Evening star., 1952-03-28
Swapping Eardrums,
Painful Bends Plague
JET Fighters in Korea
By Keyes Beech
Foreign Correspondent, Of the Sior and
the Chicago Dolly News

NV SHteo8o b0iy tNeWS
WITH THE 5lst FIGHTER
WING IN KOREA, Mar. 28.-
Hieh-f1ying jet pilots are often
paying for greater attitudes with
swapping eardrums, sinuses' and
excruciating bends. ! learned to-
day.
Two nearly fatal cases of bends
by F-86 Sabre Jet pilots were re-
ported by Flight Surgeon Maj. r.
Bernard A. Brungardt Of Salina.
Kans.
One pilot who ventured to an
extreme altitude during an en-
counter with MICS suddenly found
himself literally paralyzed at the
controls by the bends.
His shoulders were hunched
and his head was bent over like
an old man." said Mai. Brun-
gardt. "He couldn't move his
hands. And his plane was whirl-
ing all over the sky. One of his
fellow flyers talked him Gown 10
10000 or $4,000 feet and he
snapped out of it"
Nitrogen Bubbles Blamed.
What happened, Maj. Brun-
gardt explained. was that at this
altitude there wasn't enough pres
sure to keep the nitrogen in the
pilots body in place. Conse-
quently. nitrogen bubbles devel-
oped which in turn caused bends.
1.-The pain of bends is complete
ly disabling" Mai. Brungardt said.
To combat bends Mai. Brun-
gardt has tried to reduce pilots
nitrogen intake by having them
breathe nothing but pure oxygen
for 10 to Is minutes before take
of. Ordinary air is about 20 per
cent nitrogen.
Pilots report this has helped
although the results aren't con-
elusive, Maj. Brungardt said. Pilots
take in lots of nitrogen through
their food but there is nothing
to be done about this since pilots
have to eat.
Several cases Of burst ear
drums and sinuses have occurred
recently.
"At the altitude our men are
flying even the slightest cold
sometimes you wouldn't even
think Of going to the doctor
about-can cause eardrums and
sinuses to snap," Maj. Brungardt
said.
Resembles Mild Drunk.
another danger is combined /
hypoxia, which is lack Of oxygen,
and bends" Mai. Brungardt con-
tinued. "In the beginning, hy-
poxia is like a mild drunk. The
pilot gets to feeling higher than
q kite and he thinks nobody can
tag him. "I've had some pilots
tell me they felt all right when
they got to lower altitude and
got scared again."
Although there Is nothing he
can do about the pilots nitrogen
intake through food, Mai. Brun-
gardt keeps an eagle eye on the |
flyers diet to see they don't eat
gas-forming foods. These gases
expand at high attitudes and give
Q pilot a colossal bellyache.
Beans. chile, onions, cabbage
and spiced meats are taboo.
Sabre jet pilots constantly are
striving for greater attitudes to-
get above the MICS but Mai.
Brungardt believes the human
frame has reached its limits Of
endurance until the pilot is given
better container-that is a bet
ter airplane.
MIG Superiority Cited.
Although most pilots feel the
Sabre jet is the MICS equal, all
things considered. they agree that
the MIG is superior at high alti-
tudeS. Communist flyers don't
seem to suffer the same effects as
the Americans at extreme alti-
tudes which seems to mean that
they have better presentation.
Above 10000 feet the Sabre jet
pilot faces the danger that his
canopy will fly off or MIG fire will
penetrate his cockpit At that al
titude, without presentation.
pilot can live about one minute,
Maj. Brungardt said.