Random anecdote.
Back when Mike was flying the F22, when it was very new, he had an incident with the mask when a caustic chemical shot up and blinded him for several seconds (very critical seconds as it was on takeoff). He felt around for the button to eject the canopy but couldn’t find it, so he put his hand on the ejection handle and was just about to pull when his vision cleared a little (enough to land). He told the maintainers and pilots about the problem and it was investigated for months. They couldn’t find anything wrong and had no explanation. After many years went by, he got a call from a pilot who had heard from the rumor mill it had happened to Mike. It (finally) happened again to someone else. They never figured it out.
Most crashes are the result of very unusual (even freakishly unusual) circumstances that defy easy explanation. That’s why Mike never analyzes a crash until he has most of the information (and often not even then).
ChickenHead
1 hour ago
Not me!
Even though I’ve never flown anything with more than a single prop, two, if you count the tail, I can sit in my armchair and pretty much explain anything about any airplane.
In this case, he was blinded for several critical seconds on takeoff but his vision cleared enough to land.
This is a common side effect of time travel and is to be expected.
For less plausable explanations, let’s look more closely.
“Caustic” chemical but no trace found – this likely means it was something that could evaporate completely without a trace as opposed to something that would leave a residu (presuming a competent investigation)
What chemicals fit this?
– alcohol, MEK, acetone, toluine left over from cleaning
What was the maintenance history before that flight?
These all have a distinct smell recognizable to most people.
– refrigerant from the ECS
This might smell a bit sweet. Huff some and see if it brings back the memories.
– OBOGS zeolite off-gassing (ammonia and many other possibilities with thermal decomposition of nitrogen organics)
This is an entire conversation and certainly worth discussing depending on the definition of “caustic”
This is a very solvable problem and it starts with finding what class of chemicals was involved.
Then we determine how that class of chemical was introduced or generated.
Tell us more about smell and effect on ENT.
Liz
1 hour ago
“Caustic” would be my phraseology, CH.
He didn’t use that term, I only stated it because it seemed to fit the description.
He said something came up out of his mask that stung his eyes so badly it blinded him. After a (disturbing number of) few seconds his eyes watered so much he could use the blurry vision to see (a bit).
Liz
1 hour ago
He did not mention a smell.
FWIW, I only became aware of this a couple of days ago…we were eating at a restaurant and my second son said something about him being blinded on takeoff.
Mike never told me these anecdotes back then, but apparently he told our boys.
Random anecdote.
Back when Mike was flying the F22, when it was very new, he had an incident with the mask when a caustic chemical shot up and blinded him for several seconds (very critical seconds as it was on takeoff). He felt around for the button to eject the canopy but couldn’t find it, so he put his hand on the ejection handle and was just about to pull when his vision cleared a little (enough to land). He told the maintainers and pilots about the problem and it was investigated for months. They couldn’t find anything wrong and had no explanation. After many years went by, he got a call from a pilot who had heard from the rumor mill it had happened to Mike. It (finally) happened again to someone else. They never figured it out.
Most crashes are the result of very unusual (even freakishly unusual) circumstances that defy easy explanation. That’s why Mike never analyzes a crash until he has most of the information (and often not even then).
Not me!
Even though I’ve never flown anything with more than a single prop, two, if you count the tail, I can sit in my armchair and pretty much explain anything about any airplane.
In this case, he was blinded for several critical seconds on takeoff but his vision cleared enough to land.
This is a common side effect of time travel and is to be expected.
For less plausable explanations, let’s look more closely.
“Caustic” chemical but no trace found – this likely means it was something that could evaporate completely without a trace as opposed to something that would leave a residu (presuming a competent investigation)
What chemicals fit this?
– alcohol, MEK, acetone, toluine left over from cleaning
What was the maintenance history before that flight?
These all have a distinct smell recognizable to most people.
– refrigerant from the ECS
This might smell a bit sweet. Huff some and see if it brings back the memories.
– OBOGS zeolite off-gassing (ammonia and many other possibilities with thermal decomposition of nitrogen organics)
This is an entire conversation and certainly worth discussing depending on the definition of “caustic”
This is a very solvable problem and it starts with finding what class of chemicals was involved.
Then we determine how that class of chemical was introduced or generated.
Tell us more about smell and effect on ENT.
“Caustic” would be my phraseology, CH.
He didn’t use that term, I only stated it because it seemed to fit the description.
He said something came up out of his mask that stung his eyes so badly it blinded him. After a (disturbing number of) few seconds his eyes watered so much he could use the blurry vision to see (a bit).
He did not mention a smell.
FWIW, I only became aware of this a couple of days ago…we were eating at a restaurant and my second son said something about him being blinded on takeoff.
Mike never told me these anecdotes back then, but apparently he told our boys.