Flight security analysis (was Re: Confiscation of Anti-War Video)

[Major Variola (ret)]

At 05:16 PM 11/1/02 -0500, Steve Furlong wrote:
>But Maj Variola made a questionable point, too:
>
>> At 30K feet, you have about half a minute before you pass out
>
>I just tested that, sort of. I emptied my lungs, then lifted weights
for
>30 seconds. It was a little painful toward the end, but I didn't grey
>out or anything.

I was unable to find my ref.  But I also know that muscles
can work anaerobically; also that asphyxiation-feeling is from
too much CO2, not a lack of O2.  Also, you can't really
empty your lungs.

I once saw a show about medicine.  In it, an M.D. rebreathed
his own CO2-scrubbed air as he wrote the alphabet, on camera.
Halfway through he started scribbling incoherently and fell over,
unawares.
(There were assistants to save him.)

FWIW