Tristar
Pattern Altitude
On Thursday I received a wonderful opportunity to take a trip to the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (FAA headquarters) and experience training as well as "flight" in their altitude chamber.
The Aeronautical Center reminds me of an air force base in the fact you have to receive passes for both you and your car. It's also separated into different areas of operations. CAMI is one of them. CAMI stands for Civil Aerospace Medical Institute which is where studies are made with many aspects such as aircraft impact tests and pilot physiology. Since they offer free hypoxia and altitude chamber classes, our instructors take classes each year.
The first portion of the training consisted of a four hour class starting at 8 in the morning. Many aspects are covered such as how our lungs process oxygen, different types of hypoxia, its symptoms and time of useful consciousness at different altitudes. We got a 10 minute break each hour which was very nice to be able to get up once in a while. We went to lunch around 12 and walked through an underground tunnel system underneath the street to the cafeteria which was a neat idea to stay out of the weather.
After lunch, we were prebriefed on what would happen in the altitude chamber itself.
The chamber looks like a small trailer sized room they placed in their testing center which reminded me of a large warehouse. There is enough room for 20 people plus chairs for 2 instructors. Once we sat down, and instructed how to use our mask, we began our first climb at 3,000 fpm. The first altitude was around 7,000 ft to see how everyone's ears adjusted to the change. If someone had a cold or ears could not be cleared, he/she would be strongly suggested to sit it out. After that, we climbed in pressure altitude to 25,000 ft. We were given a worksheet with different simple problems such as addition problems, mazes, and to write our name in cursive. Our group was separated into halves so that we could look at each other. Once we got to 25,000 ft, the other side was instructed to remove their masks. Our side then recorded their reactions while they worked the problems. The guy across from me turned white with blue lips, a common symptom. Once they put on their mask and recovered from their experiences, it was our turn.
My personal reaction: I removed my oxygen mask and within 30 seconds had become dizzy and it looked like I was watching everyone through a horrible TV reception. The static was all colors of grays, whites, and even bright blues. Within the second minute, I was working on my math problems as well as writing my name. Then I began to shake uncontrollably and felt my entire face turn flush. The instructor saw this and said, "Tristan you need to put on your mask." I had heard him, but the comprehension wasn't there. If I had a few seconds longer, I'm not sure if I would have picked it up eventually or just looked at the instructor like he was crazy. He didn't give me that time and put my mask on. Whats interesting is when he did, the plastic piece that covers your mouth, folded over so I couldn't breath. While hypoxic, I had to remove it and fix it. So even though my thought process had slowed, I still knew what was going on. Within a few seconds the dizziness went away.
I learned later that everyone was pretty amazed at how purple I turned. I looked back at my worksheet and apparently on a long addition problem, 6+5 = 82 and my last name is VanNocker but I wrote in cursive VnVanVannnnn.
After everyone had their masks securely in place, we descended to a lower altitude, we were given a color wheel, and the lights lowered, and then instructed to note the difference in color with and without oxygen. If you will remember from your training, your eyes need more oxygen at night as well as your rods which are more sensitive at night than your cones (cones see color, while rods are used for peripheral vision and light variations). After I took my mask off, the yellows started to turn white and the oranges and reds blended together. I could tell there was a difference in shade, but color was hard to differentiate. This is great in relating what could actually happen if you tried to read a sectional chart. I was also still recovering from shaking during our 25,000 ft experience. This lasted all of about 5-10 minutes. In conclusion, we slowly descended back to our normal Oklahoma altitude of 1,000 ft.
All in all; I highly recommend this to anyone who has the opportunity. Its one thing to say you need oxygen at certain altitudes, its another to experience why. Hypoxia influences everyone differently which is why you have to understand the effects you read out of a book but know it could affect you slightly different than it would your buddy. I have to admit that it hits you quicker than you'd expect and if you don’t know what to look for, you could pass it as being tired or just feeling sick. If I had to put my experience into a lump sum, I would mix being little drunk and severely dehydrated (and no I wasn't). It was an awesome learning experience and I'm glad I now know what to personally look for.
The Aeronautical Center reminds me of an air force base in the fact you have to receive passes for both you and your car. It's also separated into different areas of operations. CAMI is one of them. CAMI stands for Civil Aerospace Medical Institute which is where studies are made with many aspects such as aircraft impact tests and pilot physiology. Since they offer free hypoxia and altitude chamber classes, our instructors take classes each year.
The first portion of the training consisted of a four hour class starting at 8 in the morning. Many aspects are covered such as how our lungs process oxygen, different types of hypoxia, its symptoms and time of useful consciousness at different altitudes. We got a 10 minute break each hour which was very nice to be able to get up once in a while. We went to lunch around 12 and walked through an underground tunnel system underneath the street to the cafeteria which was a neat idea to stay out of the weather.
After lunch, we were prebriefed on what would happen in the altitude chamber itself.
The chamber looks like a small trailer sized room they placed in their testing center which reminded me of a large warehouse. There is enough room for 20 people plus chairs for 2 instructors. Once we sat down, and instructed how to use our mask, we began our first climb at 3,000 fpm. The first altitude was around 7,000 ft to see how everyone's ears adjusted to the change. If someone had a cold or ears could not be cleared, he/she would be strongly suggested to sit it out. After that, we climbed in pressure altitude to 25,000 ft. We were given a worksheet with different simple problems such as addition problems, mazes, and to write our name in cursive. Our group was separated into halves so that we could look at each other. Once we got to 25,000 ft, the other side was instructed to remove their masks. Our side then recorded their reactions while they worked the problems. The guy across from me turned white with blue lips, a common symptom. Once they put on their mask and recovered from their experiences, it was our turn.
My personal reaction: I removed my oxygen mask and within 30 seconds had become dizzy and it looked like I was watching everyone through a horrible TV reception. The static was all colors of grays, whites, and even bright blues. Within the second minute, I was working on my math problems as well as writing my name. Then I began to shake uncontrollably and felt my entire face turn flush. The instructor saw this and said, "Tristan you need to put on your mask." I had heard him, but the comprehension wasn't there. If I had a few seconds longer, I'm not sure if I would have picked it up eventually or just looked at the instructor like he was crazy. He didn't give me that time and put my mask on. Whats interesting is when he did, the plastic piece that covers your mouth, folded over so I couldn't breath. While hypoxic, I had to remove it and fix it. So even though my thought process had slowed, I still knew what was going on. Within a few seconds the dizziness went away.
I learned later that everyone was pretty amazed at how purple I turned. I looked back at my worksheet and apparently on a long addition problem, 6+5 = 82 and my last name is VanNocker but I wrote in cursive VnVanVannnnn.
After everyone had their masks securely in place, we descended to a lower altitude, we were given a color wheel, and the lights lowered, and then instructed to note the difference in color with and without oxygen. If you will remember from your training, your eyes need more oxygen at night as well as your rods which are more sensitive at night than your cones (cones see color, while rods are used for peripheral vision and light variations). After I took my mask off, the yellows started to turn white and the oranges and reds blended together. I could tell there was a difference in shade, but color was hard to differentiate. This is great in relating what could actually happen if you tried to read a sectional chart. I was also still recovering from shaking during our 25,000 ft experience. This lasted all of about 5-10 minutes. In conclusion, we slowly descended back to our normal Oklahoma altitude of 1,000 ft.
All in all; I highly recommend this to anyone who has the opportunity. Its one thing to say you need oxygen at certain altitudes, its another to experience why. Hypoxia influences everyone differently which is why you have to understand the effects you read out of a book but know it could affect you slightly different than it would your buddy. I have to admit that it hits you quicker than you'd expect and if you don’t know what to look for, you could pass it as being tired or just feeling sick. If I had to put my experience into a lump sum, I would mix being little drunk and severely dehydrated (and no I wasn't). It was an awesome learning experience and I'm glad I now know what to personally look for.
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