Group Poll :Oxygen

Do you own/rent/borrow a portable oxygen system?
Which brand?
Likes/dislikes regarding the particular brand?
System features?
Size/capacity?
Typical altitude flown when in use?
Comments please.

Thanks!

Jim

SkyOx. I think it's about 4 hrs with a canula. Works ok.


"Jim Burns" wrote in message
...
Do you own/rent/borrow a portable oxygen system?
Which brand?
Likes/dislikes regarding the particular brand?
System features?
Size/capacity?
Typical altitude flown when in use?
Comments please.

Thanks!

Jim

I have a factory installed 2000 lb system in my TR-182. I use it with
cannulas equipped with a flow meter. With this set up I generally get
about 20-30 hours from an O2 fillup. I use O2 from about 11K up, 8 K
at night. Above FL180 I have to switch to a mask, as per the FARs, so
I generally don't bother going up there.

Michael

Yo, Jim,

Jim Burns wrote:
Do you own/rent/borrow a portable oxygen system?
Which brand?

I bought a SkyOx system at OSH this year. I had looked at the AeroMedix products
which are less expensive, but the guy at the SkyOx booth convinced me it was
worth the extra money. The materials in the AeroMedix unit were visibly inferior.

Likes/dislikes regarding the particular brand?

Happy so far, but little experience.

System features?

One outlet. Mine is a steel bottle, I think the Kevlar bottles are lighter weight.

Size/capacity?

Too small. I got hung up on the idea of not wanting to schlepp any more
equipment than necessary. Since I share my plane with partners, I can't leave
things in the plane and have to carry them in the car and load and unload them
every time I fly. I thought a small size would be good because it would be less
to carry. Actually I think the increment to carry a larger size bottle would be
minimal and would mean less refilling.

I also thought I would be using it mostly alone, so I got a single outlet
system. So far I've only used it alone, so it hasn't been an issue, but it
occurred to me that it might seem a little selfish to say to my pax "I'm going
on oxygen now, and sorry, I don't have any to offer you." So I wish I had gotten
two outlets.

Typical altitude flown when in use?

Actually I've used it only once so far, on the way home from OSH at 11000 and
11500. I'm convinced I arrived home less tired than if I hadn't had it.

I picked that altitude partly because I wanted to go high enough to take
advantage of the ox and try it out. There were nice winds at that altitude, and
it helped me see better when it came time to cross a line of storms over
Virginia. Otherwise, I would typically fly at 7-8000. I've made flights at
10000+ without oxygen, but it was noticably tiring.

For reference, I'm 62, and in reasonably good shape, a regular runner and
swimmer (except for a recent break to recover from back surgery). Flying a
normally aspirated Mooney.

Comments please.

May be just my lack of experience with it, but I found I need to put the cannula
in place and get all the tubing routed correctly before takeoff. It's just too
much fussin' to put it together and fly the plane at the same time.

Good luck! Dave

On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 12:49:41 -0600, "Jim Burns"
wrote:

Do you own/rent/borrow a portable oxygen system?
Which brand?
Likes/dislikes regarding the particular brand?
System features?
Size/capacity?
Typical altitude flown when in use?
Comments please.

Thanks!

Jim


I fly a Grumman Traveler with a handful of mods, including a Powerflow
exhaust system. I bought an Aerox system after the Powerflow
installation and use it any time I'm flying above 12,500, which is
more frequent than you might imagine.

A few years back I remember telling someone I was flying from Dallas
to L.A. for a few days. They asked what "pass" I was flying through.
I thought it was a weird question. I said I'd cross the mountains at
16,500 and fly back at 15,500, what pass did I need?

With the conserving cannula on me and my son I did exactly that,
although I didn't watch my altitude for a while and accidentally got
up to 16,800 at one point. This was in the middle of the summer, by
the way, so DA was probably a bit higher. Gotta love the high
compression stc, landing gear cleanup, Sensenic prop STC and that
Powerflow!

I have an aluminum E cylinder, 22 or 24 cu ft., can't recall. It is a
two-person systemm and I get 15 hours of dual use out of that on
average when fully charged, but I plan on about 10-12 to allow for
imprecise metering.

Unless you have a plane that can really haul more than two people and
still make it up over 11,000 I would say save money and get a two
person system. I would also not get anything smaller than 22 cu ft.
Main reason is that it allows you to fill it up cheaply at home or at
the cheapest place on your route, rather than have a system that is
costing $50-$100 to fill every 5-7 hours along your route.

Also, strap on the cannula before takeoff and get EVERYTHING
configured beforehand so all you have to do is start the flow of
oxygen before 11-12k.


Bill Strahan
------------
Find a new reason to fly
www.adventurepilot.com

----== Posted via Newsfeeds.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==----
http://www.newsfeeds.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 120,000+ Newsgroups
----= East and West-Coast Server Farms - Total Privacy via Encryption =----

I bought the Precise Flight system because it appears to have a good,
secure mount for the tank (recommended by Aviation Consumer). Only
used it once so far, but I haven't found an efficient way to route the
cannula tubing around headphones to allow free movement of my head. I
also bought an Aeromedix O2 monitor to keep track of blood saturation
level, and recommend it as a safety tool. The first symptom of hypoxia
is, after all, a sense that all is going well.

Paul kgyy wrote:
I bought the Precise Flight system because it appears to have a good,
secure mount for the tank (recommended by Aviation Consumer). Only
used it once so far, but I haven't found an efficient way to route the
cannula tubing around headphones to allow free movement of my head. I
also bought an Aeromedix O2 monitor to keep track of blood saturation
level, and recommend it as a safety tool. The first symptom of hypoxia
is, after all, a sense that all is going well.

I forgot to mention it, I have a blood oximeter as well. I shopped around and
found one that appears identical to the AeroMedix for less. The newest Aviation
Consumer also has an article recommending a still less expensive one.

Dave

Hey Dave,
The 02 vendors at OSH are always on my list of stops, but I've become chided
from their "we're better than brand X" sales pitches, and thus haven't
investigated them seriously.

It looks like most of my reasons for shopping are the same as your original
reasons:
multiple partners, it would be my personal setup, not the group's
occasional use, not many flights up into the double digits, but the plane
can do it and it would be nice to be able to if needed
steel bottle wouldn't bother me as far as weight (at least for this
airplane)

Jim


"Dave Butler" wrote in message
news:1130789820.89978@sj-nntpcache-3...
Yo, Jim,

Jim Burns wrote:
Do you own/rent/borrow a portable oxygen system?
Which brand?

I bought a SkyOx system at OSH this year. I had looked at the AeroMedix
products
which are less expensive, but the guy at the SkyOx booth convinced me it
was
worth the extra money. The materials in the AeroMedix unit were visibly
inferior.

Likes/dislikes regarding the particular brand?

Happy so far, but little experience.

System features?

One outlet. Mine is a steel bottle, I think the Kevlar bottles are lighter
weight.

Size/capacity?

Too small. I got hung up on the idea of not wanting to schlepp any more
equipment than necessary. Since I share my plane with partners, I can't
leave
things in the plane and have to carry them in the car and load and unload
them
every time I fly. I thought a small size would be good because it would be
less
to carry. Actually I think the increment to carry a larger size bottle
would be
minimal and would mean less refilling.

I also thought I would be using it mostly alone, so I got a single outlet
system. So far I've only used it alone, so it hasn't been an issue, but it
occurred to me that it might seem a little selfish to say to my pax "I'm
going
on oxygen now, and sorry, I don't have any to offer you." So I wish I had
gotten
two outlets.

Typical altitude flown when in use?

Actually I've used it only once so far, on the way home from OSH at 11000
and
11500. I'm convinced I arrived home less tired than if I hadn't had it.

I picked that altitude partly because I wanted to go high enough to take
advantage of the ox and try it out. There were nice winds at that
altitude, and
it helped me see better when it came time to cross a line of storms over
Virginia. Otherwise, I would typically fly at 7-8000. I've made flights at
10000+ without oxygen, but it was noticably tiring.

For reference, I'm 62, and in reasonably good shape, a regular runner and
swimmer (except for a recent break to recover from back surgery). Flying a
normally aspirated Mooney.

Comments please.

May be just my lack of experience with it, but I found I need to put the
cannula
in place and get all the tubing routed correctly before takeoff. It's
just too
much fussin' to put it together and fly the plane at the same time.

Good luck! Dave

Among glider pilots, the mountain high EDS system is very popular.
http://www.mhoxygen.com/ Not cheap, but worth the money. Many of us just
put it on at the beginning of a flight and forget it.

Stefan

Own. Airox. Its more expensive than SkyOx but allows each person to set
their own amount of O2. Mine is 4 place and about 4ish feet long.