Navy News | SN Casandra Newell | October 20, 2006
Virginia Beach, VA. - Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic began testing a new flight simulation device Oct. 5 at Naval Air Station Oceana.
The new technology, known as Reduced Oxygen Breathing Device (ROBD), will enable pilots to experience the physical effects of high altitudes in a safe environment.
The ROBD simulated cockpit appears similar to a video game where pilots control a virtual flight while communicating with mock air traffic controllers as they would in an actual flight. The training the pilots underwent in the ROBD simulator allowed them to experience the effects of hypoxia in an environment similar to an actual airplane.
“A basic definition [of hypoxia] is a decrease of oxygen delivered to the brain,” said Lt. Ron Schoonover, an aerospace physiologist at Strike Fighter Wing, Atlantic. “Once the oxygen flow decreases to the tissues, the brain functions slow down.”
While in the simulator, the pilots undergoing their annual training receive a decrease in oxygen without warning. The pilots must describe what they are doing before treating their hypoxia with oxygen.
“It’s important to recognize the signs and symptoms of your own personal hypoxia when you’re flying an aircraft, because you don’t know when it is going to occur,” Schoonover explained.
Unlike the traditional low pressure hypobaric chamber training which not only warns students when they will experience hypoxia, it employs them in less realistic activities, such as playing “patty cake.”
The traditional pressure chamber also exposes the students’ bodies to various levels of gas compression and depression that is avoided in the ROBD. Another feature of the ROBD that improves upon its process is the pulse monitor attached to the students’ fingers to further examine the effects of altitude and hypoxia.
Trainees at Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic reported similar responses to the ROBD as have traditionally been mentioned by trainees in the pressure chamber.
Virginia Beach, VA. - Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic began testing a new flight simulation device Oct. 5 at Naval Air Station Oceana.
The new technology, known as Reduced Oxygen Breathing Device (ROBD), will enable pilots to experience the physical effects of high altitudes in a safe environment.
The ROBD simulated cockpit appears similar to a video game where pilots control a virtual flight while communicating with mock air traffic controllers as they would in an actual flight. The training the pilots underwent in the ROBD simulator allowed them to experience the effects of hypoxia in an environment similar to an actual airplane.
“A basic definition [of hypoxia] is a decrease of oxygen delivered to the brain,” said Lt. Ron Schoonover, an aerospace physiologist at Strike Fighter Wing, Atlantic. “Once the oxygen flow decreases to the tissues, the brain functions slow down.”
While in the simulator, the pilots undergoing their annual training receive a decrease in oxygen without warning. The pilots must describe what they are doing before treating their hypoxia with oxygen.
“It’s important to recognize the signs and symptoms of your own personal hypoxia when you’re flying an aircraft, because you don’t know when it is going to occur,” Schoonover explained.
Unlike the traditional low pressure hypobaric chamber training which not only warns students when they will experience hypoxia, it employs them in less realistic activities, such as playing “patty cake.”
The traditional pressure chamber also exposes the students’ bodies to various levels of gas compression and depression that is avoided in the ROBD. Another feature of the ROBD that improves upon its process is the pulse monitor attached to the students’ fingers to further examine the effects of altitude and hypoxia.
Trainees at Strike Fighter Wing Atlantic reported similar responses to the ROBD as have traditionally been mentioned by trainees in the pressure chamber.
