txapacheguy
Contributor
However, there aren't any too many 10,000' mountains around the Gulf of Mexico. And maybe fighter jet pilots have more leeway and flexibility to stay away from weather than commercial flights on fixed routes and schedules.
I think you are correct on both accounts. The reason I used the 10,000' mountains as an example for the flying/driving rule is simply to illustrate that someone planning to continue decompressing while in flight might wind up screwed even with a best case scenario following the loss of cabin pressure. 10,000 feet is the altitude that a jet without cabin pressurization is likely to attempt to descend to if able. That 2,000' difference is what I was getting at.
Also, I agree that couple of guys/gals in a slick fighter/trainer jet can probably come out of altitude quicker than a 747. A descent from 30,000 to 10,000' is a 20,000' change in altitude which would obviously require a 10,000 foot per minute rate of descent. That rate of descent would be pretty easy to obtain and sustain in a fighter jet, but I am not sure a passenger jet with nearly 200 people onboard would make that two minute descent. Guys on here that fly the "heavies", please correct me if I am wrong...
Either way, I am glad that I am not the first person to see a potential problem due to an unexpected loss of cabin pressure in flight following a dive. It is also reassuring that there were no recorded instances of DCS during the research you mentioned...