Author Topic: Eardrums in WWII (Read 1259 times)

hubsonfire · « **Reply #15 on:** December 17, 2007, 05:07:35 PM »

I'd never really even considered it, but that would have to be excruciating if there wasn't something to counteract the effect. Were cockpits sufficiently airtight, even in unpressurized cockpits, that the pressure would bleed off/build up slowly enough to be tolerable? Bits of cotton or wax in the ears to do the same thing internally? Mortal terror enough to make you forget about your ears for a few minutes?

moot · « **Reply #16 on:** December 17, 2007, 05:40:04 PM »

Mortal terror definitely was incentive enough, wax and cotton filling probably not effective enough, and unpressurized cockpits I'd bet were no help if I'm guessing correctly they were probably the same as nowadays'..
Maybe they just bore it all they could, like any other pain in the heat of battle.

Would it be gamey to include it in flight sims? It's the sort of thing that'd fit in well enough in games like Il2, but it's not totaly superfluous IMO.

hubsonfire · « **Reply #17 on:** December 17, 2007, 06:24:52 PM »

Something along the lines of decreasing the master volume during compression or extreme changes in alt? An effect that would be short lived, but similar to the blurring or shaking you get now in such a situation? Might be an interesting addition, like the wind sound that plays at high speeds now.

Obie303 · « **Reply #18 on:** December 17, 2007, 10:04:22 PM »

Quote

Would it be gamey to include it in flight sims? It's the sort of thing that'd fit in well enough in games like Il2, but it's not totaly superfluous IMO.

Don't we have this? Pull too many positive G's and you start to black out. Too many negative G's and you red out.

I tried a quick search on the net. "Aviation Medicine during WW2". There were several articles listed. Unfortunately, the one pertaining to German Aviation Medicine is copyright protected. It appears that the two volumes can be requested from the Bulletin of Medical Library Association. A link giving a brief review of the material is here: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/pagerender.fcgi?artid=195154&pageindex=1

This German scientist, Theodor Benzinger, was recruited after WWII under "Operation Paperclip". He also worked on the problems of high altitude protection.
Benzinger's article is here: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asma/asem/2007/00000078/00000009/art00010?crawler=true

Then you have the Father of Army Aviation Medicine, Harry G. Armstrong. His contributions are found here: https://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/EARS/Hallionpapers/aerospacemedicine.htm

Just going over the material in a few of the reviews I could find, this is a very interesting subject. There was another article describing how scientists from the Mayo Aerospace Medicines developed a working oxygen system in the 1930's for military use.

So I guess to answer your question Moot. The answers are out there. We just might have to dig a little to find them (and pay for the articles).

Obie

leitwolf · « **Reply #19 on:** December 17, 2007, 10:53:08 PM »

Hey moot, don't worry. You fly the Ta152 - one of the few WW2 planes with a pressurized cockpit

moot · « **Reply #20 on:** December 20, 2007, 09:18:18 AM »

It doesn't make much difference.. I turn down the volume in it because of all those damage sounds

WOOD1 · « **Reply #21 on:** December 23, 2007, 08:29:38 PM »

Ear drums do get punctured because of fast descents even today. Antihistimines are sometimes prescribed to help people with stuffed up sinuses to avoid damage to their ears. Pinching ones nose and blowing does help clear your sinuses. I spent 6 years as a radar/sensor operator on a Navy P3C patrol plane in the 70s and saw a few people wind up with bleeding ears.
AKwoodee

Wolfala · « **Reply #22 on:** December 23, 2007, 10:56:44 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by WOOD1
Ear drums do get punctured because of fast descents even today. Antihistimines are sometimes prescribed to help people with stuffed up sinuses to avoid damage to their ears. Pinching ones nose and blowing does help clear your sinuses. I spent 6 years as a radar/sensor operator on a Navy P3C patrol plane in the 70s and saw a few people wind up with bleeding ears.
AKwoodee

Did you know Bill Tuite?

Soulyss · « **Reply #23 on:** December 24, 2007, 06:47:41 PM »

From the sound of this quote the noise in the cockpit varied from type to type, and was worse in some types. Charles Kittel from the 13th AF on the B-25.

"The only thing we didn't like was that was so god-awful noisy. I have 80 percent loss of some of my hearing range, and it is partially due to my service with B-25's. But it was a fantastic aircraft for that time and place."

moot · « **Reply #24 on:** December 25, 2007, 02:36:31 AM »

Thanks WOOD1.

Angus · « **Reply #25 on:** December 25, 2007, 02:43:43 PM »

Underwater you can easily enter all the spectrum of the atmospheric diffrence, however not the limits, since underwater there is always pressure. There is no number close to zero pressure. Does that make a difference?
Not sure about eardrums, but it will eventually with life and death and then you have the tales of "bends" and how differently they worked on people.
So, your body can cope with 1 feet underwater, or 33, or even 333.
But it will not cope with 50K for long. At 50K you start to need pressure for breathing. So I guess what I am saying is that maybe the pressure difference alone is not the main element, the human body exposed to extreme low-pressure needs to be taken into account as well.