aircraft have rest rooms?
Thu Jan 21, 2010 1:22 am
engguy wrote:I've always wondered how pilots or crew dealt with natures call.
I can just imagine the early morning briefing with coffee in hand, then running out to the
planes for the mission. How many hours at a time did the fighter pilots stay up?
you need to get out more!!...... only kidding!!!
