130 - Flight Surgeons

'Flight surgeon'—that must be a specially-trained medical doctor who performs surgery on a specially-adapted aircraft, right? Not exactly.

Listener questions answered on this question include why Navy aircraft fly with their arresting hooks extended, what causes the distinct Hornet hum when an F/A-18 starts engines, how being a fighter pilot changes someone as a human, and how a young aspiring pilot should choose between serving in the U.S. Air Force or Navy.

Episode artwork by Janek Krause. Bumper music by Jaime Lopez / announcements by Clint Bell.

[christophersbarounis]

Im in the Hellenic air force academy doing my flight training and we have a flying surgeon teacher he flies in f4 phantoms and he teaches us aviation medicine and physiology for pilots

[sambarbosa]

You guys need to do a podcast on the sh-3 seaking the classic asw/sar helicopter

[terryboyer]

Years ago I was finally able to pursue my life long dream of learning to fly. I had to see an AME to get a 3rd class medical certificate. Everything was going well until the eyesight portion. I had no problem with the chart with my glasses on but then he said to take them off and read the last line I could make out. I'm near sighted (wore glasses before kdg) and the chart was a complete blur. I couldn't see anything. He said to pass I had to make out at least one line. I was devastated. My dream was ending before it began. He said "can you see the big letter that comes after d?" I said huh? He repeated "can you see that letter that comes after d? I said "you mean e?" He said "that's good enough!" When I put my glasses back on I saw the top letter on the chart was a big E. I got the certificate and was able to start lessons and solo. I don't know if he took special pity on my case but I sure appreciated what he did for me!

[stevetodd]

Hey Jell O... This is an interesting topic, I had a great friend of mine that was a dual designator in the Navy (Naval Aviator/Flight Surgeon), he was interesting in that he was a Naval Academy grad (Class of '65), then flew A-7s, got shot down in Laos, then went to med school (Paid for by the Navy) His agreement at the time was year-for-year. I was a Navy Corpsman, but I was Aircrew, I flew SAR at Point Mugu '75 to '77, I was also with Crew Systems branch down on the beach doing altitude chamber plus ejection seat training. This Doc, Harry P. Hoffman, M.D., was also flying F-4 and A-4s, he was the flight surgeon for VX-4, He was a CDR, left the Navy ended up in Air Force, retired as a LCol. I was also with a Marine Helo Squadron (CH-46), then flew SAR at NAS Fallon as well. I was also a SERE instructor at Warner Springs '80 to '84, then as a instructor at Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, Bridgeport, CA.
Steve Todd HM1(NAC), USN, Ret.

[deantait]

Actually my neurosurgeon said he did back surgeries on a navy boat. This would be in the 50s maybe 60s. Would anyone know if this would be on a hospital ship or possibly a carrier, ? Thoughts

[thunderace]

Thank you for making this informative and entertaining episode of your podcast available to us here on Youtube.

[dougstitt]

Thank you both ! Thumbs up to ER and flight Doc's ! Sorry about your brother sir . i have been lucky survived 2 heart attacks and to many bike wrecks.

[jad-]

Wonderful, now we are coming into my area of "expertise" not just what I am interested in (aircraft). Lovely! ^^

[arielalvarez]

Great podcast, and very informative for everyone. I would like also to mention the medical requirements, which depend on the Aviation Authority. I hold US FAA ATPL, EASA (Irish) ATPL, Argentine ATPL, Peruvian CPL, and Taiwanese ATPL. I did an initial medical assessment with all of them, and the US/FAA was the "mildest". The most demanding was the Taiwanese. But other than US/FAA (2003), most of the initial medical assessments are pretty similar and thorough.

[noahway]

Show # 130, and first guest not to say, "Yeah, so..." or "Absolutely" to start every sentence, Must be a military thing? Anyway, I really love this podcast.

[USNRaptor]

Ron Paul, former Senator and presidential candidate, was a flight surgeon in the Air Force.

[christophersbarounis]

in the hellenic air force you DO have to have a perfect vision enev if you are flying a c130 or a rafale

[tabascoindy]

FoxFire pilot Clint Eastwood says 'drinking apple cider vinegar can cure heartburn and acid reflex disease'. It worked on me where all modern prescribitions failed.

[noahway]

Guest: I have some crazy funny stories about roll call...
Me: sip my beer, sit back in recliner, ready.
Host: "Ok, lets pivot to medical requirements...."
= )

[stretch]

Hey Vincent, I'm sure i heard your voice on one of those funniest air traffic control videos the other day.... Hows the fishing going? 🐟🐡 ?

[noahway]

Not a big deal, but you could give the guest a larger pic, on my laptop it is about the size of my pinkie nail, so it would be tiny on a phone. Also, I looked you up and I can see why you don't post your own pic or do video.
This is not your fault, but it is mildly irksome to me when a guest does not mention someone's name as in "My best friend in high school was a tremendous guy and he saved my life when we flipped our boat at night and I was trapped but he swam down and freed me..." Or, the guest mentions a teacher that turned him around and inspired him, etc. AND THEN NEVER MENTIONS THE GUYS NAME. Give then a shout out.~ PhD from YouTube.

[Mark_Ocain]

God bless the flight surgeon! He keeps the lads and lasses in good fettle to fly. They also kind of follow the Curtis LeMay credo - "every officer flies!!!...even me!!" Flight Surgeons understand the stresses and health challenges of aircrew because they rack up stick time as well. Aviation medicine requires a deep understanding of the job. If you don't know the job, you can't sit in judgement over the flight fitness or work with the health challenges of a brother/sister officer.

[Mark_Ocain]

As for fertility effects of high-performance flight...I once during some study found in research that higher levels of testosterone can promote the siring of female progeny. Same with butchers being exposed to the meat that contained anabolic steroids that were used to increase the lean mass of cattle. Maybe, flying a fast jet boots your free T? LOL