diverrick
Contributor
I was out at a local airport the other day and got into a conversation with someone who was skydiving from very high altitudes from an unpressurized aircraft. He was telling me that they have to breath pure oxygen before they jump, "due to the chances of them getting bent on the way down". I don't get this, as they would be falling to HIGHER pressure, plus they are not breathing compressed nitrogen to begin with. The oxygen I am sure helps keep them mentally sharp at the rarified altitudes they were going to, but I don't get all this stuff about getting bent while free falling. Plus the pressure change would have to something less than one atmosphere (14.7) a very slight pressure change in all. Any one know the answer for sure?