The Making of a Flight Surgeon
by
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“How much did you lose?”
The question came over the
headset, and there was only a small amount of static. It was the voice of an aeromedical technician who sat behind a
barrier of glass at a control panel somewhere in the background.
To me the voice seemed faint.
I could barely hear it. I needed to rest for a second. Where was I?
I was in fact strapped
uncomfortably in a modified military aircraft seat enclosed within a small
steel container used to house the unlucky occupant of the human centrifuge. The
capsule was euphemistically called a gondola.
It was suspended at the end of a steel arm 20.013 feet in length, which
was itself connected to a huge motor in the center of a large circular room
built specifically to house such a device.
The industrial-sized motor rotated the entire gondola-arm assembly at a
speed faster than a revolution per second, with a resultant centrifugal force
as high as nine times the force of gravity. Because the gondola would turn
sideways upon the initiation of rotation, the centrifugal force was applied to
the seated occupant in a head-to-toe direction. This particular example of modern engineering was designed to
demonstrate the effect of high centrifugal forces on the human body, and it was
of great importance to the United States Air Force.
I had just been spun for
forty-five seconds at nine times the force of gravity, and was now waiting for
the blood to literally get pumped back into my head. I was trying to think, but
couldn’t. I tried to answer, but couldn’t. I began to feel nauseous.
I realized I probably ought to
say something. I looked forward at a horizontal bar that held three small
lights. The two lights at either end of
the bar were green. The one in the center was red. After a couple of seconds’ delay, I attempted a response to the technician’s
question. I tried to remember just how much of my vision I had in fact lost.
“All of the green, and about
half the red”, I muttered.
I knew I was gonna catch hell
for an answer like that.
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About the Book
“The Making of a Flight
Surgeon” tells the story of a young man during his first year of practice as an
Aerospace Medicine physician, i.e. “Flight Surgeon”, in the U. S. Air Force.
Written in first-person, the author GREGG BENDRICK is immersed in military
customs and courtesies, and soon identifies readily with the pilots under his care.
He develops a strong friendship with his supervisor, RUSSELL BRAKEFIELD, who
gradually assumes the role of mentor. Against this backdrop of Air Force life
and culture, Bendrick falls in love with a nurse named LYDIA FUENTES. His relationship with her changes his outlook
on medicine, and begins to positively affect his clinical practice. Lydia is
likewise changed, and her relationship with Bendrick facilitates her recovery
from a psychologically traumatizing divorce. The strength of this relationship
is tested when tragedy suddenly befalls the two of them. Lydia and Bendrick are
forced to move on with their lives, but both are significantly changed as a result
of their love for each other, and the events surrounding their relationship.
About the Author
Gregg Bendrick, aka “Hatch”,
is the Flight Surgeon and Medical Director of NASA’s Dryden Flight Research
Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He is a graduate of the U. S. Air Force Residency in Aerospace
Medicine, and is Board-Certified in both Aerospace Medicine and Occupational
Medicine. Dr. Bendrick received his MD
degree from the University of Chicago, where he also received an MS degree and
a BA. He received his Master of Public
Health (MPH) from the University of Texas. He is married, and has one daughter from
a prior marriage. Though he has published a variety of technical papers, “The
Making of a Flight Surgeon” is his first novel.