Getting high

'Because of reduced pressure at high altitudes and the reduced ability of the haemoglobin to absorb oxygen, the effect of alcohol in the blood, during flight at high altitudes, is much more pronounced than at sea level. The effects of one drink are magnified 2 to 3 times over the effects the same drink would have at sea level.' - FROM THE GROUND UP (Pg : 294)

From the ground up is one of the best books for getting your fundamentals right in aviation. But it might make me rich for all the wrong reasons. To explain the golden words of wisdom in the quote, one has to get a bit into the technical side but it is highly rewarding. Even though most of the commercial airliners fly at altitudes above 30000 feet, the body usually feels an altitude of 5000 to 6000 feet due to cabin pressurization. At this particular level, alcohol creates more of a buzz than at sea level. To put it in simple terms, if it usually takes 6 pegs of white rum to get hammered when sitting in some noisy bar, it takes only 2 to get the job done in an airplane.

Now, this has given me an idea to stage a business coup. This is what I'll do : Invest some money and start a pub. Now this is no ordinary pub! It's a place where everyone gets drunk easily. How? I will increase the pressure altitude of the bar to 5000 feet. Not only this, you also experience mild hypoxia(lack of oxygen) which will give a sense of euphoria. The beauty is, the moment you walk out of the bar, hypoxia vanishes. In airplanes the cabin pressurization is achieved using the bleed air from the turbine, but all I need is a compressor for my magic pub. The idea might seem silly initially coz the lower number of drinks sold means lesser income. But this is like a promotion scheme. Soon the pub will be famous and now I can decrease the pressure altitude to below sea level which means it takes more number of drinks to get hammered.

There are a few issues though. If you walk out of a bar which is pressurised(say to 5000 feet), you will probably end up blowing your eardrums. The proposed solution at the moment is to have a long entrance corridor in which the pressure is gradually changed.But having said all this, I still have my own doubts as to whether this whole thing will work. Maybe the high altitude alcohol effect was taken too seriously by this pilot