Interior of Imperial Airlines airplane - 1936

[GON]

 

[Kira]

Is that a carbon-tet fire extinguisher on the bulkhead before the left row?

 

[4WD]

View attachment 150014

Bid-nezz claass

 

[Kruse]

They probably served a better meal and had more peanuts than they do today.

 

[wings&wheels]

"ripping panel" for emergency....fabric covered? Maybe....'36 is late for that but who knows. Cool.

 

[Dave1027]

No seat belts? Better hold on tight in case of turbulence!

 

[Astro14]

They probably served a better meal and had more peanuts than they do today.

There wasn’t any service. Flight attendants weren’t yet a requirement.

Sit down, hold on, and enjoy the noisy, turbulent, slow ride without pressurization...

 

[Fla]

Is that a carbon-tet fire extinguisher on the bulkhead before the left row?

It certain looks like the ones that were carried in Jeeps and other military vehicles in WW-II. That one appears to have been made by Pyrene.

 

[ecotourist]

Is that a carbon-tet fire extinguisher on the bulkhead before the left row?

I remember seeing a globe of carbon tetrachloride, a red coloured liquid, sitting in a wire fitting on someone's living room wall. I think you threw the globe onto a fire, it fractured and the carbon tetrachloride did its magic. That was the only one I ever saw and that was more than 60 years ago. It seemed old fashioned even then.

I don't know what was in pyrene fire extinguishers.

We had a fire extinguisher that had some unknown powder in a long red metal tube (about 24" long, 2" diameter), prominently displaying the name of a fire insurance company. I seem to recall people dumping some of that powder in the kitchen stove to quell a chimney fire, but that's getting to be a long time ago.

 

[Fla]

I remember seeing a globe of carbon tetrachloride, a red coloured liquid, sitting in a wire fitting on someone's living room wall. I think you threw the globe onto a fire, it fractured and the carbon tetrachloride did its magic. That was the only one I ever saw and that was more than 60 years ago. It seemed old fashioned even then.

I don't know what was in pyrene fire extinguishers.

We had a fire extinguisher that had some unknown powder in a long red metal tube (about 24" long, 2" diameter), prominently displaying the name of a fire insurance company. I seem to recall people dumping some of that powder in the kitchen stove to quell a chimney fire, but that's getting to be a long time ago.

That was a fire grenade. You were supposed to toss it at the base of the fire where it would shatter and release the carbon tet into the fire. They also made versions that you could hang from the ceiling and they had lead alloy plugs in the bottom of them that were supposed to melt when they got hot. The heat also would make the carborn tet mixture expand and be under pressure so when the plug melted the pressure would spray the carbon tet solution in all directions. Someone gave me a case of this type (12 brand new ones) a couple of years ago but I still don't know what I've going to do with them. Carbon tet is a good solvent and good for putting out fires but is very carcinogenic and very dstructive to the kidneys and the liver and it lasts a LONG time if it gets into the ground water. The use of carbon tet in fire extinguishers and most other uses has been banned in the US since about 1970.

The empty metal fire extinquishers like the one shown in the photo is a very popular accessory item with car collectors and military vehicle collectors. At one time they even made small flash light sized versions of those fire extinguishers for motorcycles!

Even ordinary baking soda is pretty good at extinguishing grease fires, chimney fires and the like.

Here is an interesting article about the effectiveness of the bulb type carbon tet fire extinguishers Carbon-Tetrachloride Fire Extinguishers - NIST

 

[y_p_w]

I remember seeing a globe of carbon tetrachloride, a red coloured liquid, sitting in a wire fitting on someone's living room wall. I think you threw the globe onto a fire, it fractured and the carbon tetrachloride did its magic. That was the only one I ever saw and that was more than 60 years ago. It seemed old fashioned even then.

I don't know what was in pyrene fire extinguishers.

We had a fire extinguisher that had some unknown powder in a long red metal tube (about 24" long, 2" diameter), prominently displaying the name of a fire insurance company. I seem to recall people dumping some of that powder in the kitchen stove to quell a chimney fire, but that's getting to be a long time ago.

That sounds safe. Or not. I’m pretty sure CCL4 is clear, so that thing must have been dyed. But using something that toxic to put out fires was a horrendous idea.

Carbon Tetrachloride

Carbon Tetrachloride | CCl4 | CID 5943 - structure, chemical names, physical and chemical properties, classification, patents, literature, biological activities, safety/hazards/toxicity information, supplier lists, and more.

pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[y_p_w]

That was a fire grenade. You were supposed to toss it at the base of the fire where it would shatter and release the carbon tet into the fire. They also made versions that you could hang from the ceiling and they had lead alloy plugs in the bottom of them that were supposed to melt when they got hot. The heat also would make the carborn tet mixture expand and be under pressure so when the plug melted the pressure would spray the carbon tet solution in all directions. Someone gave me a case of this type (12 brand new ones) a couple of years ago but I still don't know what I've going to do with them. Carbon tet is a good solvent and good for putting out fires but is very carcinogenic and very dstructive to the kidneys and the liver and it lasts a LONG time if it gets into the ground water. The use of carbon tet in fire extinguishers and most other uses has been banned in the US since about 1970.

The empty metal fire extinquishers like the one shown in the photo is a very popular accessory item with car collectors and military vehicle collectors. At one time they even made small flash light sized versions of those fire extinguishers for motorcycles!

Even ordinary baking soda is pretty good at extinguishing grease fires, chimney fires and the like.

Here is an interesting article about the effectiveness of the bulb type carbon tet fire extinguishers Carbon-Tetrachloride Fire Extinguishers - NIST

I remember my family had a BC fire extinguisher that was just baking soda. It was below the recommended pressure so I unloaded it in out back yard and just covered everything with baking soda. It did wash away when it rained.

 

[ecotourist]

Carbon tet is a good solvent and good for putting out fires but is very carcinogenic and very destructive to the kidneys and the liver and it lasts a LONG time if it gets into the ground water. The use of carbon tet in fire extinguishers and most other uses has been banned in the US since about 1970.

Agreed. CCL4 is not environmentally safe and is toxic and probably carcinogenic. But it works well as a solvent and as a fire extinguisher. It was used by average folks (people like my parents) for removing oily spots from clothing (as a sort of home dry cleaning liquid).

Eliminating it from everyday use demonstrates the importance of the regulation of toxic substances in the home and the workplace.

 

[mk378]

When CCl4 is applied to a fire, it forms really toxic byproducts like phosgene. So it is essential to leave the area immediately after use. That doesn't seem possible on an airplane.

 

[Kruse]

There wasn’t any service. Flight attendants weren’t yet a requirement.

Yea, with the laughee following my post, I thought everyone knew that. Guess not.

 

[Fla]

When CCl4 is applied to a fire, it forms really toxic byproducts like phosgene. So it is essential to leave the area immediately after use. That doesn't seem possible on an airplane.

The fumes are mentioned in the NIST report. During some of their tests their personnel were forced to leave the room due to the fumes and it was a VERY large room and had windows to admit enough air so that the fire wasn't smothered. The report makes for interesting reading; the sprayer type fire extinguishers like the one shown in the aircraft picture, were reasonably effective but the grenades were nearly useless. The wall or ceiling mounted automatic fire grenades were only effective when they were mounted nearly directly above the fire and when there was nothing between the fire and the grenade.

 

[Astro14]

Yea, with the laughee following my post, I thought everyone knew that. Guess not.

I knew you intended humor, but not sure what you were implying, because on a Pan Am clipper, at the same time, you would get a professionally carved chateaubriand…but the airplane pictured sure wasn’t Pan Am…