Aeromedical Factors

Question 1

Explain the three types of medicals and their requirements.

Answer 1

1st Class
- ATP’s must have this medical
- Highest and most extensive medical
- Valid for 12 months if under the age of 40, 6 if over 40
Requirements:
- Distant acuity of 20/20 in each eye, and near vision of 20/40
- Ability to distinguish aviation red, aviation signal green, and white
- Normal field of vision
Normal field of hearing
2nd Class
- Commercial pilots must have this medical
- Valid for 12 months
Requirements:
- Distant acuity of 20/20 in each eye, and near vision of 20/40
- Ability to distinguish aviation red, aviation signal green, and white
- Normal field of vision
3rd Class
- Every pilot is required to have at least a 3rd class medical
- Valid for 60 months if under the age of 40, 24 if over 40 on or before the date of the examination
Requirements:
- Distant acuity of 20/40 in each eye with or without corrective lenses, and near vision of 20/40
- Ability to distinguish aviation red, aviation signal green, and white
- Normal field of vision
Normal field of hearing

Question 2

What is hypoxia and what are the four types?

Answer 2

Lack of oxygen to the body.

1) Hypoxic Hypoxia - Not enough oxygen available to the lungs (at altitude or with lung damage)
2) Hypemic Hypoxia - Reduction of oxygen carrying capacity of the blood (Anemia, carbon monoxide poisoning)
3) Stagnant Hypoxia - Caused by reduced cardiac output, or venous pooling when pulling higher G’s
4) Histotoxic Hypoxia - Caused by poisoning. The oxygen is available, but the cells can’t “take” it (alcohol, cyanide)

Question 3

What are some symptoms of Hypoxia?

Answer 3

Headache, lightheadedness, sweating, poor coordination, impaired judgement, tunnel vision, dizziness, cyanosis, euphoria
- Symptoms will always be the same for each person, but not between people.

Question 4

What is hyperventilation?

Answer 4

Breathing too rapidly and exhaling all the body’s carbon dioxide out. Can be cured by breathing into a bag to reabsorb the carbon dioxide, purposely breathing slowly, or by generally trying to calm down. Symptoms are the same as Hypoxia.

Question 5

Name and explain the 8 types of spatial disorientation.

Answer 5

ICEFLAGS
Inversion illusion - After leveling out from a climb, the pilot feels as if they are tumbling backwards. The pilot may then nose forward, intensifying the illusion.
Coriolis illusion - Caused when a quick head movement during a constant rate turn makes the pilot feel like they are straight and level.
Elevator illusion - Caused during extreme updrafts or downdrafts. This may cause the pilot to nose forward or backward excessively.
False horizon - May be caused by city lights, slanting clouds, stars, and darkness. The pilot may bank the plane to match this false horizon.
Leans - Caused when a quick correction to straight and level flight following a prolonged, gradual bank turn goes unnoticed. Leveling the wings makes the pilot feel as if the plane is banked in the opposite direction of the original turn, and can cause the pilot to lean or bank back to the same direction as the original turn.
Autokinesis - At night when a light is stared at for a prolonged period of time, it starts to move.
Graveyard spin - Correcting from a spin creates the illusion that a spin is occurring in the other direction.
Graveyard spiral - While turning, a loss of altitude causes an abrupt pitch up, tightening the turn and causing an additional loss of altitude. The process keeps repeating.
Somatographic illusion - Rapid acceleration makes the pilot feel as if they are in a nose up attitude, so they push the nose forward. Opposite affect for deceleration.