minnesota - Midwest Flyer

public 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
based in Minnesota that supports
technological solutions to improve
our environment for a sustainable
future. Its programs are devoted to
supporting, honoring, and educating
individuals, through the annual honorary
Lindbergh Award and the
Lindbergh-Lycoming Grant program,
which provides grants for research or
educational projects that will make
important contributions to technology
and the environment.
The annual deadline for all
Lindbergh-Lycoming Grant applications
is in mid-June for funding the
following year. The extended deadline
for the Lindbergh-Lycoming Aviation
Grant is Nov. 1, 2007, with funding in
July 2008. Anyone interested in
applying for this grant will find information
and a downloadable application
on the Internet at: www.lindberghfoundation.org.
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FAA Presents Master Pilot Award To West Bend Pilot
OSHKOSH, WIS. – On
Tuesday, July 24, the
Federal Aviation
Administration Flight
Standards District Office in
Milwaukee, Wis., honored
James A. “JI” Igou of West
Bend, Wis., with the FAA’s
Wright Brothers Master
Pilot Award. Igou is considered
by those who know
him an icon in aviation,
having been a very successful
long-time maintenance
technician, IA and pilot.
For many years Igou operated a
shop at the Hartford Airport, where his
HIGH ON HEALTH
Density Altitude – Is it important for
pilots, as well as airplanes?
by Dr. John Beasley, AME
When I
was
young
and foolish (as
opposed to my current
state), I loaded
five fellow medical
students into a rented
Cessna 206 and
John Beasley
we took off from
Minneapolis to fly
to San Diego with plans to go up the
West Coast to look at internships.
The second day we flew from
Denver, Colo. to Page, Arizona and
then across the desert. It was
September and hot… very hot. The
thermals over the desert were not
pleasant and in an effort to get to cooler
and more stable air, I climbed to
48 MIDWEST FLYER MAGAZINE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2007
(L/R) FAA Milwaukee FSDO General Aviation Operations
Inspector, Jan Gerstner; James A. “JI” Igou; Dixie Igou;
FAA Milwaukee FSDO ASAP Program Manager, Ray A.
Peterson.
services and beloved quirks were treasured.
Igou has been previously presented
with the FAA’s Charles Taylor
Master Mechanic Award, reflecting his
many accomplishments. Igou’s wife,
Dixie, had just flown in from Africa to
join him at the presentation, given at
the meeting of the Midwest Antique
Aircraft Club during EAA AirVenture
in Oshkosh, Wis. Igou is a member of
EAA Chapter 1158 at West Bend, Wis.
The Wright Brothers Master Pilot
Award is presented to pilots with at
least 50 years of continuous, honorable
pilot experience in aviation. It
requires at least three recommendations
from other people, a current
flight review, and a good aviation
safety record. The award recognizes
those who have materially contributed
to aviation through their efforts and
example.
❑
12,500 feet. The outside temperature
was still about 60. We were up there
for over 3 hours (I don’t think I knew
of the oxygen rules in those days), and
wondered why I had this splitting
headache and felt so “out of it.” Later, I
did the calculations. Assuming that the
pressure altitude was 12,500 feet MSL,
we were at a density altitude of over
15,000 feet. For many years, I assumed
that this was high-density altitude that
left me feeling so lousy.
We all think of density altitude as
being important for aircraft – obviously
it is – but is there an effect on
the pilot? When Dave Weiman
(MFM) first asked me to write about
density altitude, I assumed that the
effects on airplane and pilot would be
comparable. I was wrong!
I did a bit of internet research, and
found to my surprise that density altitude
doesn’t really matter from the physiological
point of view. The reason for this is
that when we breathe in air at any temperature,
we warm it in our lungs to 98.6
degrees Fahrenheit (body temperature)
almost instantly! Thus, in a sense, the
“density” altitude of the air in our lungs
is always the same for any pressure altitude
regardless of the outside air temperature.
For a full review, visit
http://www.dr-amy.com/rich/oxygen/ and
see the article by Dr. Robert Carlson,
which is where I got this information.
So it turns out that the reason I felt
so lousy over the desert was simply
that I don’t tolerate 3 hours at 12,500
without supplemental oxygen. Duh!
There is a reason for the rule.
Also, aside from the legal issues,
there are also issues of mental capacity
and comfort. There is probably
considerable variability in the susceptibility
to symptoms related to hypoxia,
and for us “greybeards,” we may
have you young hotshots beat on this
one. We’re only about 50 to 75% as
likely to get symptoms as you are at
any given altitude. I don’t know why.