We are happy to learn as we went to press that all fourteen jumpers have been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

(Editor Parachutist Magazine, Febuary, 1964)

Probably the greatest contribution to the recent high altitude parachuting program, in the eyes of the jumpers involved, was Lockheed’s C-130 B, serial number 623487. Loaded with men and equipment, the huge silver bird pointed its ebony nose from Pope Air Force base, North Carolina, and proceeded to the Naval Air Facility, El Centro California. The program was literally of the ground 11 November 1963.
The primary mission of all concerned was to develop procedures to be used in support of all future "HALO" missions above 25,000’.
Its two-fold purpose encompassed training of both air crews and jumpers in the physiological effects of high altitude unpressurized flight and the physiological problems of free fall. Further objectives were to evaluate all the equipment presently in the "Halo" inventory, to obtain ballistical data on the body and equipment in free fall, and to develop exit procedures at high altitudes from high performance aircraft that would facilitate grouping of personnel, both during free fall and after canopy deployment, for eventual group integrity upon landing. Last, but certainly not least, were the navigational problems encountered at high altitudes for the pin-point delivery of jumpers over unfamiliar terrain whether it be hostile or friendly.

From an experience standpoint, the 14 jumpers concerned had amassed over 6,400 jumps of every nature; sport, test, "Halo," from piston and jet aircraft and from bombays to ejection seats. From a physical and physiological point of view, the individuals selected to participate were definitely not the cream of the corp. Laden with pins, screws, trick shoulders and knees, all in all an orthopedic surgeon’s nightmare, they set their optimistic sights toward the blue sky overlooking the Imperial Valley. The "Tatu" drop zone lies 141 feet below sea level. It is bordered on its southern edge by highway U.S. 80 and is 100 miles east of San Diego, 9 miles north of the Mexican border, 20 miles west of El Centro, 30 miles south of the Salton Sea, and 2,225 nautical miles northeast to the key bridge in the nation’s capitol. All in all, it is a perfect setting for serious parachuting.

Every member of the test team received detailed instruction at the Physiological Training Unit, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. A special "Halo" course was given, with particular emphasis directed toward unpressurized flight at high altitudes. Classroom instruction included the following:

1. Hypoxia, its causes, symptoms, effects.
2. Hyperventilation (uncontrolled breathing rate).
3. Decompression sickness (trapped and evolved cases).
4. Use of specific oxygen equipment.
5. Effects of rapid decompression.

The practical work portion of the training took each individual to 43,000 feet in the low-pressure chamber. During ascent, everyone experienced the expansion of gases, and learned the importance of passing the, through normal body relief ports. A proper diet of nongaseous foods usually lessens the problem in this area. Clearing of the ears during ascent is equally important. As we ascend, the outside pressure decreases and the inner ear is pushed outward. To compensate for this, a swallowing motion will usually suffice. This situation can be magnified if the individual has an obstruction in the eustachian tube. A head cold of the slightest nature is enough to cause pain in some cases. During descent this situation is reversed. If you are riding in an aircraft, you simply reach up, close off your nostrils, and val-salva. This method may also be used during free fall, depending on the type oxygen mask being used. An alternate method is to allow the forced flow of oxygen from your bailout bottle to fill your mouth, swallowing in an exaggerated fashion. This will usually clear up the problem. Descending from high altitude, in itself, has no real effect on your ears.

The greatest pressure change usually takes place between 12,000 and 8,000 feet. This is the point during free fall when the parachutist should make a definite effort to clear his ears. Again, as soon as you open your chute, the val-salva maneuver should be used. You are much better off opening the eustachian tube while you still have a little altitude. Don’t wait until you are on the ground or you may find yourself with a painful ear, and / or sinus block that will require medical attention. Preparatory measures, prior to heading for a high one, are basic, but will pay off in the long run. Blow your nose, and spray, if needed, with Neosynephrine or any other nasal spray on the market. Throughout our stay at El Centro, we were constantly monitored by the flight surgeons. Ear checks were a regular part of the routine. In a few cases, individuals were taken off jumps due to an excessive amount of blood in the ears. This was a direct result of the previous jump where the jumper concerned waited too long to clear his ears, or didn’t clear at all. Proper selection of food was exercised by all concerned. Gas producing items were taboo. It was somewhat frustrating to see the chow line in the Navy Mess displaying an abundant supply of cucumbers, cabbage, spaghetti, beans, and lasagna.

Our quarters were located 87 paces from the Senior Petty Officers’ Club. However, socializing was kept to a minimum for obvious reasons. Off duty activities usually included movies, an occasional trip across the border for some sightseeing, frequent trips to El Centro’s modern bowling alley, and pre-breathing.

I’ve heard it said on many occasions by delayed fall parachutists, that as soon as you don an oxygen mask and related equipment, the fun is over and the work begins. In some cases this is true. If you have claustrophobic tendencies, the mask itself can build up a psychological block that gives you the feeling of being in a heated telephone booth in July with a dozen spastic news reporters. For every mission during the test, we spend a minimum of two hours wearing the oxygen mask. During this time you must think your way through or you’ll be hyperventilating before you realize it. The boring part of each mission was the denitrogenation period known as pre-breathing which lasted approximately 45 minutes. All participants on each mission were required to pre-breathe 100% oxygen prior to take-off. By denitrogenating the body before going to altitude, you lessen the chance of the nitrogen in your body coming out of solution at altitude and causing the bends. An important point to remember here is that during the pre-breathing session you must not break the cycle. If for some reason you take one breath of ambient air, your pre-breathing was all in vain. This doesn’t necessarily mean you will definitely get the bends at altitude, but it does increase your chances.

The jumpers who participated in the project had made many jumps from twenty and twenty-five thousand feet, and a few from thirty and thirty-five thousand feet – above thirty-five thousand feet was a new environment for all. This, coupled with the fact that each mission took some thirty people to altitude, increased the chances of an abort due to bends or any of the flying sicknesses encountered at altitude. Everyone agreed that the pre-breathing sessions were the primary factor in the overall success of the program. The bends suffered by a few were so slight they need hardly be mentioned. Not one mission was aborted due to bends. The only abort we had took place at thirty-three thousand feet. We were already on bailout oxygen and had disconnected from the oxygen console in the aircraft. Just thirty seconds from green light we were aborted from the ground. It seems that a flock of jets were crossing our line of flight at a lower altitude over the drop zone. We had already spent two minutes on the bailout bottle – this left us with about four safe minutes remaining. In an orderly fashion we all moved back to the console and plugged back in. A situation like this can hurt people at altitude. If anyone had panicked, you can imagine what the outcome would have been with twelve jumpers moving in twelve different directions – and jockeying for position on the oxygen console. This can become a flight surgeon and jumpmaster’s nightmare.

A misconception of many people about the need for oxygen has been brought to my attention recently. Individuals maintain they can hold their breath for two or three minutes, which would give them a longer time of useful consciousness in the event of an oxygen failure. What should be understood here is that your entire body needs oxygen to survive, not just your lungs. Every person’s tolerance is different. This can be related to an individual’s environment. If you spent the biggest part of your life atop Mount McKinley, you would be acclimatized to a degree, and possess a longer time of useful consciousness than the individual who was brought up on Malibu Beach surrounded by 14.7 P.S. I. all his life. Remember, your body is porous and a saturated system of oxygen will rapidly diminish, induce cellular damage in the brain, and leave you a babbling idiot.

Your selection of oxygen is very important. You will normally find it in two classes – medical and aviators. I learned the hard way that medical oxygen is not the ideal supplement for the body at altitude. It has a high moisture content that does wonders for your face and mask. Condensation forms within your mask and the low temperature at altitude turns this into ice. Exhalation valves freeze over and the early stages of frostbite begin. Oxygen, in itself, is not at all expensive. A 244 cubic foot bottle costs less than $3.00 to fill. From this you can safely fill at 15 bailout bottles to 1800 P.S.I. If used on a demand basis, it would take a dozen jumpers to an intermediate altitude with some to spare. The fact that oxygen is inexpensive might very well be one reason why it is scorned by many jumpers.

Throughout the entire program, most of the present oxygen equipment was used in a variety of ways. It seems that every jumper has found, through experience, magic combinations between helmet and mask that afford him comfort, safety, and a wide range of vision. I’ll refrain from describing the equipment in military terms, such as the helmet flying, HGU / 2P W / MBU-5 / P. All this mounts to is a Steve Canyon type helmet with a built-in visor shield, integral intercom, incorporating the new type mask with a single unit for inhalation and exhalation. The visor, when pulled down, is compatible to the nose portion of the oxygen mask, allowing very little air to pass through to the eyes. At lower altitudes, this would not cause a great deal of discomfort. But at 40,000 feet, where the temperature is 67 below zero. Any portion of the body that is exposed will definitely get frostbitten. This was experienced at one time or another by everyone in the test. Covering the exposed portions of the face with tape prevented any of the cold moist air at altitude from getting to the skin. Another combination used was the leather shell and fiberglass lined helmet, commonly known to playboys as the ever-popular "bunny." This helmet also has built-in communications and is equipped with fittings on its exterior for quick connection and disconnection of the oxygen mask. Some of the jumpers used the old type mask with this helmet and the standard B-8 flying goggles used by open cockpit aviators in the middle thirties. This combination proved adequate for some people. However, the unfortunate few with awkward noses found it difficult to get a seal between the bottom of the goggles and the top of the mask.

On one occasion we made a drop in the early morning from 37,000 feet. At the six-minute warning, the tailgate was opened and the setting was of an artistic nature. Contrails streamed from the aircraft in four columns. As we stepped out, we immediately encountered 65 below zero conditions. Tiny ice crystals stung every exposed area around the face and neck and iced over goggles to such a degree that visibility was zero. Most jumpers removed their goggles and suffered for a few days with sensitive eyes that required shades for relief. In situations like this, the more important of the two is the ability to see, even if it does cause an almost unbearable stinging sensation around the eyes. A small point that should be covered here is that whatever eye shield the jumpers use should be secured in such a manner that it can be removed easily at any point during the free fall. If the goggles worn had been secured inside the helmet, the only relief from blindness would have been for the jumper to literally tear the goggles away from his eyes. If this couldn’t be accomplished, he would be in for a long and lonely delay, observing nothing but the inside of his fogged up goggles. The problem of fogging goggles has been experienced by most jumpers at one time or another, in many cases while the jumper was still in the aircraft. The reason is quite simple. Perspiration forming around the eyes and the cold air from outside cause a glazed condition. To help eliminate this, we kept our goggles raised until after the bailout bottle had been activated. The sudden rush of cold oxygen on the warm inner surface of the goggles caused a great deal of fogging. At this stage of the game you don’t have time for any corrective measures. So you start the jump groping around in the sky.

On every jump we were equipped with two bailout bottles. One was secured in the normal fashion on the inside of the main packtray with the hose leading out to where the male portion was resting near the female portion of the fitting on the mask; the other was secured under the pack opening bands beneath the reserve parachute. Its hose was physically plugged into the fitting on the mask. Proper routing of the hose, when used in this manner, is essential. If it becomes pinched off at any point, you can imagine what would happen once the bailout oxygen under 1800 P.S.I. of pressure reached the pinched off area. I’ve witnessed this and, believe me, the thin rubber hose expanded to a size twice that of a garden hose. The immediate action to take here is turn the head and eyes away, because the obvious will take place shortly.

The reason we were equipped with two bailout bottles is self-explanatory. The truth of the matter is that the H-2 bailout bottle was not designed with premeditated jumping in mind. Its initial primary purpose was to sustain a downed pilot. Although it has proved quite satisfactory over the years for intentional jumping, it has also failed on occasion under trying conditions. Whether this should be linked to poor maintenance or improper use and assembly is beside the point, especially when the chips are down. It is listed as having an eight to ten minute supply. It will on occasion last that long, but if you are planning to go above twenty-five thousand feet, program your schedule of events to allow six minutes for the bailout bottle. A modified version of the H-2 is presently under development, it has a twenty-five minute duration and can be turned on and off by the jumper. I’m sure all will agree that something of this nature has been needed for a long time.

Parting from a perfectly normal aircraft between thirty-five and forty-three thousand feet requires a little more than standard street clothes. The temperatures encountered up there ranged from fifty degrees below zero to sixty-seven degrees below zero. When our jumps were made in the early morning hours before the sun had a chance to burn some of the moisture out of the atmosphere, we had to contend with damp and misty conditions, which of course were freezing at altitude. We tried to keep the clothing to a minimum and used standard winter apparel such as long johns, sweat suits, heavy or wool shirts and trousers and Army field pants which are low in porosity and are waterproof. Some of the more sophisticated clothing was used as well. High altitude quilted nylon anti-exposure suits and wool lined boots were worn by a few of the jumpers. The problem was not keeping the body warm, but the feet and hands. All the clothing mentioned above proved adequate and comfortable. The age-old problem of cold hands and feet appears to be something we are going to have to live with, unless an electrical heating system is used without having to resort to pressure suits. The gloves used consisted of leather shells and wool inserts, and in some cases, a thin nylon insert was used with this combination. Although it was cold and the fingers were painful, it was bearable.

Standard leather boots were worn with wool socks. This combination proved adequate to all jumpers. However, the jumpmaster required thermo type clothing and boots because of the amount of exposure he was subjected to near the open ramp. In order to keep the jumpers from perspiring on the ground during the pre-breathing session, portable air conditioners were used in the aircraft. Just prior to takeoff they were removed and the cabin temperature was kept as low as possible throughout the entire flight. One can readily imagine the feeling of leaving a heated aircraft with the body perspiring into temperatures as low as we encountered. Most coveralls are not equipped with high collars, so scarves of every nature were used, including bath towels.

Once the ground portion of the mission was completed, air conditioners were withdrawn. Final buttoning up of the aircraft was accomplished. Normal pre-flight duties were double-checked and we were off for a grand tour of the Imperial Valley on the way to altitude. Our trusty portable oxygen console served as a lifeline for all the jumpers as well as the jumpmaster, crew chief, and flight surgeon. We were equipped with sixteen stations. Each station had a D-2 regulator which works on a demand basis and an aneroid, which automatically gives the needed forced flow of oxygen at the higher altitudes. Each station was also equipped with an intercom system that had all the jumpers, the jumpmaster, pilot, and flight surgeon on the same line. Our first check took place at twelve thousand feet. At this time, all the jumpers armed their automatic opening devices. The type used was the F1-B, set at 5,000 feet on the altimeter and ten seconds on the clock mechanism. At fifteen thousand feet, the crewmembers armed their automatic ripcord releases. From here on up, oxygen checks took place every 10,000 feet. We kept the aircraft pressurized to an altitude of twenty-five thousand feet. This paid off by lessening our time of vulnerability to the many altitude sicknesses. We also spent less time pressure breathing, which in itself is quite disturbing. We began depressurizing at the twenty-minute warning. It was regulated so we would be completely depressurized at the six-minute warning. At the ten-minute warning, a final check of equipment was made, with particular emphasis on the oxygen mask and related equipment.

At this point the aircraft was almost completely depressurized. Everyone began to pay strict attention to his altimeter to see if the big bird could make it to an altitude of 40,000 feet. Many had said it couldn’t be done. Most of the altimeters stopped at 26,000 feet. The only ones that registered all the way up were the British made "Ican." All the altimeters used were nonsensitive and no one reported any trouble. The ones that stopped at 26,000 feet on the way up began functioning again at that altitude on the way down.

At the six-minute warning, on command from the jumpmaster (we all took turns at this), we stood up and remained next to our stations. At this point the tailgate was opened and one could distinguish the Salton Sea some eight miles below and the beautiful snow-capped mountains encircling the Imperial Valley. The next warning from the pilot was "two-minutes." Although monitored by everyone, we took our commands from the jumpmaster. Procedures at this stage of the game had to be precise. We activated our bailout bottle, which was secured under the reserve. Keeping the mouth shut and allowing the rush of oxygen from the bailout bottle to build up pressure gave a distinct feeling of security. The automatic procedure after bailout activation was to disconnect from the oxygen console and intercom, which is comparable to the snipping of the umbilical cord. During this critical period, the flight surgeon watched each jumper for signs of bends, hypoxia, and any of the altitude sicknesses. Once everyone was on bailout bottles and the "Thumbs Up" as given to the jumpmaster, we moved to our positions on the tailgate and waited the remaining minute for the green light. Once it came on, it took about four seconds for fourteen bodies to get outside and begin a cool three minutes of ecstasy. A very important point in procedure after the bailout bottle has been activated is to make sure all jumpers stay by their stations on the console.