Churchill's egg: why did the British prime minister have a pressure chamber (6 photos)

During and after World War II, scientists created many important - and sometimes strange - inventions. One of them is a pressure chamber or "flying bed" for Winston Churchill. It was a metal chamber in the shape of an egg with a specially designed circulation system and air filtration. Find out why a whole team of engineers worked so hard over its creation.





Health of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill often limped - no wonder, because the politician smoked 8-10 cigars a day, and in general, he liked to make jokes and go on a spree. He was overweight, survived two heart attack, but even in old age continued smoke, drink, and had a certificate from a doctor that he can use "unlimited" alcohol during visits to the US. But soon even trips began to be difficult for him, although the leader of the country was obliged move around a lot. Between 1940 and 1945 he committed at least at least 25 trips outside the UK.



Churchill's personal doctor, Lord Moran, was worried about his health policy. He knew that during the flights he was exposed to low oxygen levels, which could harm his already weak heart. To make it easier to fly, a team of engineers from the Institute aviation medicine came up with a solution - "Churchill's Egg", or "flying bed". It was a single pressure chamber, which was planned to be placed in airplane.





As planned, when the plane rose to a certain height (in the case of Churchill - more than 2.5 km), the politician could easily settle down in your camera and fly without harm to your health. In his Cigarettes, newspapers, a telephone for communication with staff were at disposal. Herself the chamber had several portholes, as well as a circulation system and cleaning the air so that Churchill could smoke cigars in peace.



However, the capsule was never used. It was planned that it will be used on the Avro York Ascalon transport aircraft, usually used by Churchill, but it was too small for transportation. They also tried to install a "flying bed" on an American C-54 - but it turned out to be too heavy.