My 2 hour and 47 minute dive!

[mikiedfd17]

I just had to post this somewhere! I recently completed a 2 hour and 47 minute dive! I was looking at my history while logging some recent dives and noticed one that just didn't seem right. I didn't even dive on September 5 at 3pm. . . Then I saw the 167 minutes at 7ft and thought, what the heck is this!

So then finally I went to my calendar and realized that my computer recorded my flight from Punta Cana to Miami! So I did 167 minute dive at 7ft and the temperature was 78*. I find that hard to believe because we were FREEZING on that flight! Now before you all get mad, the computer did say I had a 28 hour surface interval between that dive and my flight so I'm all good in my book and I'm here telling you about it.

Sadly the computer didn't record our flight from Miami to Chicago, but of course that's another story since the plane kept "breaking down" before we took off. . . Another story for another time.

So has anyone else seen this - I just thought it was so funny - now the question is: Do I log that as a dive!? Hahaha

Mike

 

[moneysavr]

Hey Mike,
Never seen that on my rig, was your computer in the hold or on the plane? Guess know it all gets thrown in the hold.
Some weekend you still have a chance come up and hit the lake with us!
Brad

 

[mislav]

Interesting.

The passanger cabin is under pressure during the flight, so your computer might have picked up on this. Was it with you or in with the luggage? But, where did it get enough moisture to activate?

 

[mattroz]

the pressure in the holds and in the passenger cabin are the same
doesn't matter where the computer was

 

[Charlie99]

The "dive" was most likely started upon DESCENT of the airplane, not the ascent.
2 hours and 47 minutes is probably the time between your descent into Miami, and when your continuing flight to Chicago got up to altitude.

Another way to cause a "dive" like this is putting the computer in an otter box or other sealed container that burps out the excess air when at lower pressure during the flight, and then seals up as you descend. When you force open the box, the pressure rapidly returns to the higher pressure of sea level and activates a dive.

As Mattrox notes, cabin and baggage hold are under the same pressure, so it doesn't matter whether the computer is checked luggage or not. (If you doubt the pressurized hold, step back, look at an airplane, and think about how strong that flat floor of the cabin would have to be.)

 

[mislav]

I know the whole fuselage is under equal pressure. My question where his computer was placed is to find out what might have triggered it to turn on.

I thought that it couldn't be only a pressure change, it would need moisture as well? He said he was freezing during the flight. I'm guessing the air in the cabin might have had a lot of moisture. Or he might have spilled his drink on its sensors if he was carrying it on his hand during the flight. Or he might have been sweating...

 

[Notso_Ken]

Interesting.

The passanger cabin is under pressure during the flight, so your computer might have picked up on this. Was it with you or in with the luggage? But, where did it get enough moisture to activate?

Typically cabin pressure is only pressurized with respect to the ambient pressure at altitude. Typical cabin pressurization is at the 7,000 to 8,000 foot equivalent, not at a higher pressure than sea level pressure.

Ken

 

[mislav]

You're right. And I still have no idea how his DC activated itself.

 

[mikiedfd17]

I looked back at the airplane ticket and I think Charlie is right - it was on the DESCENT. . . Our flight landed in Miami at 4:15pm EDT, which was 10 minutes after the "dive started". I never moved my clock ahead from Chicago time (CDT). So I guess it recorded the descent and then the long.

My guess is it probably got some moisture because of being in my gear bag and probably was just enough to turn it on. As you all know the humidity of the islands is incredible and all my gear spent the night before we left in the air conditioning of our room. So I'm sure there was condensation. Plus I'm sure the descent from the cool-thin-dry air of 41,000ft going into Miami's humid air didn't help either. The air that you breathe is actually sucked in from the outside via the engines and compressed and pumped into the plane's air conditioning system (hense why sometimes you smell the jet fuel at the airport - another reason you hope the guy working near the engine doesn't fart!)

The computer did ride below in the luggage compartment. Airplanes are pressurized inside and out so the luggage compartment is the same pressure as the rest of the plane. The computer was not in an air-tight container. I do remember, the pilot made probably one of the most steepest descents ive ever experienced. Twelve mintues after being at 41,000ft, we were on the ground. (It was a very smooth landing).

My only guess however now is that the computer just ended up drying up and turning off because our "delayed" layover was way longer than 2 hours and 47 minutes. It was nearly a 5 hour delay because the plane that took us to Chicago was late coming FROM chicago becuase the orignial plane broke down on the runway, then while we were loading the plane, they fueled it wrong, then they had an electrical problem, then the ground crew went on break and couldnt' push the plane back (one of those flights where you wonder if the plane will actually stay in the air!).

So none the less, it's still a dive! I dive into Miami I guess now.

Thanks for the feedback and the discussion.


mike