Looking for O2 equipment advice

[Dave White[_2_]]

I recently purchased an older Schweizer with a built in O2 system. The bottle is a Catalina and would need hydrostatic testing. The regulator is an older military type A-14 certified to 45,000 feet last overhauled in 2001. The mask is well worn and would need replacing. I would appreciate advice whether to bring the current system up to standard or chuck it and look at Mountain High equipment. I fly out of Truckee or Minden and plan to fly XC next summer and possibly wave in the fall. Is it possible to put together a Mountain High rig with bail out bottle to do all of that or would I need one system for XC and another for wave flying? Is it worth the time, effort, and money to overhaul the installed A-14 system?
Thanks

[Dan Marotta]

It depends on whether, and how often, you want to fly much above 18,000'
MSL. The A-14 system will be an oxygen hog but, properly functioning,
will take you about as high as you care to go. It's neither as
comfortable nor economical as a Mountain High system. Practically
speaking, you'll do a lot more cross country flying than high altitude
flying. For my dollar, I'd get the MH system and fly within its
altitude capabilities.

On 11/10/2015 10:11 PM, Dave White wrote:
> I recently purchased an older Schweizer with a built in O2 system. The bottle is a Catalina and would need hydrostatic testing. The regulator is an older military type A-14 certified to 45,000 feet last overhauled in 2001. The mask is well worn and would need replacing. I would appreciate advice whether to bring the current system up to standard or chuck it and look at Mountain High equipment. I fly out of Truckee or Minden and plan to fly XC next summer and possibly wave in the fall. Is it possible to put together a Mountain High rig with bail out bottle to do all of that or would I need one system for XC and another for wave flying? Is it worth the time, effort, and money to overhaul the installed A-14 system?
> Thanks

--
Dan, 5J

[Christopher Giacomo]

It is probably going to cost you roughly the same whichever way you go with it, so as dan stated, you need to decide what you want to do with the system. I overhauled my A-14 a few years ago, and it was in the ballpark of $6-700. You can certainly replace the mask with other surplus or new equipment, but should expect to spend $1-200 for a new high quality mask. I have found that some of the military masks can get painful on the bridge of your nose after wearing for a few hours, so that coupled with the A-14 sucking down O2 may drive you away from that route if you aren't searching for your double lennie.
Chris

[Christopher Giacomo]

It is probably going to cost you roughly the same whichever way you go with it, so as dan stated, you need to decide what you want to do with the system. I overhauled my A-14 a few years ago, and it was in the ballpark of $6-700. You can certainly replace the mask with other surplus or new equipment, but should expect to spend $1-200 for a new high quality mask. I have found that some of the military masks can get painful on the bridge of your nose after wearing for a few hours, so that coupled with the A-14 sucking down O2 may drive you away from that route if you aren't searching for your double lennie.
Chris