boscomantico wrote:
IMHO, that euphoria thing is a myth but who knows.
People who have been trying this out in low-pressure chambers knows! The euphoria thing may be overstated, but it is a fact that you do not realise the cognitive impairment yourself.
My device shows me 95% at home (about 1400ft AMSL) and that’s constant. I am not a smoker and have never smoked, neither does anyone around me in my daily life. Is it because of the device? Or can it be that this is real and shall I be worried? I usually don’t have any problems while flying but I try to stay below FL100. I flew only once at FL120 for about 30 minutes and I was thinking about the possibility of hypoxia all the time and trying to notice any kind of signs and I didn’t. The flight was perfectly fine. I didn’t measure my levels there though.
boscomantico wrote:
MHO, that euphoria thing is a myth but who knows.
I would not call it euphoria. I fly with a friend and FE, he is a marathon man and has a high metabolism. I recall an instance where he opened the window and put his hand out. in FL160 at -32C. Not a wise thing to do.
He was on oxygen, but blood sats were low.
He wasn’t the first one to stick his hand out… see this famous article
That “euphoria thing” certainly isn’t a myth.
I once did the pressure chamber experience, and I saw fellow pilots do VERY stupid things with a big smile on their faces, while it was my turn to be on oxygen. It is amazing to see all the colours come backin a second at your first breath on oxygen, after you have been without.
It is also unforgettable to experience an explosive decompression. Only then one can imagine what a panic this must cause when it happens to unknowing passengers, should it happen on an airliner.
I think it should be(come) an obligatory item in a ppl training.
One other thing you learn there, is that each person can react differently in how he experiences hypoxia.
So it can very well be that instead of euphoria one experiences nausea or just feeling a bit uncomfortable.
But this can very well go hand in hand with overconfidence.
If you can ever do do this training, do it. It is money very well spent and teaches you respect for oxygen levels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erotic_asphyxiation
Or perhaps ‘euphoria’ is an AME euphemism.
Fletio_Flyer wrote:
It is also unforgettable to experience an explosive decompression.
Isn’t there a danger of hurting your eardrum? I guess they wouldn’t be doing it for training purposes if it could harm you, but I am still wondering.
Isn’t there a danger of hurting your eardrum? I guess they wouldn’t be doing it for training purposes if it could harm you, but I am still wondering.
I guess so too.
Isn’t there a danger of hurting your eardrum? I guess they wouldn’t be doing it for training purposes if it could harm you, but I am still wondering.
Since then I always smile, when I have to watch stewardesses demonstrate the use of oxygen masks, in alll quiet with a big smile on their face, telling you to help yourself first and then your children. Thinking; wait until it really happens, when people probably even can’t find their own mask in complete fog.
Having been through the full mask donning process in a sea level simulator with a simulated explosive decompression, it is scary enough there. I real life with fogging and eardrums etc must be incredibly hard to keep focus.
