I love the feeling of chlorinated water being rammed up my nostrils!

Well, first day down. Going to bust out the fog machine and the big sprayers and hoses for tomorrow. Was a good time...much better than I remember from 1997 but I guess I am a better swimmer now so that helped. Nothing like having your seatbelt get stuck while you are hanging upside-down in 12 feet of water to make you feel like maybe your day isn't going too well.

Heading to do my swim workout in about 25 minutes...as if I wasn't soggy enough already. Where can I upload a video to link to for everyone. I think you guys would like it.

Michael

PS This maybe should be in the "cool toys at work" thread instead!

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This is me in the "See, you CAN breath upside-down" position:



This is the "Dunker" that they set up depending on our aircraft with different doors, etc. It is lowered into the water and then rolls upside down:

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Drafting is for the weak...

Tri2Hover...making flat coke since September 9, 2006.

Cool pics, dude! Never got to do anything like that in the B-1. Of course, we could just eject before we hit the water.

Spot

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Taco cat spelled backwards is....taco cat.

That was a very memorable day for me. Nothing like being upside down, with blacked out goggles an having to wait for the rest of the aircraft to get out.

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Suffer Well.

I remember the Dunker. I did my training at NAS Miramar, (fightertown USA), that place was amazing, the amount of women frequenting that base was huge..

We (Marines) had 3 chances at the dunker, the first was to wait untill it stopped moving which was completely submerged after about 10 seconds then escape any exit.

The second try was for everyone to leave out of 1 designated exit, no problem.

The third try was for everyone to exit out of 1 designated exit blindfolded, well we all failed that one and panicked and then you felt one of the navy divers tugging on your arm and pulling you out of the dunker, I swear they waited to the last possible second to rescue us, they must have been laughing at us as we struggled. Anyway our Instructor was pissed at us for failing so we had to do a series of pushups before we tried it again. The only was to sucessfully do it was to count from where you were sitting the amount of seats it was to the exit, because the dunker not only submerges but it rotates upside down while your strapped in and totally fucks with your situational awareness.

After that experience I now pay attention to the safety briefings on an airplane that im traveling as a passenger and I actually count how many seats it is to the exit row.

That pic of the dunker looks different from the one that I was in, I think ours was an old ch-46 fuselage.

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I have horrible back problems but I have zero problems staying in an aero position for 180k. Why? Because I ride steep and because I train regularly in that position. Simple as that.....Gerard

Yeah, the one I did first back in 1997 was called a 9-D-2 or something strange like that. It was down in Jacksonville and ran by the Navy. It was just a fiberglass tube with cutouts for doors and windows. We did a series of dunks from all the different postions (pilot seats & crew compartment). You aren't kidding about it being asses and elbows once that thing settles inverted at the bottom. What has always worked for me is a good bracing position so you don't float up against your seatbelts and to just sit back and relax for the first 10 seconds or so while the panic'd get out of your way.

The one we are using for this is actually a HUGE improvement. They can switch out the modular panels with different door styles that match whichever aircraft we fly. Everything down to the size, jettison handles, and shape are duplicated. My aircraft doors are known to "jam" a bit if you don't push them in the right spot and even the ones in here did the same thing....very good training. We do a total of about 15 dunks in addition to a bunch of other small stuff over the two day period.

You are SO right about the emergency exit of commercial aircraft. To be honest, if a commercial airliner went into the drink and cracked open it would be beyond UGLY. I think TSA would take away an emergency egress bottle if you had it in your carry-on! :-)

Oh yeah...um....let's see....everyone's seat is too high. That was to keep this from being banished to the Lavender Room.

M

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Drafting is for the weak...

Tri2Hover...making flat coke since September 9, 2006.