"Dragon Master - The things you learn..." Topic

After owning it for several years, I finally got around to reading Dragon Master, a book about the little known unsung first aerial combat pilot of World War One. This German pilot in his Rumpler Taube was assigned to the garrison there and performed the first aerial bombing campaign of the war before escaping the siege to begin a long trek home.

link

One thing I was not aware of is that the Castor Oil used in the engines so that they wouldn't seize up in the cold at altitude had an interesting side effect. Apparently the fumes were inhaled by pilots who often had sudden onset bowel movements. Apparently flying by the seat of your pants was a rather sticky situation…

The things you learn in history books…

As an interesting aside, why is aerial combat for WWI under the heading 'Biplanes?' The Taube, Eindecker, Fokker DVIII and Bleriot were all monoplanes (to name a few).

To say nothing of the triplanes…

I had read it before, but was just looking for other tales of the castor oil effect. Yes, it was needed for rotary engines. But some sources suggest that it is a myth that it was the cause of … looseness. It needs a quantity to be swallowed for the laxative properties to be so profound.

Other theories include a pre-flight breakfast of brandy and milk, or a natural reaction to being within inches of becoming a burning fireball. "Damned castor oil. I've my pants."

Don't go debunking a beautiful myth!

Castor oil was used as the lubricating oil in rotary engines. It operated on a "total loss" basis, i.e. – it was slowly consumed as part of engine operation rather than being re-circulated as with a modern closed circulation system of lubrication. Rhinebeck Aerodrome operates a WW1 Camel and N.28 (IIRC) with original rotary engines and the strong aroma of castor oil is present everywhere on the field when the engines are run up.

B

I'm inclined to believe this particular story as the pilot talks about this happening before the war and states his total embarrassment and how later oils (also before the war started) were of a different mix and resolve the problem.

Its mentioned in the novel Goshawk Squadron as a problem.