On 12/30/99 11:21:27 you wrote: > >At 02:32 AM 12/30/99 -0800, Dick Chevalier wrote: >>If we can drive a car legally, why can't we fly. Because there are fewer of >>us than drivers. Laws are about clout, not morality. Where I live, people >>just keep flying, responsibly. > >Flying *is* more physically demanding the driving. > >People who are apt to lose conciousness aren't allowed to drive in most >states. (Except in Texas, where the opposite is true.) People with chronic >illnesses such as a heart condition are. > >Somebody having a coronary has a reasonable opportunity to pull over to >the side of the road. In fact, it happens fairly often. On the other hand, the >likelihood of pulling over successfully from the air is a bit lower. Thus, the >driver who has a coronary while in a populated area is less likely to injure >the public than a pilot who passes away at the controls. > >Greg > > >_________________________________________________________________________ _ ______ >To unsubscribe from this list please send mail to coupers- [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >_____________________________________________________________ >Get your favorite topic delivered daily. >http://www.topica.com/t/11 >
Hi Greg (and the coupers)! You could have also mentioned Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, congestive heart failure, and other illnesses that might cause a potential pilot to be unable to tolerate the effects of altitude. A couple of the journals have recently done articles on the effects of altitude. One was directed at the loss of night vision at a rather low altitude, and the effect of using oxygen at improving same. The other article appears in the January 2000, AOPA Pilot (page 127) re: supplemental oxygen. They experimented using a pulse oximeter to measure the oxygen saturation in the blood. You may be familiar with this device, as it is clipped to a finger or your ear lobe in surgery or during some physical exams to measure the oxygen dissolved in your bloodstream (simple form of explanation). The subject had a oxygen saturation of 99% on the ground with a heart rate of 64. Flying at 9,500 ft., the same subject had an oxygen saturation of 88- 90% with a pulse of 100. Taking a breath of oxygen the saturation returned to 99%, but slipped back to the lower numbers within 3.5 to 5 minutes. As discussed, hypoxia (low oxygen levels in the bloodstream) begins to be a problem when it falls below 90% (poor vision, impaired judgement, slowed reflexes,......). I know this doesn't specifically address Ercoupes but, given the thread about medical certification, and the recent discussions of flying at altitude in Ercoupes, this topic is indeed pertinent. Oxygen isn't just for those flying at the flight levels! Michael J. Nutt, MS, PA-C Warren, MI __________________________________________________________________________ ______ To unsubscribe from this list please send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] _____________________________________________________________ Get your favorite topic delivered daily. http://www.topica.com/t/11
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