Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By Bill McCarthy
#1886417
Even now the thought of it raises my pulse for the wrong reasons. A checklist with just five items on it - make one mistake and you are dead. The senior survivor on a sunken submarine can be any rank or rating and he is the last man out. Forward and aft there is a one man escape trunk. Each “escaper” dresses in an inflatable suit and enters the one man chamber. He puts his feet to either side of the chamber while the others waiting to go place a thick aluminium plate under him as a hatch, the upper hatch is hinged and set by linkage to neutral, the chamber is flooded, the escaper inside plugs in his suit to inflate it and when the pressure inside the chamber equals outside pressure the upper hatch flips up and away he goes. The upper hatch is then set to shut, the chamber drained down, then hatch back to neutral. The aluminium plate is removed and the next man enters. Repeat.
But the last man (senior survivor) has nobody to do these actions for him. In his suit, and in complete darkness he enters, squats down to manipulate the aluminium hatch into place on his own. He carries a cap to blank off the drain line, he plugs in his suit and opens the flood valve in the chamber. Racing through his mind - did I leave the upper hatch in neutral. That checklist nevertheless seems endless.
T6Harvard, kanga liked this
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