Hello All, Not KR related, but definitely aviation related. The 99's are having a convention this week in New Orleans and one of the seminars was/is on hypoxia and is open to all pilots in the area. I went there (instead of listening to Mark) on Wednesday and it was excellent. it's one thing to read about what happens if you fly too high without oxygen, it's another to feel it. The class was about an hour and a half and went over the types of hypoxia, symptoms, ATC examples (very cool) and what to do about it. Then you get to go to a chamber that they equalize at 25,000'. And the thing is, the list of symptoms are only potential symptoms and everyone reacts differently. Nausea, headaches, tunnel vision etc. So you start at 25,000'. They say you have 3 minutes (at that altitude) to get yourself out of trouble. That may be too generous. We had an oxygen sensor on us (to measure oxygen in the blood) and you start at 97% or higher. And then it drops. by the time you are in the 60's you are done. We also had a clipboard to log the onset of any symptoms - every minute. And we had a sheet with a simple maze and some math problems. In my case, the only symptom I felt was a tingling in my fingertips. But by the third minute, I could not do the maze (kindergarden level) nor any simple math problems. I could barely write a number. I simply could not focus. 8x7 was impossible. Once you put the mask on, after 3 or 4 deep breaths, you are back to normal. it's that quick. And of course the reality is that you can suffer from hypoxia at much, much lower altitudes (they said start worrying about it over 8,000 - especially at night). For me, the problem is that I didn't get a headache or nausea or anything I could react to. I simply lost the ability to focus. Which means I could not even know that I am losing control. But it was a heck of a thing and very instructive in highlighting the dangers of hypoxia. I strongly recommend that if you ever get the chance to experience it - do it. And before I do any high flying I will get an oxygen setup.
Ray New Orleans Ray_pilot New Orleans
