I would like to read a good and thorough discussion/explanation of flying and/or driving after an altitude dive. We had a brief discussion on this in the Rocky Mountain Oyster club, but I wanted to throw this out to a wider audience.
Some things to consider in this discussion:
1. If someone dives at 7,000 feet, how does that affect a decision to fly in an airplane pressurized to 7,000-8,000 feet? (I have heard both figures, with the 7,000 foot figure coming from a pilot/air traffic controller.)
2. If someone dives in Utah at, say, 5,000 feet, what consideration should there be before driving to Denver through the Eisenhower tunnel (11,000 feet).
3. In a drive described in #2, the diver would have a gradual increase in altitude, thus increasing the pressure gradient slowly. How would that affect the off-gassing rate?
4. How about a smaller increase in altitude, say going from the Blue Hole in New Mexico (4,600 feet) to Raton Pass (7,800 feet)?
Some things to consider in this discussion:
1. If someone dives at 7,000 feet, how does that affect a decision to fly in an airplane pressurized to 7,000-8,000 feet? (I have heard both figures, with the 7,000 foot figure coming from a pilot/air traffic controller.)
2. If someone dives in Utah at, say, 5,000 feet, what consideration should there be before driving to Denver through the Eisenhower tunnel (11,000 feet).
3. In a drive described in #2, the diver would have a gradual increase in altitude, thus increasing the pressure gradient slowly. How would that affect the off-gassing rate?
4. How about a smaller increase in altitude, say going from the Blue Hole in New Mexico (4,600 feet) to Raton Pass (7,800 feet)?