@pyropulse You're conveniently ignoring the part where: A. Pressurized cabins don't fully normalize until you're already on the tarmac B. he had suffered literal brain damage. (Plus the lingering but temporary effects that were immediately impairing him on top of that)
From what I've read about the U-2, even the most experienced pilots use the Autopilot exclusively over 50,000 ft because the aircraft gets really difficult to fly at such high altitudes where the air is getting so thin. The subsonic U-2 operates at 70,000 ft in what they call the 'Coffin Corner' of the performance envelope where changing speed by 5 knots either way means the airframe comes apart from going supersonic or it falls out of the sky. To fly higher you'd need a supersonic aircraft which brings with it another whole set of problems. Isn't aviation fun!
The Perlan Project has already operated their glider to well over seventy thousand feet. Not even using an engine. I think they've gotten up around 75,000ft.. I think think their next goal is 90,000ft.
It gets worse. Because the wingspan is so long, any higher, and even a gentle turn in the coffin corner on the U-2 can result in the inboard wing stalling out, while the outboard wing goes supersonic and risks structural damage. This is because in a turn, the outboard wing has to move slightly faster than the fuselage relative to the air, while the inboard wing moves slightly slower.
@@stephenalexander6721 you beat me to this. Perlan topped out at 76000 (pulled airbrakes at 70000) and you're correct with the next altitude being 90,000 ft. I think they're attempting that next year. All done in mountain wave.
I learned during a conversation with one of our Squadron’s U2 pilots; going supersonic is a condition that is very easy to get into. Thankfully the stick shaker engages to alert the pilot to pull up. He also said there was also some time to take it a little easier. He related to me that on a particular mission, he was feeling pretty relaxed, but also realized that he needed to correct a penciled notation. He rubbed the eraser as we all do, and then reflexively, tried to blow the eraser dust of of the pad ! thought that was so cool
That's terribly sad that so many people received permanent brain damage from this problem. Glad the Air Force found a solution. Unfortunately, not soon enough for those 16 people.
Yeah it's crazy they let that minimum level of pressurization last as long as they did. This plane was designed in the 50's technology had increased enough for them to fix it but they just let it go until 16 people were injured.
16+ people. There must've been decompression sickness cases back during the Cold War that were not reported. Yes, the chances of getting the sickness increased when they started flying longer and more frequently and doing more stuff in the air but that doesn't mean the chance of getting the sickness was 0% during the Cold War.
it's really amazing the U2's been in service for so long that they have a large enough sample size of pilots to determine why more of these problems are popping up.
@@doomsday9973 we've got tons of satellites up there that can stream data back in real-time. With the U2 they've got to wait until it gets back and lands, then process the 2 mile long spool of film, then wait for the analysts to review it all. With a satellite they get realtime intel. I understand the nostalgia, but we're not losing much, if anything, in the way of surveillance capabilities.
@@ParadigmUnkn0wn didn’t say we were. But the U2 is used today for far more than it’s old spy plane role. It was primarily used for battle management during iraq/Afghanistan for example. They call it a flying truck because of all the different payloads it can carry for different missions. Also the cameras are all digital now. No film. we’ve had spy satellites for decades and we still use the U2. Satellites are great but they have their limitations as well. What’s really replacing the U2 is drones not satellites
@@ParadigmUnkn0wn the military doesn't just spend millions on useless missions 'For the nostalgia'. If they still use a ships or plane or tank as much as the U2, there's a reason for it.
@@cookiecraze1310 you're right, they definitely don't waste millions on useless missions... like Operation Chrome Dome. Where we kept nuclear armed B-52s in the air 24/7. It made sense before the US and Russia had mature ICBM programs and nuclear armed submarines, but they kept it going for years after that and the result was accidentally dropping multiple nukes, one of which even had a partial detonation of its conventional explosives that failed to initiate a thermonuclear event, but scattered radioactive material across the ground. At least one lost nuke was never found, down near Tybee Island, Georgia, USA. The fact the military is retiring the U2 kinda tells you what you need to know. They hold onto stuff until a viable replacement is well established, much like with Chrome Dome where they kept running it well after its usefulness was questionable thanks to newer solutions.
I worked on the U-2 program for 17 years. I remember him landing prematurely at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. He barely made it back. His legs didn't work and he had to be dragged out of the cockpit. He descended too fast and that caused his hypoxia. He worked a desk for 3 months, or so, and tried to fly again. He struggled to return to base because he experienced hypoxia again! So, he was done flying after that. I don't know about a foreign jet escort, but Kevin accomplished an amazing feat not once, but twice!
I worked with Kevin in 2010 and 2011 when he was a ground instructor pilot at Beale Air Force Base. Hearing this story directly from him was unreal! I also knew quite a few of the pilots when I worked for that civilian defense contractor.
I'm curious, I don't know much about it but was Kevin and the others affected satisfied with the military's explanation? To me it sounds more like a defect of the suit, plane, or some sort of tech within the U2 that they don't want to go into detail about so they just blame it on longer missions and movement, which if true is still an oversight/negligence within leadership so they are admitting some fault but it doesn't make much sense to me that adding 4 hours of flight time will exponentially increase those symptoms/issues
I once was flying with a Cessna pilot and my family during vacation and after a bit of taking I said I was really into planes and aircraft so he told me I could try to steer his plane! And as a back then 14 year old boy I of course wanted to give it a try. After a bit of explanation on what instruments are important for me I got to fly a plane over the North Sea and Denmark! After half an hour he took control over his plane again and landed . I’m still amazed by the kindness/trust he had in me just because I flew some simulators Edit: thx for all the likes !
I know, right! At least I hope that Kevin can still play flight simulator games on their computer, it is better than no more flight experience at all, one of my friends is a Cessna pilot and when he is not able to fly in person he likes to fly in flight simulators on his computer, he has a yoke & throttle controller and such.
I was lucky enough to see a u2 in person. Got to watch it take off, do a few fly overs and land then not to long after, a b2 and b1 flew over, truly an incredible experience.
Ive only seen the B2, but several times at Griffiss afb, Rome, Ny. I still have yet to see a U2, SR71, or U2. Hoping to make it to OshKosh next year to at leaat catch a glimpse of a U2.
It was exciting to me also but after 8yrs not so much lol. It's is a fascinating plane and was privileged enough to get to be part of the U-2 program and know some amazing pilots.
He initially was suffering from hypoxia, not decompression sickness. Decompression sickness is when nitrogen begins to painfully boil out of the blood. His symptoms as described are all classic hypoxia, and at that altitude, your time of useful consciousness is very short. A rapid onset is can be both bad and good. Slow onset gives you more time to prepare and react, but can be harder to identify before it’s too late.
@@NotWhatYouThink damn you were actually offended by that, huh? Good thing this vid raked in a million views so you can make up for your insecurity with $$
Man it's crazy they let the 29,000 foot equivalent cabin pressure last into modern times, that shit is so dangerous. It's good they didn't try to cover it up and investigated the issue and fixed it but they should have fixed it before so many pilots were injured.
There's a really good movie made in 1941 called Dive Bomber that is part drama and part pseudo-documentary all about aviation medicine. It's an amazing cultural artifact, and overall a pretty good movie. Oscar nominee for cinematography that absolutely deserved to win. I was reminded of it because one of the main characters is studying decompression and recompression sickness.
I seen a U2 land at Osan AFB in Korea in 79 i was a young Marine loading up on a C-130 for a trip back to Okinawa very cool seeing that Aircraft made me do a double take 👍
Ive never stayed and watched through any sponsor for any youtuber, but the one you had for ground news is probably one of the greatest apps Ive seen. Thats exactly what the world needs rn, to be able to see multiple sources of news around the globe
From 1940-2000 the amount of advancements made in military technology is absolutely astonishing when you really think about how much progress was made at suchba break neck speed. It's like 90% of all of the progress humanity has ever made happened in the last 1% of time.😂
@@tomcline5631 Yes of course, not at all because the of the renaissance and more consistent education, more peaceful time period, no no no! All because of the Aliens that you have no evidence exist! (sarcasm)
The 19th century was pretty damned impressive too. It started with technology scarcely better than medieval times. It ended with the steam engine, the telephone, telegraph, the automobile, the railroad, electric lighting, and on the cusp of flight and radio.
@Micah Eiber,what philosophy is that from? Seriously,the world rests on the back of an elephant...is it Hindu? The northern European, (I'm not sure of the culture anymore) believed the earth rested on the back of a turtle. Serious question,really! I used to study different religions/ mythologies.
The ability to fly is entirely memory related there are no reflexes like that. A reflex is a physiological reaction to outside stimuli. Humans all share the same basic reflexes, flying a plane is not one of them. He most likely immediately panicked and an air force pilot at the base had to tell him to do everything down to the minutest detail.
@@drkevinsmithFRCPath no You can train reflexes I’ve done martial arts since I’m six,… if you push me over, I roll and I stand back up before I even realize what just happened (it happened) There are reflexes based in flying, especially when it comes to landing The turbulence based movements of a plane on approach have to be balanced out and corrected faster than you could consciously think about them
@@arwo1143 Your example and what the pilot was experiencing are completely different. What you are describing is muscle memory. Landing a plane has nothing to do with muscle memory, as there are way more factors involved. Even more is the fact that the pilot was landing at an unknown airbase, not his home base.
As a pilot I'd say that muscle memory plays a huge part in ability to fly, though it's certainly not the only factor. At least for the basic flight controls, muscle memory is a big factor in making the airplane go where you want it to go, similar driving a car or riding a bike. That being said, higher order functions like advanced systems and navigation still require critical thinking
When the plane, while taking off, some things fall to the runway, it took a few times rewatching to realize those were struts to keep the wings level while taking off.
I’m 30 and had barely vomited for the 3rd time in my life. That was rough; I can hardly imaging doing so in a space helmet… while forgetting what oxygen was.
I'm 34 and I've only vomited once from sickness so far. But I've vomited about 8-10 times from alcohol intoxication in my early drinking days till I started to tolerate a blood-alcohol level of 2,5 - 3.0 without problems.
His decompression sickness and hypoxia would have fixed itself as he lowered altitude. That’s one nice thing pilots have over divers. Pilot go From low to normal pressures. So going home stops the bends. Divers go from high to normal pressures so going home is what can mess them up unless they have a compression chamber at hand.
Yes, you’re correct! We actually considered including that fact in the video, because it’s kinda cool how DCS gets fixed as pilots descend. That said, once DCS gets severe enough, it can cause permanent damage, as it did to Kevin’s brain. So I wouldn’t think everything would have been ok for him at the time of landing. You know what I mean?
Reduction in altitude would probably mean loss of both the aircraft and the pilot, remember he was over hostile territory for a good bit of the flight. Also the escort aircraft reported that he also approached the ground on multiple occasion. DCS does not clear up as soon as you return to the correct pressure, it can take several hours to days to remove the nitrogen bubbles, depending on how severe the case is. The bubbles do NOT go back into the bloodstream anywhere nearly as quick as they came out.
I have never seen the cocker bottle analogy used to describe the bends, but that describes it perfectly! The bends can also develop clots which is verrrrry dangerous.
That’s a shame to lose your air worthiness over something that isn’t your fault. Hope it’s just precautionary and not telling of serious long lasting issues.
Excellent report clear concise and complete. I find it stunning that with all the research that had been done by Charles Halston in the Navy high altitude programs during World War II and in high altitude climbing studies after that the U2 was planned to be operated at cabin pressure of 29,000 ft when they were going to be flown by unacclimatized pilots period as the incident described shows what should have been predictable and likely inherent problems. But it's still amazing, and even more amazing that they had so many earlier missions before they had a major incident. Thanks for the excellent presentation
I think it’s interesting that the issue was basically what has been solved by divers, entering the “danger zone” too frequently and for too long. Scuba divers utilize charts to determine how long they can stay at a certain depth and how long it will take for their bodies to recover/the nitrogen to fully exit their system. I find it odd that they can’t create a similar chart for Oxygen sickness or higher altitudes.
They can and do calculate this. However, the pilot was forced to deviate from the procedure. As soon as he opened his helmet he rapidly decompressed. It would be similar to a diver rushing to the surface after a long/deep dive even though the charts/computer said to ascend at a much slower rate.
My Father worked on this project from the very beginning. I grew up with this ad a daily part of my life. He and my mother both knew Kelly Johnson. My dad did the pressurizing. Very good video.
@user-ey5jl2so7b in the old days of scuba diving, the Divers would go deep(100-ish ft) and come back without doing a safety stop (they had not figured that part out yet) They would bend over due to the excruciating pain
I can't imagine the struggle he might have gone through to keep himself concious. Being sick, blind and unconscious. And being in a trance in that altitude. He probably relied on muscle memory. 🤯
The Great thing about US military is comprehensive study of the problem and the logical solution to the problem. That's why I admire them and their work.
The downside is often all three branches fund programs investigating/developing the same damn thing then all cancel them for some other companies bid a few years and a couple billion later.
@@MrDJAK777 yes that's true and that's what makes US absolutely different from rest of the countries ( I don't encourage or support to waste resources including money) they want result not worrying about money. If that is streamlined and make sure there working is protected bcoz they are investing billions of $ in R&D but potential opponents are bypassing that if that is taken care of then I hope thay will remain dominated for few more decades or atleast one
There's a very interesting recording here on RUclips of a U2 pilot talking to their home base after his oxygen supply gets fowled (basically he's not breathing in oxygen, he's breathing poison). Obviously he's rushing back to base as fast as possible to get on the ground before he passes out from hypoxia and takes a nose dive.
It's pretty cool watching this video and knowing Kevin, the pilot they are talking about. I worked him and many other amazing pilots, when I was an Aircrew Flight Equipment Technician.
My god ! That picture at 6:12 is soo beautiful ! -The U2 coming in for a landing. Astounding & beautiful airplane. (obviously a magnificent plane -and magnificent for the mission it was tasked to do). Take a look at the video at 6:12 -You will 💘 it
Loved this video. While all NWYT videos are good. I really liked this one. One about the Airbus RAF A330MRTT or A330MRTT's in general would be really cool. Just to test my knowledge and maybe even learn something new!
The confusion that sets in from decompression sickness is scary. There are people who forget which way is up or down, or how to tie knots they have done hundreds of times. There's even a rumour that Jacques Cousteau once offered his mouthpiece to a fish and only survived because his diving buddy reacted so quickly
When I was in high school, my Air Force ROTC instructor was a retired U2 pilot and Vietnam Veteran. I asked the same question about #2 and some guys had to sit on it and pry off a “chip” once they got out of the suit. He said the officials really looked down on this. Imagine sitting in that suit and breathing in the odors for hours….Not for me.
Why aren't there full-feature films based on these story's?? The U2, Blackbird, Nighthawk, the A10 with the missing wing....all would be super cool to watch on a big screen. And give more depth of what really happens in the air.
"When it comes to n.o 2 you have to hold it in... which is not feasible during a 9 hour flight" Wait I can go a week without n.o 2 so I don't know what is not feasible here? NB: Don't do it. Ignoring your bodily urges can be dangerous to your health. So unless you know your body will be fine don't attempt to hold in anything. When you gotta go you gotta go.
Aircrew flying long missions are fed high protein, low roughage meals prior to flight to reduce the likelihood they have to have a bowel movement. However this doesn’t always work and then the fighter-type crew are faced with the choice of either aborting the mission or “letting it go” suffering the results until they finish the mission. I had a single-seat fighter pilot friend who spent most of a flight from the US to Spain sitting in his own poo.
Just wanted to say that I have used Ground News for a long time. I reccomend it completely. I'm not a shill for the sponsor. I'm an old fart(80), and I want to be able to see what both the liberal and conservative media are reporting(plus center media also). Thank you for this video. Very informative and interesting.
It's not better than regular air. Usually breathing pure oxygen poses serious risk of uncovering a sensitivity which some people may have, this is also why airforce pilots are medically tested to the extremes. Sensivitiescan include loss of consciousness, fatigue, nausea and in severe cases of prolonged (as in days at a time) pure oxygen exposure some brain damage could occur, but this has almost no confirmed cases and the only confirmed ones were combined with other body issues. Despite all this, it's probably fine for anyone, just not for too long.
Most of the time, your blood oxygen should be above 95% in normal conditions, your blood doesn't really have room to accommodate much extra so it doesn't really benefit you
QUESTION...Does anyone know why, after recovering from the 1st event & goin' back to flyin' the "Dragon Lady," he was permanently grounded? Anyone know why/what happened?🤔
Compare news coverage from around the world and across the political spectrum with Ground News: ground.news/notwhatyouthink
Im gonna use this
@@jimboyarab1072 It's seriously really useful.
Wow
Long time no see, RUclips Notifications broke.
Also why arent the su35 crash video / short showing up in your channel page
ngl it genuinely sounds like an incredibly useful platform
Could barely think and was slipping in and out of consciousness and STILL landed centerline with wings level, absolute LEGEND.
Not to mention just have been delivered permanent brain damage
@pyropulse his brain was also damaged
@pyropulse By your logic, no one can ever do anything extraordinary since if they are able to do it, then it must have been easy.
@pyropulse Ok Mr Intelligent. He landed perfectly even after having fking bubble in his brain. Yeah that was too easy. 🤡
@pyropulse You're conveniently ignoring the part where:
A. Pressurized cabins don't fully normalize until you're already on the tarmac
B. he had suffered literal brain damage. (Plus the lingering but temporary effects that were immediately impairing him on top of that)
From what I've read about the U-2, even the most experienced pilots use the Autopilot exclusively over 50,000 ft because the aircraft gets really difficult to fly at such high altitudes where the air is getting so thin. The subsonic U-2 operates at 70,000 ft in what they call the 'Coffin Corner' of the performance envelope where changing speed by 5 knots either way means the airframe comes apart from going supersonic or it falls out of the sky. To fly higher you'd need a supersonic aircraft which brings with it another whole set of problems. Isn't aviation fun!
The Perlan Project has already operated their glider to well over seventy thousand feet. Not even using an engine. I think they've gotten up around 75,000ft..
I think think their next goal is 90,000ft.
It gets worse.
Because the wingspan is so long, any higher, and even a gentle turn in the coffin corner on the U-2 can result in the inboard wing stalling out, while the outboard wing goes supersonic and risks structural damage. This is because in a turn, the outboard wing has to move slightly faster than the fuselage relative to the air, while the inboard wing moves slightly slower.
@@stephenalexander6721 you beat me to this. Perlan topped out at 76000 (pulled airbrakes at 70000) and you're correct with the next altitude being 90,000 ft. I think they're attempting that next year.
All done in mountain wave.
I learned during a conversation with one of our Squadron’s U2 pilots; going supersonic is a condition that is very easy to get into. Thankfully the stick shaker engages to alert the pilot to pull up. He also said there was also some time to take it a little easier. He related to me that on a particular mission, he was feeling pretty relaxed, but also realized that he needed to correct a penciled notation. He rubbed the eraser as we all do, and then reflexively, tried to blow the eraser dust of of the pad ! thought that was so cool
@@gonegliding2966 I find it fascinating.
That's terribly sad that so many people received permanent brain damage from this problem. Glad the Air Force found a solution. Unfortunately, not soon enough for those 16 people.
Yeah it's crazy they let that minimum level of pressurization last as long as they did. This plane was designed in the 50's technology had increased enough for them to fix it but they just let it go until 16 people were injured.
I WUZ A PILOT BUT NOW I LIKE APPLE JUCE. DO U LIKE APPLE JUCE????
Can you imagine being one of those 16 people?
@@bobbygetsbanned6049 typical government run anything..
16+ people. There must've been decompression sickness cases back during the Cold War that were not reported. Yes, the chances of getting the sickness increased when they started flying longer and more frequently and doing more stuff in the air but that doesn't mean the chance of getting the sickness was 0% during the Cold War.
it's really amazing the U2's been in service for so long that they have a large enough sample size of pilots to determine why more of these problems are popping up.
Yep sadly its only got 2 years of service left.
@@doomsday9973 we've got tons of satellites up there that can stream data back in real-time. With the U2 they've got to wait until it gets back and lands, then process the 2 mile long spool of film, then wait for the analysts to review it all. With a satellite they get realtime intel. I understand the nostalgia, but we're not losing much, if anything, in the way of surveillance capabilities.
@@ParadigmUnkn0wn didn’t say we were. But the U2 is used today for far more than it’s old spy plane role. It was primarily used for battle management during iraq/Afghanistan for example. They call it a flying truck because of all the different payloads it can carry for different missions. Also the cameras are all digital now. No film. we’ve had spy satellites for decades and we still use the U2. Satellites are great but they have their limitations as well. What’s really replacing the U2 is drones not satellites
@@ParadigmUnkn0wn the military doesn't just spend millions on useless missions 'For the nostalgia'. If they still use a ships or plane or tank as much as the U2, there's a reason for it.
@@cookiecraze1310 you're right, they definitely don't waste millions on useless missions... like Operation Chrome Dome. Where we kept nuclear armed B-52s in the air 24/7. It made sense before the US and Russia had mature ICBM programs and nuclear armed submarines, but they kept it going for years after that and the result was accidentally dropping multiple nukes, one of which even had a partial detonation of its conventional explosives that failed to initiate a thermonuclear event, but scattered radioactive material across the ground. At least one lost nuke was never found, down near Tybee Island, Georgia, USA.
The fact the military is retiring the U2 kinda tells you what you need to know. They hold onto stuff until a viable replacement is well established, much like with Chrome Dome where they kept running it well after its usefulness was questionable thanks to newer solutions.
“Base, how do I fly the U2 again? I forgor 💀”
-Kevin, probably
I get the joke but I am not sure "forgot" was in the vocabulary back in 2006
💀💀💀
Kevin forgor💀
this should really be a pinned comment
5:25
This kind of thing happened to me right before I start my exam
🥈
lol
You forgot how to fly before exam??? 😱
@@vyneshindenmc6181 😱OmG
Before this gets out of hand, i was just being sarcastic xd
I worked on the U-2 program for 17 years. I remember him landing prematurely at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus. He barely made it back. His legs didn't work and he had to be dragged out of the cockpit. He descended too fast and that caused his hypoxia. He worked a desk for 3 months, or so, and tried to fly again. He struggled to return to base because he experienced hypoxia again! So, he was done flying after that. I don't know about a foreign jet escort, but Kevin accomplished an amazing feat not once, but twice!
Thank you!
My Dad worked on the U-2 program. Randy Duffey. He was last stationed at Beale A.F.B. installed glass cockpits.
He descended too fast?
@@angeloftheabyss5265 I assume it would be similar to ascending too fast for a diver and getting the benz.
@@Broken_Orbital If you got a free Mercedes for ascending too fast we'd all be doing it.
I worked with Kevin in 2010 and 2011 when he was a ground instructor pilot at Beale Air Force Base. Hearing this story directly from him was unreal! I also knew quite a few of the pilots when I worked for that civilian defense contractor.
I used to see Kevin at the True Value in Penn Valley!!
@@TimberWolf21 Awesome! We used to live in Grass Valley
Did he have permanent partial brain damage? Why was he retired?
I'm curious, I don't know much about it but was Kevin and the others affected satisfied with the military's explanation? To me it sounds more like a defect of the suit, plane, or some sort of tech within the U2 that they don't want to go into detail about so they just blame it on longer missions and movement, which if true is still an oversight/negligence within leadership so they are admitting some fault but it doesn't make much sense to me that adding 4 hours of flight time will exponentially increase those symptoms/issues
@@StayProteus I imagine it’s similar to the charts divers use 4 hours under pressure or lack there of certainly has an exponential effect
I once was flying with a Cessna pilot and my family during vacation and after a bit of taking I said I was really into planes and aircraft so he told me I could try to steer his plane! And as a back then 14 year old boy I of course wanted to give it a try. After a bit of explanation on what instruments are important for me I got to fly a plane over the North Sea and Denmark! After half an hour he took control over his plane again and landed . I’m still amazed by the kindness/trust he had in me just because I flew some simulators
Edit: thx for all the likes !
That's cool!
Dang I'm jealous
If you can get the funds go for your ppl! It can be tough but it’s worth it
My brother is a pilot and let me fly the first time I flew with him. Simply flying a plane is surprisingly easy and intuitive. Oh and lots of fun.
Idk why but I thought this would be a joke about the book hatchet
dude's brain was literally boiling and he still landed an airplane on hard mode, what a legend
of course this could have ended much worse, but being permanently grounded is still heartbreaking.
I know, right! At least I hope that Kevin can still play flight simulator games on their computer, it is better than no more flight experience at all, one of my friends is a Cessna pilot and when he is not able to fly in person he likes to fly in flight simulators on his computer, he has a yoke & throttle controller and such.
He was in charge of million dollar equipment, but now he can't even hold a job parking cars. 😟
Im gonna remember that for when my wife asks me to do household work next time. "Im not just chillin here. Im pre-breathing oxygen"
I highly recommend you also through in a "Honey, it's not what you think!" in there 😉
I was lucky enough to see a u2 in person. Got to watch it take off, do a few fly overs and land then not to long after, a b2 and b1 flew over, truly an incredible experience.
Ive only seen the B2, but several times at Griffiss afb, Rome, Ny. I still have yet to see a U2, SR71, or U2. Hoping to make it to OshKosh next year to at leaat catch a glimpse of a U2.
@@jonbonson75 good luck with that, it’s truly a sight to behold
It was exciting to me also but after 8yrs not so much lol. It's is a fascinating plane and was privileged enough to get to be part of the U-2 program and know some amazing pilots.
He initially was suffering from hypoxia, not decompression sickness. Decompression sickness is when nitrogen begins to painfully boil out of the blood. His symptoms as described are all classic hypoxia, and at that altitude, your time of useful consciousness is very short. A rapid onset is can be both bad and good. Slow onset gives you more time to prepare and react, but can be harder to identify before it’s too late.
I believe he was suffering from the bends also as his ankle started hurting early on in the flight.
@@NotWhatYouThink damn you were actually offended by that, huh? Good thing this vid raked in a million views so you can make up for your insecurity with $$
@@tsnstonepilot5375 lmfao shut up
@@tsnstonepilot5375 ??
@@tsnstonepilot5375 What part of his sentence indicated he was offended?
Ah yes the usual “I forgot how to fly one of the most advanced military aircraft ever”😂
Happens to the best of us.
Ever seen a video of people in an oxygen deprivation test? There's a good one where 2 people are unable to add 2+2. Oxygen deprivation is insidious.
Yeaa it's not that. It just flies really high. Literally every 4th gen fighter is more technologically advanced.
It's a 50s plane with some upgrades, hardly anything advanced. It just has some special flying conditions.
@@nickcook2775 8
Crazy story. Hats off to these elite pilots, and glad measures were taken to mitigate the risks of such a high cabin altitude.
Man it's crazy they let the 29,000 foot equivalent cabin pressure last into modern times, that shit is so dangerous. It's good they didn't try to cover it up and investigated the issue and fixed it but they should have fixed it before so many pilots were injured.
And apparently they let these guys fly solo. Jesus
There's a really good movie made in 1941 called Dive Bomber that is part drama and part pseudo-documentary all about aviation medicine. It's an amazing cultural artifact, and overall a pretty good movie. Oscar nominee for cinematography that absolutely deserved to win.
I was reminded of it because one of the main characters is studying decompression and recompression sickness.
I remember that movie, I think. They were searching for a mechanism to precisely control the flow of oxygen and settled on a lipstick applicator.
Will check that out.. thanks for sharing
I learned a lot just now. These pilots deserve the utmost respect possible.
the U-2most respect
This channel is just absolutely amazing! Such a gem.
9:21 ayooo what was that mans got spanked
LOL
I seen a U2 land at Osan AFB in Korea in 79 i was a young Marine loading up on a C-130 for a trip back to Okinawa very cool seeing that Aircraft made me do a double take 👍
Great video - thanks for documenting this subject and Kevin’s heroism.
Ive never stayed and watched through any sponsor for any youtuber, but the one you had for ground news is probably one of the greatest apps Ive seen. Thats exactly what the world needs rn, to be able to see multiple sources of news around the globe
From 1940-2000 the amount of advancements made in military technology is absolutely astonishing when you really think about how much progress was made at suchba break neck speed. It's like 90% of all of the progress humanity has ever made happened in the last 1% of time.😂
Well of course that's due to the alien visitors.
@@tomcline5631 Yes of course, not at all because the of the renaissance and more consistent education, more peaceful time period, no no no! All because of the Aliens that you have no evidence exist! (sarcasm)
The 19th century was pretty damned impressive too. It started with technology scarcely better than medieval times. It ended with the steam engine, the telephone, telegraph, the automobile, the railroad, electric lighting, and on the cusp of flight and radio.
@@tomcline5631 no it was the Roman's in the hollow earth
@Micah Eiber,what philosophy is that from? Seriously,the world rests on the back of an elephant...is it Hindu?
The northern European, (I'm not sure of the culture anymore) believed the earth rested on the back of a turtle.
Serious question,really! I used to study different religions/ mythologies.
He might have forgotten how to fly the plane and operate a highly complicated computer
But his reflexes didn’t forget how to fly it
The ability to fly is entirely memory related there are no reflexes like that. A reflex is a physiological reaction to outside stimuli. Humans all share the same basic reflexes, flying a plane is not one of them. He most likely immediately panicked and an air force pilot at the base had to tell him to do everything down to the minutest detail.
@@drkevinsmithFRCPath no
You can train reflexes
I’ve done martial arts since I’m six,… if you push me over, I roll and I stand back up before I even realize what just happened (it happened)
There are reflexes based in flying, especially when it comes to landing
The turbulence based movements of a plane on approach have to be balanced out and corrected faster than you could consciously think about them
@@arwo1143 Your example and what the pilot was experiencing are completely different. What you are describing is muscle memory. Landing a plane has nothing to do with muscle memory, as there are way more factors involved. Even more is the fact that the pilot was landing at an unknown airbase, not his home base.
Flying has very little muscle memory evolved especially when you are talking about navigation
As a pilot I'd say that muscle memory plays a huge part in ability to fly, though it's certainly not the only factor. At least for the basic flight controls, muscle memory is a big factor in making the airplane go where you want it to go, similar driving a car or riding a bike. That being said, higher order functions like advanced systems and navigation still require critical thinking
When the plane, while taking off, some things fall to the runway,
it took a few times rewatching to realize those were struts to keep the wings level while taking off.
They are the pogos.
Think of them like training gear until the plane gets fast enough for lift to do its job
5:41 he is not just chilling there, he is vibing
2:40 "but not feasible during a 9-hour flight" haha, may i introduce you to...✨constipation ✨
I remember hearing about the U2 back in the 1950s when it was being used for photo recon missions over the Soviet Union. What an amazing aircraft.
the 80 day miracle of genius
Just want to say that your channel is fantastic, the line Not what you think really is catchy and never clickbait, thanks!
Excellent story and I appreciate your concise efforts.
You have blown my mind with how fast you have grown your channel. You are a fantastic story teller. Keep up the great work!
Johnson
Johnson
Johnson
If this guy could barely think, was slipping in and out of consciousness, and still managed to land a plane, then you can ask out your crush.
This is why I love this channel. I learned something every time
This is my fear when I'm driving on the Interstate. I always think to myself, what if I all of a sudden forget how to drive
Another excellent episode. Thankyou.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m 30 and had barely vomited for the 3rd time in my life. That was rough; I can hardly imaging doing so in a space helmet… while forgetting what oxygen was.
Youre kidding me, how?!?!? Ive puked easily over 100 times and im 28 and this isnt me boasting I freaking hate it.
What the fuck that’s actually extremely impressive
I’ve vomited more times in a day than u have in ur life and I’m 10 years younger than u
you dont drink enough, that's your problem
I'm 34 and I've only vomited once from sickness so far. But I've vomited about 8-10 times from alcohol intoxication in my early drinking days till I started to tolerate a blood-alcohol level of 2,5 - 3.0 without problems.
This was fascinating. Thanks so much.
Very fascinating video, thanks for making it!
His decompression sickness and hypoxia would have fixed itself as he lowered altitude. That’s one nice thing pilots have over divers. Pilot go
From low to normal pressures. So going home stops the bends. Divers go from high to normal pressures so going home is what can mess them up unless they have a compression chamber at hand.
Yes, you’re correct!
We actually considered including that fact in the video, because it’s kinda cool how DCS gets fixed as pilots descend.
That said, once DCS gets severe enough, it can cause permanent damage, as it did to Kevin’s brain. So I wouldn’t think everything would have been ok for him at the time of landing. You know what I mean?
@@NotWhatYouThink Maybe if he had dropped altitude sooner, but with something as fragile as the U2 that may not be possible.
@@NotWhatYouThink yea I know what you mean if the DCS has caused brain cell deaths it’s not a good day regardless if the bubbles have gone now or not.
Reduction in altitude would probably mean loss of both the aircraft and the pilot, remember he was over hostile territory for a good bit of the flight. Also the escort aircraft reported that he also approached the ground on multiple occasion. DCS does not clear up as soon as you return to the correct pressure, it can take several hours to days to remove the nitrogen bubbles, depending on how severe the case is. The bubbles do NOT go back into the bloodstream anywhere nearly as quick as they came out.
I have never seen the cocker bottle analogy used to describe the bends, but that describes it perfectly! The bends can also develop clots which is verrrrry dangerous.
Excellent video! Thank you
Wow. Thank you to all the U2 pilots out there patrolling the edge of space. Kevin you are a MACHINE !
That’s a shame to lose your air worthiness over something that isn’t your fault. Hope it’s just precautionary and not telling of serious long lasting issues.
I knew that the U-2 was a difficult plane to fly, but I never knew what the pilots had to endure until now. This is what I call danger pay.
bro this is literally the defenition of “I forgor 💀“
Excellent report clear concise and complete. I find it stunning that with all the research that had been done by Charles Halston in the Navy high altitude programs during World War II and in high altitude climbing studies after that the U2 was planned to be operated at cabin pressure of 29,000 ft when they were going to be flown by unacclimatized pilots period as the incident described shows what should have been predictable and likely inherent problems. But it's still amazing, and even more amazing that they had so many earlier missions before they had a major incident. Thanks for the excellent presentation
incredible story! Thanks for investigating and reporting. I am amazed at the footage you have access to. Are you associated with the military?
Glad you enjoyed it!
No association with the military. We use publicly available records and footage.
I think it’s interesting that the issue was basically what has been solved by divers, entering the “danger zone” too frequently and for too long. Scuba divers utilize charts to determine how long they can stay at a certain depth and how long it will take for their bodies to recover/the nitrogen to fully exit their system. I find it odd that they can’t create a similar chart for Oxygen sickness or higher altitudes.
They can and do calculate this. However, the pilot was forced to deviate from the procedure. As soon as he opened his helmet he rapidly decompressed. It would be similar to a diver rushing to the surface after a long/deep dive even though the charts/computer said to ascend at a much slower rate.
Not What You Think is literally the best
Cheers!
My Father worked on this project from the very beginning.
I grew up with this ad a daily part of my life.
He and my mother both knew Kelly Johnson.
My dad did the pressurizing.
Very good video.
As a certified scuba diver that was an amazing explanation of decompression sickness also known as the bends
why do they call it the bends?
@user-ey5jl2so7b in the old days of scuba diving, the Divers would go deep(100-ish ft) and come back without doing a safety stop (they had not figured that part out yet)
They would bend over due to the excruciating pain
Me not paying attention then…”that guy is not just chilling there…” 😳
Love the way you said “number 1… and number 2” cuz I wasn’t looking my phone so it hit extra hard
Great friggen video man! I always like this channel but this one explained stuff about nitrogen narcosis that I always wondered about. Thank you man!
Scott
I can't imagine the struggle he might have gone through to keep himself concious. Being sick, blind and unconscious. And being in a trance in that altitude. He probably relied on muscle memory. 🤯
Yeah, having bubbles popping in your brain sounds quite disorienting
Later, when Kevin, and the others who were also affected by this, filed a VA claim, they were denied.
"Your injury has been deemed non-service related". "oh so it happened went I went to 70,000ft on my own time?
BS! That is a Blatant LIE!
I never knew any of this affecting High flying pilots.Thanks for the heads up.
This video was amazing, gonna watch it again.
The Great thing about US military is comprehensive study of the problem and the logical solution to the problem. That's why I admire them and their work.
The downside is often all three branches fund programs investigating/developing the same damn thing then all cancel them for some other companies bid a few years and a couple billion later.
@@MrDJAK777 Yeah it's not perfect, I can't help but feel a sense of pride when thinking about them though
@@MrDJAK777 yes that's true and that's what makes US absolutely different from rest of the countries ( I don't encourage or support to waste resources including money) they want result not worrying about money. If that is streamlined and make sure there working is protected bcoz they are investing billions of $ in R&D but potential opponents are bypassing that if that is taken care of then I hope thay will remain dominated for few more decades or atleast one
Spoken by someone that obviously has had no long term experience with the DoD. Just ask any 20+yr veteran or thier family.
I guess losing highly trained pilots to permanent brain damage was costing enough to take some action.
There's a very interesting recording here on RUclips of a U2 pilot talking to their home base after his oxygen supply gets fowled (basically he's not breathing in oxygen, he's breathing poison). Obviously he's rushing back to base as fast as possible to get on the ground before he passes out from hypoxia and takes a nose dive.
Link?
It's pretty cool watching this video and knowing Kevin, the pilot they are talking about. I worked him and many other amazing pilots, when I was an Aircrew Flight Equipment Technician.
My god !
That picture at 6:12
is soo beautiful ! -The U2 coming in for a landing.
Astounding & beautiful airplane.
(obviously a magnificent plane -and magnificent for the mission it was tasked to do).
Take a look at the video at
6:12
-You will 💘 it
Loved this video. While all NWYT videos are good. I really liked this one. One about the Airbus RAF A330MRTT or A330MRTT's in general would be really cool. Just to test my knowledge and maybe even learn something new!
You videos are top notch quality.
3:00 that is one of the smoothest transitions Ive seen ever
Imagine how high spy planes could fly if they didn't need a pilot. There would not be a need to have cabin at all nor any kind life support.
Not sure how much higher they could fly. At some point, the control surfaces would not be able to maneuver the aircraft due to the thin atmosphere.
@@NotWhatYouThink hmm, maybe they could have small thrusters, like spacecrafts have, at the tip of the wings for maneuvering at the max altitude.
Yeah of course you can add rockets to it. It's just not a U-2 plane anymore.
@@NotWhatYouThink Yeah of course. I was thinking of some kind of new concept :)
@Jaxon Kennedy Yeah absolutely. Although I have no idea if x37 can do spying missions.
the advanced computer was so classified that they didn't even told the pilot how to work with it
Great presentation!
The irresistible cheek smack at 9:20
*Pop...nnois*
The confusion that sets in from decompression sickness is scary. There are people who forget which way is up or down, or how to tie knots they have done hundreds of times. There's even a rumour that Jacques Cousteau once offered his mouthpiece to a fish and only survived because his diving buddy reacted so quickly
Decompression or nitrogen narcosis ?
@@richardsolberg4047 sorry, it was nitrogen narcosis. I always mix those two up
You are almost reaching 2 million subscribers, keep up!!!
This is mind blowing and seriously impressive.
lots of very interesting stuff. for me it highlighted the many challenges abound when at the edge of space. far more then then i had imagined
Some dude just walks around holding the ac unit till he gets in the plane lmao what a job
I went to bed one night & forgot how to set my alarm on my clock 22 years ago & never could figure out how to do it,so i feel for this guy
When I was in high school, my Air Force ROTC instructor was a retired U2 pilot and Vietnam Veteran. I asked the same question about #2 and some guys had to sit on it and pry off a “chip” once they got out of the suit. He said the officials really looked down on this. Imagine sitting in that suit and breathing in the odors for hours….Not for me.
High quality video! Love it
Why aren't there full-feature films based on these story's?? The U2, Blackbird, Nighthawk, the A10 with the missing wing....all would be super cool to watch on a big screen. And give more depth of what really happens in the air.
"When it comes to n.o 2 you have to hold it in... which is not feasible during a 9 hour flight"
Wait I can go a week without n.o 2 so I don't know what is not feasible here?
NB: Don't do it. Ignoring your bodily urges can be dangerous to your health. So unless you know your body will be fine don't attempt to hold in anything. When you gotta go you gotta go.
Youre not my dad I will do it
Aircrew flying long missions are fed high protein, low roughage meals prior to flight to reduce the likelihood they have to have a bowel movement. However this doesn’t always work and then the fighter-type crew are faced with the choice of either aborting the mission or “letting it go” suffering the results until they finish the mission. I had a single-seat fighter pilot friend who spent most of a flight from the US to Spain sitting in his own poo.
@@ericbainter826 Damn that's rough
You should urgently consider changing your diet do more sport and get off playing video games with no end.
@@dipling.pitzler7650 assuming to much with no knowledge of what this person does with their life
Pretty interesting video. That whole pre breathing thing beforehand was pretty interesting too.
I absolutely love your videos
Just wanted to say that I have used Ground News for a long time. I reccomend it completely. I'm not a shill for the sponsor. I'm an old fart(80), and I want to be able to see what both the liberal and conservative media are reporting(plus center media also).
Thank you for this video. Very informative and interesting.
Poor Kevin and those 16 others.
Super COOL! Thanks!
this is the first time i’ve seen an add that i really like. everyone should use ground news
Man: So what's your job?
Kevin: I fly Spy Planes for Murica
Man: Cool, Can you teach me?
Kevin: Classified Information.
Love your channel
That suit to me would be insanely claustrophobic. Props to pilots wearing that kit for many hours.
6:00 i wanna know what that feels like exercising with pure oxygen because my body like cant do cardio at all or i get completely dead extremely fast
It's not better than regular air.
Usually breathing pure oxygen poses serious risk of uncovering a sensitivity which some people may have, this is also why airforce pilots are medically tested to the extremes.
Sensivitiescan include loss of consciousness, fatigue, nausea and in severe cases of prolonged (as in days at a time) pure oxygen exposure some brain damage could occur, but this has almost no confirmed cases and the only confirmed ones were combined with other body issues.
Despite all this, it's probably fine for anyone, just not for too long.
I did an oxygen bar at the airport in las vegas. It kinda makes you feel a little more energetic and refreshed but it could be mostly placebo.
Most of the time, your blood oxygen should be above 95% in normal conditions, your blood doesn't really have room to accommodate much extra so it doesn't really benefit you
Interesting and scary. Thank God the USAF adjusted accordingly.
These videos are top tier videos!
beautifully tasteful ad thank you
QUESTION...Does anyone know why, after recovering from the 1st event & goin' back to flyin' the "Dragon Lady," he was permanently grounded? Anyone know why/what happened?🤔
He ended up having another mini-episode, which wasn’t as bad as this one, but was enough to disqualify him from flying the U-2.
When did Bono become a USAF pilot?
5:39 "that guy is not just chilling" got me for some reason
heroic accomplishment, given the circumstances! having suffered from stroke-like migraine attacks, I can sympathise...
pilot: guys i forgor💀