High Altitude Training!!!

[ipilot]

Hey! guys
went to this high altitude training in melbourne, fl yesterday. its a really cool training where they put u in a chamber and put pressure setting for FL250 and they ask u to take ur oxygen mask off and do all sort of things and then u see the affect of hypoxia on urself actually u don't see it right away, u see it on the tape they make of ur activities i'm sure lot of the airline guys must have gone through with this course but it was a great experience for a junior pilot like me. it really opened new insights for high altitude phisiology. its a private facility and they charge 150 $ for it but its worth it. safe flying always.......


__________________________
Check that its three greens........

 

[bobbysamd]

Altitude chamber

I never had altitude chamber. Did they ask you to try to write with pen and paper with your mask off? How was that?

 

[A1FlyBoy]

If you reside near some of the larger military bases/training centers, most offer a weekend session in an altitude chamber for $20.

They'll have you write your name, several different times throughout the chamber session, and you can take this momento with you.

 

[Timebuilder]

If you contact your FSDO, you can get set up for the training at one of many locations. The check was for $15 in 2000. I went to Langley AFB, and it was a blast. Everyone should do this, primarily because you learn how your individual body reacts to hypoxia, so you can readily recognize the symptoms when it happens while flying.

 

[troy]

I think Omaha has one for about $50

 

[surplus1]

IMO, every pilot who plans to fly above 250 should make the altitude chamber a requirement of his training. Whatever you pay it's worth it.

A military installation would be the preferred route if available.

 

[ipilot]

i know the money is a bit high where i went but its very accessable cos of being a private organisation. right now the country is on a war like situation and the military places r not entertaining civilians most of the time. but where ever u do it, its worth it thats what i can say.
they have a very good profile, they put u on oxygen for 30 min so its safe for u not taking oxygen when u put ur mask off. within that 30 min they take u to 5000 ft and then come back down to see if someone is having a problem with sinus or ear. then after 30 min they put the chamber pressure to FL250. they have a big chamber so atleast 10 people can be in there at one time. so they divide people into two groups and then ask one group to take the mask off and do some simple exercises. just to burn the extra oxygen remaining. there was excecise to add, substract, write names of things etc. they keep doing this untill 10 min and they keep on asking how u feel to check out what r ur symptoms of hypoxia. then the other groups does the same and u watch them. u can easily see nails becoming blue and people acting wiered. not remebering simple things like naming animails in the zoo or counting backwards.
they record the whole event which last around 1:10 min and then they bring u back down to FL180 and then they dim the lights and make u do a color recognition test. just to show how hypoxia affects color recognition. after that they bring u down and then post brief and u get a certificate which is good for the ground part of the high altitude endorsement.
the doctor there said that he is working on a project with some companies making a simulator type chamber where u fly as well and do the same exercise and feel how much it will affect ur flying. it won't be a full motion sym as it will be too heavy to move but it will be cool if it happens.
so the word is don't ignore ur altitude and pressure alarm and check if the door light is on. safe flying always......


__________________________
Check that its three greens........

 

[bobbysamd]

Hypoxia

As an aside, don't forget that being drunk is a form of hypoxia. The alcohol acts on your brain's ability to absorb and use oxygen.

One more point. You can become hypoxic as a result of a URI. About four years ago I picked up some bug that gave me bronchitis. I could think okay, I thought, but I was lethargic and couldn't handwrite anything on paper. As hard as I tried, I couldn't make my penmanship come out. Along with being ill I suspected that I was hypoxic. I saw my doctor and he put the pulse-ox sensor on me. My O2 saturation was 88%. He confirmed that I was indeed hypoxic.

 

[ksu_aviator]

If you do the high altitude stuff at the FAA in OKC its free. Just a note for those of you in OK

 

[The Sizzler]

Hey all I wanted to renew this thread to ask how to set up a altitude chamber flight in OK City. I looked on the FAA website and tried to call the FSDO but they were all out today (at least the ones who know anything). Thanks

 

[The Sizzler]

Spoke to soon, here it is if anyone is interested.
http://www.cami.jccbi.gov/aam-400/phys_outline.htm

 

[scuzzer23]

I went to the one in OKC. It was great. I don't think I paid anything for it. They also had a spatial disorientation simulator there. You do a sustained turn for a while, then they have you bend down to pick up a pen or whatever and your head feels the spinning. Then when you roll out you start to get the leans real bad. It was cool.

 

[UnAnswerd]

A few questions:

Generally speaking, at what altitude will you literally lose consciousness???

At what altitude can you be killed from hypoxia, assuming you don't pass out and crash the aircraft....

Oh, and wasn't that Payne Stuart death years ago caused by cabin decompression....

 

[PropsForward]

I never had altitude chamber. Did they ask you to try to write with pen and paper with your mask off? How was that?

I went to one earlier this year in Valdosta, GA. It was FAA sponsored but held at the AFB.

They had us take off the mask and do some public math that I couldn't even do with oxygen. But it was a lot of fun and some learning happened there too. On the way down in the chamber, one of the guys had a problem and they had to "spray" him down. I wish I could remember the name of the nasal spray they used just incase I ever experienced a problem during a descent and needed a "spray". (Any takers to the name???).

 

[350DRIVER]

UnAnswerd,


Time of useful consciousness

Altitude Length of time

15,000 indefinite

20,000 10 minutes

22,000 6 minutes

24,000 3 minutes

26,000 2 minutes

28,000 1 minute

30,000 30 seconds

3 5 0

 

[Dr Pokenhiemer]

Those times listed above will vary depending on several things: Are you a smoker, taking any meds, properly rested, etc. Hypoxia affects different people in different ways. That's one advantage of going to the chamber--you get to see how it affects others and you get to feel how it gets to you. I think you can find a list in the AIM of the military bases where it is offered. It cost me $20-$30 in 2000 I think and was at Shaw AFB, Sumter, SC. It was an all day class. Fist half was classes on spatial disorientation, aeromedical factors, illusions, etc., and the chamber itself was after lunch. VERY, VERY, VERY WELL WORTH IT!!!