hover challenge ?tilt-table-like test

I have been diagnosed with SSS and still occasionally have a vagal-type episode. This does not bother me much and in the 9 yrs that I have had a PM, I have not fainted.
First of all I am really pleased with myself. I went in a hover challange at the gym and lasted 9 mins. I won a month free gym and more importantly the respect of the gym staff. If I had have beaten the instructor, I would have won 3mths (he lasted 10 mins and is half my age).
Now here is my crazy thoughts. At the 9 min mark I feel that I had a vagal like episode, where my brain went blank, at this stage I am sure my body was still coping. So my feeling is at this point I had an attack a bit like I would have in a tilt-table test. I know that standing for long periods of time can also have this effect. A hover is a position that you hold, face down on your toes with a flat back. A bit like a push-up without the movement. I have not mentioned this to anyone as I would sound as if I am only making excuses, but I know how I felt.
At 61 and with a PM I don't think the gym staff thought I could do it. So here's to battery power!
Robin

5 Comments

Wop, wop, wop,wop, wop...

by donr - 2012-09-12 08:09:42

...Hey - it's a Huey! I thought the last one of those had been retired to a museum! (For those uninitiated among us, that's the sweetest sound in the world - one like no other that has ever existed & never will again - a UH-1 helicopter coming in to pick up a grunt in a jungle hell-hole.)

Robin - my hat is off to you. I could not do that for even one minute back when I was 22 & at my best.

I can see why you might feel funny doing that stunt (Show off ) Every muscle in your entire torso is tighter than Gene Krupa's snare drum head! If that doesn't affect your blood flow & distribution, nothing ever will! Not only that, it restricted your breathing significantly, so I'll bet your O2 concentration dropped a bit below your normal 98%.

Frank - for you "Brown shoe" Army guys, that's coming to the "Front leaning rest position" on the PT field - but not doing any push ups. But also not letting your gut sag & becoming like a sway-backed old mare ready for the glue factory. Trust me, you would NOT have liked this guy as a PT instructor in basic!

Don

Never heard of a hover position

by ElectricFrank - 2012-09-12 12:09:11

Can you give us more information on it. What is the purpose of it?

frank

Brown shoe

by ElectricFrank - 2012-09-13 02:09:59

Don,
I didn't wear my brown shoes when I climbed a 70' microwave tower without all the safety stuff of today.

The other one I had fun with was tight places. I'm not particularly claustrophobic. During basic at San Luis Obispo we had these 4 man huts instead of barracks. The drill sgt's favorite thing was to tell us to police under the hut which in some places was barely passable above the ground. The usual way to do it was to drag some pieces of wood with a rope. Imagine his surprise when I just flattened out on the ground and scooted around picking up junk. I was a skinny kid and didn't mind being in a tight place.

I've never been taken to the sound of a chopper. I liked the sound of a P51 Mustang at full takeoff power. Or a DC7 with 4 radial engines settling down to cruise.

frank

Ah, Frank, you are...

by donr - 2012-09-13 08:09:43

...culturally deprived.

There is nothing in this world like the sound of MANY cylinders of big recip engines advancing to take-off power w/ the brakes set, followed by the agonizingly slow acceleration down the runway. The absolute graceful, slow climb-out of a DC7 cannot be matched by the crude, brute force, initial rate of climb by any jet.

I'll grant you that.

I'll also grant you the sheer thrill of hearing a P-51 come screaming across an airport in a low pass at full power seeming like it could catch anything God created.

Ah, for the REAL old days, when the pilot was an integral part of the control system - no computers or hydraulics to assist or override him.

But - there is the Huey - not just ANY chopper, but the good old, plain vanilla Huey. The DC-3 of the chopper world. Go anywhere, do anything, bring you back from anywhere Huey. It sounded like nothing else in this world (or any other) It's almost like the original designer of that bird intentionally designed it to have that distinctive sound. A sound that was, at the same time, uglier than homemade sin and more beautiful than a heavenly chorus of angels singing.

Ask any grunt of the Viet Nam era - they will tell you - maybe.

Don

I can understand it

by ElectricFrank - 2012-09-13 11:09:28

The only engine sound that I didn't like was Silence. I've only had it twice, but I can still picture the situation.

There is group who have restores a P51 with dual cockpit and controls. If it weren't for the something like $3000 to experience flying it I would sure love to give it a try.

frank

You know you're wired when...

You have a little piece of high-tech in your chest.

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