On 11/3/2018 7:51 AM, Tango Eight wrote:
On Friday, November 2, 2018 at 6:55:07 PM UTC-4, Duster wrote:

The issue with the U2 pilots was that they were wearing uninflated suits
in a cabin pressure way too low.

Okay... you're an insider then? Can you please amplify?

This isn't a great topic to speculate about.

Here are the facts as I know them:

The suit is backup for cabin pressure failure, only.

Nominal cabin pressure is 29K.

Pilot is on 100% ox (from two hours before takeoff).

This isn't a hypoxia problem.

The inference that can be drawn is that neurological DCS is more insidious
than most realize. That was the point of linking the article.

T8

Some time in the past two months I happened to watch (on YouTube) a
(non-USAF, I seem to recall) nominally hour-long program on precisely this
issue. It named names, and included interview snippets of some of the key
principals - U2 pilots - involved. I *think* it was filmed ca. 2012-ish...as
in after confirmation of the info in TB's linked article, but wouldn't bet my
retirement on that being an accurate remembrance...but I seem to remember it
stating to the effect: "certain medically-detectable
brain-differences/potential-anomalies have been noted in former U2 pilots."

I would bet *some* of my retirement on the accuracy of remembering that ca.
2003 the USAF changed the cabin pressure of U2s from 29k to the 10k range.
Regrettably I don't remember the name of the program, and leave it to the
interested reader to ferret a link out for personal use...

Bob W.

P.S. By way of hoping to head-off RAS Thread Nazis (and I've occasionally been
one of 'em), I'll note I used - in pre EDS days - an A14-based system to soar
to ~31k feet...one time, without a backup system, and more than quite enough
for my then-somewhat-youthful risk tolerance.

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