....talk of many things...
Fareastdriver,
Never got to Borneo myself. Was on standby, though, remember they bought me a beautiful blue-and-gold passport (one of the last of its kind - in the days when the Foreign Secretary of His Brittannic Majesty spoke and the world trembled) and jabbed me like a pincushion.........D.
Chugalug,
After mulling over your suggesion re Frost, think you may well be right. Funny thing, I can't recall any form of heating or ventilation in the T7, but we only wore flying overalls over shirt sleeves yet were not cold. I suppose the radiant heat from the sun was enough, and we were only up there half an hour anyway. And we were on full oxygen from ground up, would that keep you warm ? If there was no contact with the air outside, a sort of warm cocoon would develop in the cockpits and this micro-climate last long enough to hold the frost at bay for the three minutes or so necessary. (Is there a MET man in the house ?)
As for ear-drums and Eustachian tubes, my recollection is that nobody bothered very much. In the VV we came down at 20,000 ft/min, but only for 20 seconds (and I can never remember having a cold out there). In the UK, I think it was just left to a chap's common sense whether he flew or not "bunged up". If he bust an eardrum, it was his own stupid fault.......D
aw ditor,
Sadly, the digital presentation ALT had not got into the T7 when I last flew it in November '54; the old 3-pointer was still claiming lives. Did the civvies have it ? - Flight Levels came in when ? Not in my time !.........D.
Now a Merry Christmas and my wishes for a Happy New Year to all PPRuNers (and my special thanks to the Moderator(s) for their patience in allowing so much slack to an old man who Gained His RAF Brevet in WW2),
Danny42C