Task & Purpose/McClatchy: 'We are dropping like flies' — Former fighter pilots are pushing the Pentagon for earlier cancer screenings
WASHINGTON — Former Air Force and Navy fighter pilots are calling on the military to begin cancer screenings for aviators as young as 30 because of an increase in deaths from the disease that they suspect may be tied to radiation emitted in the cockpit.
"We are dropping like flies in our 50s from aggressive cancers," said retired Air Force Col. Eric Nelson, a former F-15E Strike Eagle weapons officer. He cited prostate and esophageal cancers, lymphoma, and glioblastomas that have struck fellow pilots he knew, commanded or flew with.
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WNU Editor: As the above graph shows, there definitely has been an increase in cancer over 20 years.
1 comment:
Radars to see farther probably emit more radiation. Radiation as Dov or someone else pointed out is inversely proportional to the distance squared (as any 1st semester physics student knows & probably many high schoolers). The pilots sit very close. If you can add weight and armor cockpits to protect pilots from bullets, you could do the same for radiation.
Maybe they need a "Kevlar-like" (nonmetal, light weight) product for intense radiation. They have radar absorbing material for the skin for the plane to avoid detection. So they may have some lead or something already on the shelf they can use. I would think they would have some room ( a few inches) to layers the stuff or make a composite like Chobham armor, but for radiation.
The radiation is directed forward. You want to see what is in front of you obviously. But I suspect is is a bit like the blast of a claymore mine. The mine has a 'front' and kills out to about 100 meter. Behind the mine is still dangerous to 5 meter or so. I suspect the radar is like that. Call it leakage.
But who cares. These are pilots. They are like Trump, very egotistical. They need to be to survive in an environment full of elbows. It is why is dislike Trump and support (vote for) him.
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