The Air Force believes it is getting much closer to pinpointing the reason why pilots of its prized F-22 stealth fighters sometimes suffer an oxygen deficit during flight, a senior general said Thursday.
No losses have occurred because of the Oxygen-generating system, but it has made pilots a bit nervous about flying our top-end fighter.
The two issues that seem to at the root of the problem:
—Improper functioning of the pilots' pressure, or G-force, vest. Lyon said that, unknown to the pilots, the vest's bladder has been filling with air at times when it should not. That has made it harder for the pilots to breath. The Air Force last Friday stopped using the vests and is going to modify them before returning them to use in the F-22, Lyon said. In the meantime the Air Force has lowered the maximum altitude the F-22 will fly, since the vests are intended to protect pilots' lungs in the event of a sudden loss of cockpit air pressure at high altitudes.
—The hose and hose connectors that are part of the pilot's oxygen delivery system have been leaking slightly, further restricting the amount of oxygen getting to the pilot's lungs.
This isn't locked down, but the Air Force says it is getting close to solving the problem.
You have to wonder if the increasing capabilities of our planes really will require taking the fragile meat sack out of the cockpit and replacing the human pilot with artificial intelligence or really good programming.
