10,500 feet is way the heck up there!

In article 9I_ib.130302$%h1.131919@sccrnsc02,
Jay Honeck wrote:

Don't your ears bother you?

One thing I noticed when I started flying was that my ears stopped popping
after about 20 hours. I thought it was normal to get acclimated, but when
I mentioned it to some other local pilots they said they all still have
to clear their ears.

Benefits of a big head, I guess. ;-)

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

Don't your ears bother you?

One thing I noticed when I started flying was that my ears stopped popping
after about 20 hours. I thought it was normal to get acclimated, but when
I mentioned it to some other local pilots they said they all still have
to clear their ears.

Benefits of a big head, I guess. ;-)

You routinely descent at 3500 feet per minute, Ben?

My ears never bother me in normal flight, but dropping *that* fast might
cause someone some pretty severe discomfort.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

1 mile high is a pressure of around 12.2 PSI. so dropping from 5280' to
sea level (14.7 PSI) (splash) would make a 2-1/2 PSI increase in pressure.
If you did that in 1 minute, then that would be 5280 FPM decent rate.

Compare to S.C.U.B.A. It's not that hard on the ears. In sea water,
every 33 feet is equal to 1 atmosphere of air (14.7PSI) A realitively fast
decent (2 minute) 132' would be like dropping around 23-1/2 times faster or
124,000 FPM A 58.8PSI increase in less than 2 minutes and it's not that hard
to do.

Anyone seen that girl that did that free dive to, I forget 500 feet deep
or some crazy amount like that?

Try it with a cold and it can get real uncomfortable though. The trip
back up is where you need to go slowly or risk the bends. I have only ever
dropped fast like that a few times in a plane. What's that equal out to in a
160 nmph dive? I never realized an altimeter could move that fast.

What a great picture though. Next time I go far away, I will have to
hold the altitude, and get a shot like that. Yours turned out very well.
That was through a window?
Wayne



Benefits of a big head, I guess. ;-)

You routinely descent at 3500 feet per minute, Ben?

My ears never bother me in normal flight, but dropping *that* fast might
cause someone some pretty severe discomfort.
--

"Wayne" wrote in message
news
1 mile high is a pressure of around 12.2 PSI. so dropping from 5280'
to
sea level (14.7 PSI) (splash) would make a 2-1/2 PSI increase in pressure.
If you did that in 1 minute, then that would be 5280 FPM decent rate.

Compare to S.C.U.B.A. It's not that hard on the ears. In sea water,
every 33 feet is equal to 1 atmosphere of air (14.7PSI) A realitively fast
decent (2 minute) 132' would be like dropping around 23-1/2 times faster
or
124,000 FPM A 58.8PSI increase in less than 2 minutes and it's not that
hard
to do.

Anyone seen that girl that did that free dive to, I forget 500 feet
deep
or some crazy amount like that?

Try it with a cold and it can get real uncomfortable though.

The trip back up is where you need to go slowly or risk the bends.
Won't happen in a free dive. This is a result of taking a breath from some
depth (as little as 4 feet down) and then not exhaling when returning to the
surface, or staying at a certain depth for a long period of time and not
using decompression stops on the way back up :-)

I have only ever
dropped fast like that a few times in a plane. What's that equal out to in
a
160 nmph dive? I never realized an altimeter could move that fast.

What a great picture though. Next time I go far away, I will have to
hold the altitude, and get a shot like that. Yours turned out very well.
That was through a window?
Wayne



Benefits of a big head, I guess. ;-)

You routinely descent at 3500 feet per minute, Ben?

My ears never bother me in normal flight, but dropping *that* fast might
cause someone some pretty severe discomfort.
--

"John E. Carty" wrote in message
.. .
The trip back up is where you need to go slowly or risk the bends.
Won't happen in a free dive. This is a result of taking a breath from some
depth (as little as 4 feet down) and then not exhaling when returning to
the
surface

The "bends" result solely from too rapid an ascent, whereas holding your
breath is a problem no matter how slowly you ascend. The two are both
dangerous, but are not the same thing.

Otherwise, your point is accurate as far as I know.

Pete

Ascending while holding your breath (a breath taken from a tank at a deeper
level) won't cause the bends. It will burst your lungs-or something to that
affect- as the enclosed air in your lungs expands under decreasing pressure.
If you take your breath and hold it a tthe surface, descend and then ascend,
there is no problem with that as your lungs are at capacity at the surface
already.

mike regish

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"John E. Carty" wrote in message
.. .
The trip back up is where you need to go slowly or risk the bends.
Won't happen in a free dive. This is a result of taking a breath from
some
depth (as little as 4 feet down) and then not exhaling when returning to
the
surface

The "bends" result solely from too rapid an ascent, whereas holding your
breath is a problem no matter how slowly you ascend. The two are both
dangerous, but are not the same thing.

Otherwise, your point is accurate as far as I know.

Pete

"mike regish" wrote in message
news:HNajb.136846$%h1.138365@sccrnsc02...
Ascending while holding your breath (a breath taken from a tank at a
deeper
level) won't cause the bends. It will burst your lungs-or something to
that
affect-

It can cause an air embolism, which means the air bubbles in your blood can
expand to the point where they block your blood vessels.

as the enclosed air in your lungs expands under decreasing pressure.
If you take your breath and hold it a tthe surface, descend and then
ascend,
there is no problem with that as your lungs are at capacity at the surface
already.

mike regish

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"John E. Carty" wrote in message
.. .
The trip back up is where you need to go slowly or risk the bends.
Won't happen in a free dive. This is a result of taking a breath from
some
depth (as little as 4 feet down) and then not exhaling when returning
to
the
surface

The "bends" result solely from too rapid an ascent, whereas holding your
breath is a problem no matter how slowly you ascend. The two are both
dangerous, but are not the same thing.

Otherwise, your point is accurate as far as I know.

Pete

Disregard my previous response. I misread your post.

mike regish

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"John E. Carty" wrote in message
.. .
The trip back up is where you need to go slowly or risk the bends.
Won't happen in a free dive. This is a result of taking a breath from
some
depth (as little as 4 feet down) and then not exhaling when returning to
the
surface

The "bends" result solely from too rapid an ascent, whereas holding your
breath is a problem no matter how slowly you ascend. The two are both
dangerous, but are not the same thing.

Otherwise, your point is accurate as far as I know.

Pete

Won't happen in a free dive. This is a result of taking a breath from some
depth (as little as 4 feet down) and then not exhaling when returning to
the
surface, or staying at a certain depth for a long period of time and not
using decompression stops on the way back up :-)


Not entirely accurate, but close. Freediving rarely results in bends (aka
DCS, decompression sickness), as you a point out. The other condition (DCI,
decompression illness) includes "overexpansion injury", or poppin' a lung in
the vernacular. This also rarely affects freedivers as the volume in their
lungs decreases with depth, and expands back to near the original volume
upon ascent (unless they cheat and take a hit off a scuba tank at depth.)

Breathing compressed air at depth really loads up your tissues with
nitrogen, putting one at higher risk. But the root cause of DCS is the
nitrogen coming out of solution (your tissues) too rapidly, no matter what
the amount or where it came from. People can and do get bent (DCS)
freediving.

--Matthew

I realize that. The more nitrogen you take in, the more of a problem it
is during an ascent. One breath of air, as in a free dive won't generally
cause too much trouble. Holding your breath on the way up rather than
letting the gas go as your lungs expand is another matter, pneumothorax (sp)
I believe the term is. That's not the bends though. I was referring to the 2
minute decent to 132 feet though, not a breath hold. I personally have done
that, I cannot hold my breath like that.

The trip back up is where you need to go slowly or risk the bends.
Won't happen in a free dive. This is a result of taking a breath from some
depth (as little as 4 feet down) and then not exhaling when returning to
the
surface, or staying at a certain depth for a long period of time and not
using decompression stops on the way back up :-)