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I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

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Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#201

Post by the__alchemist »

dctoedt wrote: post #168
otikik wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not only it’s inhumane, it’s also stupid: it incentivizes pilots who have problems like that to hide them, instead of coming forward.

According to my dad, flight surgeons are the natural enemies of military pilots.

Depends. Fighter squadrons generally have their own dedicated in-house flight doc. They stop by the squadron regularly, hang out outside work, deploy and go TDY with you etc. The good ones will do their best not to screw you over. It's best to be guarded against anyone external though!

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#202

Post by knodi123 »

anderspitman wrote: post #179
dirtyid wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember that page

Any idea what some good search terms might be to find it? Googling hasn't yielded any leads for me yet. Good chance it's down but maybe it exists on archive.org somewhere.

"unplanned freefall" will get you there. ;-)

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#203

Post by Rebelgecko »

merely-unlikely wrote: post #136

It amazes the quantity of resources that will sometimes be deployed to rescue a sole man (or a handful) lost at sea. Not to say this is a bad thing; I would certainly appreciate it if I were lost at sea. But it might be questionable to a pure utilitarian. I counted at least one plane, two ships, and a helicopter all being diverted for the rescue. That's a great deal of expense in terms of fuel, I assume hundreds of c…

On top of the morale reasons that lots of people mentioned, the opportunity cost isn't necessarily as bad as it sounds. Pilots need a certain # of hours every year. If the option is "spend 40 hours this month doing training exercises" vs "spend 40 hours saving a pilot", the utilitarian argument becomes a bit weaker. Especially if search & rescue is part of their regular duties.

Similar for sailors. They get paid the same whether they're rescuing someone or drawing figure-8s in the middle of the ocean.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#205

Post by msla »

lkrubner wrote: post #196

This doesn't seem like a big deal, since it is only 15,000 feet and he had the help of an unopened parachute, which certainly slowed his descent, even though it didn't slow his descent enough. By contrast, Vesna Vulovic fell 33,000 with no parachute to help her, and she also lived. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9496466/stewardess-terror-fell...

Back-of-envelope math on an educational website says terminal velocity for a human in a horizontal position (that is, someone with some control over themselves trying to not go fast) is approximately 120 mph, achieved after falling about 1490 ft.

https://owlcation.com/stem/Drag-Force-and-the-Terminal-Veloc...

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#206

Post by tomcam »

knodi123 wrote: post #204
tomcam wrote: post #99

I on the other hand have literally broken my leg twice walking on featureless asphalt

Yeesh, maybe you should try and avoid featureless asphalt in the future.

furiously takes notes

I think the first time was because the asphalt was very very fresh. It was still sticky, and it was a hot sunny day in Oregon. My theory is that my shoe stuck to it.

The second time was on my nightly constitutional around my own neighborhood. I'm hoping it's because there was a buckled portion near the curb. But a couple years later I would have foot surgery, and it turns out my bones are spongy. The screws just kind of slipped out because the bone wouldn't hold them. So now I take thousands of milligrams of calcium per day on order of the foot doctor. That in turn has left me with giant kidney stones. :O

Long story short I just don't think I have the kind of luck Cliff Judkins had that fateful day.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#207

Post by gavinhoward »

dmitrygr wrote: post #194
ghoward wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, absolutely. I have a pilot acquaintance that would refuse to go to the doctor when he was younger. I also tried to become a pilot, but because of a documented history of taking anti-depressants, the FAA grounded me for life, despite being years removed from needing them. [1] I wish that history was not documented. [1]: https://gavinhoward.com/2022/09/grounded-for-life-losing-the...

Are you sure? Last I checked (a friend was on anti-depressants), as long as you only want a private (not commercial or ATP), a year off the meds or a year at a stable dose and a letter from your doc that you're ok will be enough to get a 3rd class medical.

I have been denied a medical by the Federal Air Surgeon. I have the personal letter from her to prove it.

This is usually done on a case-by-case basis; I just happened to come down on the unlucky end of it.

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#208

Post by TrueSlacker0 »

dxbydt wrote: post #47
michael_fine wrote: post #22

In a story of insane luck (and unluck!), the craziest part is definitely this " He said that if I had had a spleen, it almost certainly would have ruptured when I hit the water, and I would have bled to death. Of the 25 pilots in our squadron, I am the only one without a spleen. It gives me something to think about. Maybe it does you as well."

aesop #1 - king spots an ant drowning in the pond. king uses a leaf to rescue ant. courtiers admonish king for wasting his busy schedule on trivia like ants. at night the king sleeps & the snake opens his fangs to strike the king's leg. the ant bites the king's toe & king moves his leg in the nick of time. the next morning the king admonishes his courtiers - if not for the ant i wouldn't be alive. aesop #2 - man fall…

Sorta reminds me of the Zen Koan "Is That So"

"The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbours as one living a pure life.

A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was with child.

This made her parents angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.

In great anger the parent went to the master. “Is that so?” was all he would say.

After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbors and everything else he needed.

A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth – the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fish market.

The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back.

Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: “Is that so?”"

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#209

Post by csallen »

Diesel555 wrote: post #165
elteto wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Rolled" :)

He skidded the airplane. He applied rudder trim so that the tail was not directly behind the aircraft. He also mentions trying to be nose high. What this would look like I think. Slow down to increase angle of attack in level flight. The nose is now high (likely already occurred after flameout and ejection attempts without thinking about it - check). Go full deflection rudder trim to skid the aircraft. Now trim the a…

As someone who doesn't fly planes, it's almost impossible to understand this comment or the author's original passage lol

Re: I Fell 15,000 Feet and Lived (2009)

#210

Post by tomcam »

dctoedt wrote: post #189
Diesel555 wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the craziest part was where in this sequence of events does the pilot say > “This is very serious,” I thought. It's just after > "The main, 24-foot parachute was just flapping in the breeze and was tangled in its own shroud lines. It hadn’t opened! I could see the white folds neatly arranged, fluttering feebly in the air. So... after the flame-out, after the fire, after the lack of radios, after the failed…

>> “This is very serious,” I thought. That's typical of military pilots — their ethos is to present a calm, unruffled mien to the world. Phrases such as, "I was a bit concerned" would translate as "I was this close to sh*tting my pants from terror" in normal human-speak. (Source: Dad and sister were military pilots, plus my own service aboard an aircraft carrier.) There's a great and probably-apocryphal story in Tom…

Damn check out /u/dctoedt's profile. It's not just his father who's sickeningly accomplished. https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=dctoedt
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