If you fly an unpressurized aircraft, you are almost sure, eventually, to encounter the problem of ear discomfort during ascent or descent. To understand why this happens and how to counteract it, a simple grasp of the structure of your ear is helpful. The external ear canal (the small tube leading to your eardrum) is … Continue reading Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 07 – The Ears
Author: FAA
Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 08 – Alcohol
Everyone knows that alcohol impairs the efficiency of the human mechanism. This fact has been emphasized again and again-in newspapers, magazines, television, and other media throughout the world. Studies have positively proved that drinking and performance deterioration are closely linked. Estimates indicate that alcohol is a major factor in nearly 50% of all automobile accidents. … Continue reading Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 08 – Alcohol
Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 06 – The Gas in the Body
In an unpressurized aircraft climbing to higher and higher altitudes, your body is exposed to less and less pressure upon its outer surfaces. Because the pressure inside your body is still the same as it was on the ground, strange things begin to happen. Gases trapped in the body cavities start expanding in an effort … Continue reading Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 06 – The Gas in the Body
Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 05 – Hyperventilation
Some people believe that breathing faster and deeper at high altitudes can compensate for oxygen lack. This is only partially true. Such abnormal breathing, known as hyperventilation, also causes you to flush from your lungs and blood much of the carbon dioxide your system needs to maintain the proper degree of blood acidity. The chemical … Continue reading Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 05 – Hyperventilation
Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 04 – Hypoxia
Lack of oxygen is the greatest single danger to man at high altitudes, despite the importance of pressure and temperatures. The shortage of oxygen in the human body results in a condition called hypoxia, which simply means oxygen starvation. When a pilot inhales air at high altitudes, there isn't enough oxygen pressure to force adequate … Continue reading Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 04 – Hypoxia
Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 02 – The Flyer’s Environment
We live at the bottom of an ocean of air, the atmosphere, which is necessary to support life on earth. Not only does it provide oxygen but it also filters out harmful radiation from the sun. The presence of the atmosphere prevents excessive heat loss in both plants and animals, and maintains their surface temperature … Continue reading Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 02 – The Flyer’s Environment
Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 03 – The Pressure is On
About 175 years ago scientists first discovered that the prime purpose of breathing was to obtain oxygen needed by the body and to get rid of excess carbon dioxide, a waste product. The human body is a heat engine which, like any engine, consumes fuel (the carbohydrates, fats, and proteins derived from food). This fuel … Continue reading Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 03 – The Pressure is On
Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 01 – The Physical Examination for Pilots
The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) requires that you be properly certificated and physically able to operate your aircraft competently before you are licensed to fly. Periodic physical examinations are intended not only to evaluate your general health, but to help ensure that you will not suffer a medical emergency during actual flight. It is also … Continue reading Medical Handbook For Pilots Chapter 01 – The Physical Examination for Pilots
Medical Handbook For Pilots Foreward
To become a safe pilot, it is not enough that you want to fly. You must also be physically fit, psychologically sound, and well trained. Most aircraft accidents are caused by pilot deficiencies in one of these areas. Training procedures have been adequately covered in other publications, and must be learned from a certificated instructor … Continue reading Medical Handbook For Pilots Foreward