Any airport that handles corporate traffic should have the ability to fill O2 bottles. Medial O2 and Aviators oxygen are not the same. Aviators oxygen is moisture free. Might not be an issue when the portable bottle carried in the cockpit with you but if bottles are elsewhere there is a possibility of the moisture freezing in the system.

Maybe its different for everyone but is there some kind of baseline for O2 concentration in the blood? I bought a small one person bottle last fall to be safe on crossing some Colorado passes. To maximize the life of the bottle I have been trying to find some kind of baseline for the oximeter reading on O2 concentration for when to start using the oxygen. I have seen on this tread below 90 down to the mid 80's.

My doc told me to keep my sat above 90. I drop below 90 around 7,000 msl, and I've never smoked, am not overweight and get a fair amount of regular aerobic exercise. I was so surprised when I first bought the pulse oximeter that I had the full cardio-pulmonary workup, officially becoming part of the health care crisis--geez, what a load of tests! No trouble found, so I just turn on the gas whenever I'm above 7k for more than 1/2 hour. It's hassle, but I feel a lot better since I started flying by the pulse oximeter.

I've read for years that medical, aviation and welding O2 all comes from the same process and same place. The moisture in hospitals and medical applications is added to the line downstream from the tank. I try not to run the pressure in my tanks down to zero, though, because I don't want moisture from air to condense inside and corrode the tank.

The jet centers have oxygen setups, but they're not usually on my itinerary. Too many times, I've been told that O2 isn't available on weekends without an extra call-out fee, or their tanks are low, etc. etc.

My $.02

CAVU

Build one. You can get O2 regulators off ebay for about 15 bucks, I paid about 30 bucks each for two D cylinders (one of them was out of hydro, a fire extinguisher shop performed a hydro for $50), and bought a box of canullas for close to nothing.

I initially used it for a makeshift Scuba diving emergency oxygen supply, but it works the same. I set the reg to 5 liters flow and go flying. Since this is a bit of a homebrew setup, a pulse/oximeter would be nice to have too.

While I can fill the bottle from welder's oxygen if need be, I just had my Dr write me a prescription for medical oxygen. Cheaper to get it filled at the medical supply than the airport. I recommend this, especially if you're not familiar with the nuances of handling cylinders and oxygen.

Scolopax wrote:I saw in another thread where you were considering some bushwheels Blackrock. It makes sense to me that the drag associated with running larger tires, like the drag on the wing is significantly reduced at higher altitudes 14k-18k. It would therefore be possible to recover some of the cruise speed loss of the big tire drag by cruising at higher altitudes. This, of course, is only effective until your power output is reduced so drastically and you reach that point of diminishing returns. So, in my estimation, an oxygen system has the potential to expand your range, increase your true airspeed and enable you to take advantage of high altitude winds if they are favorable. It would not take much time capitalizing on the benefits of saved time and fuel to make up for a $750.00 investment. You must consider your mission, but I would classify an O2 system as extremely useful. Great, I've talked myself in to another equipment purchase.

That would be a good combination so thanks for mentioning it. I do go high when going someplace and there is a tailwind. Combined with reteps suggestion to build one, that might work out well. New tires are still a few weeks out...

Another plus is if you get a hangover the O2 helps you feel better.

Best thing for a hangover is an IV. Being a fireman with a penchant for brown liquor - your paramedic buddies should be able to hook you up... literally.

soyAnarchisto wrote:Best thing for a hangover is an IV. Being a fireman with a penchant for brown liquor - your paramedic buddies should be able to hook you up... literally.

Been known to happen

An Update since eventually I wound up with both an iPad and O2 system (see initial post in this thread). The iPad came along first as a birthday present for the wife (yes, how convenient). It gets used every day for all kinds of things. For flying, loaded with Foreflight, it gets used quite a bit either for early flight planning or on trips, primarily when Rose comes along to operate it (i use an iPhone with FF instead).

On the other hand, a great buy came along on a 2-place O2 system about 4-months ago. Since then, it hasn't made any flights and last night was the only time I would have used it. Since it wasn't in the plane, I didn't but will take it along the next time I'm pushing a night return trip. In all fairness, though, I make it a point to not fly any higher than about 500 to 1,000 ft agl unless over or near populated areas or when there is a strong tailwind aloft so my experience with an IPad vs O2 is biased from the start. O2 is a great safety device for higher flights or at night so I'm glad to have it. It just hasn't seen any use yet.

One other observation, an iPhone with FF is an amazingly useful tool and gets used for every non-local flight.

I have a 4 place SkyOx. Great system. I use it a lot in the winter to jump over stuff, especially mountains. If I get a good groundspeed, then I stay high. O2 is cheaper than gas. About ABO (Aviators Breathing Oxygen). Very old spec. All your O2 you buy is made from the Linde system, where the gasses are liquified and drawn off at their condensation temperature (O2 -183°C). So moisture long since froze out of the process. It used to be easy to get the SkyOx filled, just go to any medical O2 seller and swap the bottles. Well not anymore. Unless your a badged first responder, you need a prescription. So next time you get a flight physical, even if you do not need it now, get a prescription for medical O2. My AME gave me one that is perpetual, or at least until I die.

An oxymeter is handy to evaluate your O2 needs. 70 bucks.

O2 leaves me alert after a 13500' 5 hour slog. It makes my pax happier too. That makes me happy. My saturation level at 12500 is around 85%.

Coming home from Idaho earlier this month I was at 11,500, getting my ass kicked in moderate turbulence, and getting a headache. I started breathing oxygen and shortly the headache went away. I then headed to 15,500 to try and get out of the turbulence, didn't help much, but at least I was out of the dust. Wind was blowing so hard on the ground that you could watch the dust storms rise from the ground to over 12,000 feet. Sure glad my wife wasn't with me - she'd have hated that trip.

Bottom line for me - if I didn't have oxygen I couldn't use the total performance the 185 offers. If I'm going over the rockies the oxygen is on board.

My O2 set-up is in a back pack mounted to the back of the passenger seat. It does not interfere with the legroom for the back seat passenger. The only time I off-load it is when I'm doing a local sight-seeing flight with 4 people aboard and need all the weight removed as much as possible. Otherwise, it's there all the time, and I don't hesitate to use it. The older I get, the more I seem to need it at lower altitudes. For the past couple of years, that's 10,000' during the day and 8,000' at night.

Cary

Seems i spend some more nite hours than ever between idaho falls and boi and myl...dont think i would try to pull it off without OX...what a diff even 30 mins of ox can make...either flight is only 1--1.25 long but with lots of mountainous stuff inbetween, and if it all goes to silence, i wanna be sharp as can be before i stuff it somewhere not so nice...! most definitely worth the $...

I needed to share a recent experience my wife and I had flying from Rapid City, SD to Lander, WY, about a 2 hr fight. We were flying back from Lander at between 10,500 and 11,500 for most of the 2 hrs. As we were approaching Rapid City tower was giving me wind directions and speeds and I simply was not getting it. I'm not sure what exactly I was thinking, but when I touched down in my C180 it was into a 10 mph 90 degree cross wind, which normally is not a big deal, unless you're not at all ready for it. If I had been thinking clearly I would have requested the shorter runway almost directly into the wind. Anyway, it all ended ok, but I was lucky.

We'll we had to make another trip to Lander, WY 2 weeks later to check out a business opportunity (this is a topic for another thread soon). This time we took along an oximeter to keep track of our ox saturation. We also flew considerably lower, around 8,500. After 1/2 an hr at 8,500 my o2 sat was 84% with my base line in Rapid City at 94%. We'll we followed it for awhile and it remained in the low 80%.

Now after a time we put on some music, a little Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, a little Janis Joplin, some Journey you get the idea. Well I would never subject my wife to my singing so the headset mike gets flipped up out of the way and I belted it out as we flew along. We'll during this time my wife decided to monitor my o2 sat some more and lo and behold I was above my base line of 94% by a couple %. So a little experiment followed, I would stop singing and in about 10 seconds my o2 sat would fall back to the low 80's, I would start sing along again and back up it would go. This up and down happened every time.

So bottom line, if you find yourself at altitude and you don't have o2, sing, sing like you've never sung before it just might save your bacon.

Oh, by the way, when we get back to KLYV I'll put the o2 bottle that is sitting in my hanger in the plane so I have it next time I need it.

Marty

180jocky wrote:
So bottom line, if you find yourself at altitude and you don't have o2, sing, sing like you've never sung before it just might save your bacon.

Well, I'll be darn! Never thought singing could save someone's life. Next time I am flying along and my significant other doesn't like my singing, i'll just say "It's keeping my oxygen levels up!" Thanks for the info!

Very interesting 180jocky. I've never thought about singing either. I bought an oximeter as well so I could monitor my levels. At 10500 for an hr and mine never dropped below 95%. I'm sure there is other factors involved, but I was surprised that it stayed so high.
David

Singing is pressure breathing.

I have used an ox system for years for several reasons as previously mentioned.

-Systems only weighs 9 lbs.
-easily strapped to the back of front seat.
-dont't feel fatigue on long trips at altitude.
-no harm to body, in fact beneficial.
-bottle cost 35 bucks to refill and at lasts 15-20 hrs depending on flow rate and number of users.
-increases safety when even flying in lower levels.
-simple to use.

GO FOR IT!

Lots of good comments here. We didn't get oxygen on our Hueys in the Army Mountain Flying Course at Ft. Carson until an Instructor Pilot, with two students and a crew chief aboard, got in a wave at 7,500', went immediately to flat pitch, and was able to descend only after being taken to 17,500'.

A decent O2 system doesn't have to be expensive. Here's a link to a thread on DIY oxygen systems:

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/s ... gen&page=9

The system I built is described by a buddy in post #87, but there is a lot of other useful info in the thread.

I use mine quite a bit, as I like to fly high when going any distance because it's more fuel-efficient. I've found that it is useful any time I'm over about 12500. I seem to be pretty tolerant of altitude and don't see my saturation get below 90% (without oxygen) until I'm around 14-15k, but I feel better (less tired) after a flight if I use the oxygen above 12500.

I've also been doing a bit of testing (along with several others) of one of the medical oxygen generators. The new ones are pretty light (4-6 pounds) and compact and seem to do pretty well for one person up to about 16k and two (though they don't recommend it) up to 13-14k. Should be a review coming out in Kitplanes in a few months. Downside is the cost of these - cheapest ones on the market right now are about $2500, but hopefully they will come down in price when all the pilots decide they want one....riiiight.

Greg