Search Results for: oxygen

The overall reason we conduct a preflight inspection is to verify everything on the airplane is both present and working. We check fluids, tire and strut inflation, look for damage and wiggle things like ailerons and rudders to ensure theyre working as they should. Once were satisfied the airplane is ready to fly, we mount up and launch. But what if we find a piece of equipment thats not working? Can we still fly?

Having reached the two-year mark, the disappearance of MH370 can certainly be called the greatest mystery since Amelia Earhart. But after talking with colleagues, friends and acquaintances, I’ve stumbled on another mystery. Despite scientific evidence that proves otherwise, many of these educated people are emphatic in their belief that a 650,000-pound airplane is hidden in […]

This month we’re featuring two cockpit must-haves. Left undetected, carbon monoxide will deprive the body’s cells of critical oxygen. This silent killer works quickly, so early detection is key. Whether you choose the Tocsin 3 Cockpit Monitor or another product, you owe it to yourself to keep a CO monitor in the cockpit. And a […]

As pilots, our biggest oxygen consumer is our brain. Night vision is one of the first things to go. The retinas rod cells, which provide night vision, are heavy oxygen consumers. Retinal function begins to deteriorate at altitudes as low as 5000 feet, and so will your night vision. Low perfusion of oxygen also reduces visual acuity. Blurred vision and tunnel vision are both common symptoms of hypoxia. If you experience these symptoms before reducing altitude or starting supplemental oxygen, they may linger.

Ive been flying for 40 years in my J-3 Cub, in the USAF, for a major carrier, etc., and its always a special thing when I stumble across genuinely new and valuable information about flying. The landing-out decision seems to hinge on the difficult psychological step of accepting and owning the situation and the consequences of dealing with the aftermath of getting the airplane back out, which Durden addressed eloquently, if not almost philosophically.

Daher once again surprised the aviation world last week by announcing a new model of the TBM single-engine turboprop — a model that is already FAA and EASA certified. The TBM 930 was announced at a press conference at the company’s Sun ‘n Fun exhibit as the cover was taken off the new model to […]

Reader feedback and questions from past issues of IFR. We read em all and try to answer most e-mail, but it can take a month or more. Please be sure to include your full name and location. Contact us at IFR@BelvoirPubs.com.

I always try to ask myself before each takeoff, Whats going to try to kill me on this flight? Its a fair question to ask, and one that deserves a considered response, at least to yourself. The trick is theres usually more than one answer.

As you probably know, the movie The Martian concerns an astronaut who gets stranded on Mars and contrives to survive there until rescuers can come to get him. It has a kind of Potemkin village verisimilitude: a facade of scientific-sounding talk concealing ramshackle structures of crossed fingers and nonsense. Screenwriters are not under oath, but unfortunately […]

I’m not superstitious. I’ll brave an elevator that stops on the 13th floor. I won’t deem the day a potential catastrophe when a black cat crosses my path. But after a round trip to São Paulo, Brazil, during a total lunar eclipse, I had to wonder. This particular eclipse also qualified as a blood moon, […]