Supplemental Oxygen changed our flying...

FlyingMonkey

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FlyingMonkey
I didn't realize how supplemental oxygen use could transform our flying until we tried it....and not just at the legally required altitudes. Hope you find this video useful! (Mountain High O2D2 system review included)

 
Yup, love my Mountain High system.

I am in decent shape but now use it for any flight over 1 hour above 8K and I land feeing so much more refreshed ready to go than fatigued which is no way to start a trip once you hit the ground especially when it is for play.
 
Yup, love my Mountain High system.

I am in decent shape but now use it for any flight over 1 hour above 8K and I land feeing so much more refreshed ready to go than fatigued which is no way to start a trip once you hit the ground especially when it is for play.
yeah i was surprised at how much it helped. I used it on a roundtrip from L.A. to Austin recently and it really helped me feel good after 8.5 hours of flying at 8500 and 10500
 
It’s cheap medicine. I use it at 7-7.5 sometimes, plus it give you more options to climb higher for build-up avoidance. I carry 02 for 2hr + cross country flights.
 
I was once on a solo IFR flight at night going into Orange County airport (SNA) and at 11,500 feet I noticed my field of vision was basically a small circle around the instruments.

I was thinking: it sure would be nice to have some O2 up here right about now. The real worry began when ATC decided to vector me all over the place before getting on the ground with minimum fuel...
 
Mountain High and other vendors put out a fine system.

But, the technology that is now ready for prime time are O2 concentrators. Those electrical devices that are used by veteran smokers to help them live a bit longer. They work!

There is a vendor selling ‘aviation specific’ systems but they are not necessarily the best. The latest system from say Inogen will provide enough O2 for 2 people up thru 14k, tested. Probably higher but I’m right of the Mississippi and don’t need higher. But it’s costless and no hassle to turn it on at 7-8k and enjoy a clear mind and normal vision up thru 14K. Just plugs into a standard 12v cigarette lighter power outlet (oh the irony).

Only trick is to lie to the vendor about having a medical need for the $2-3k device. But no more fill ups at eastern FBOs that don’t know if they have the proper fittings or the time to fool around with your little tank.

They work! Recommend checking it out.


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Mountain High and other vendors put out a fine system.

But, the technology that is now ready for prime time are O2 concentrators. Those electrical devices that are used by veteran smokers to help them live a bit longer. They work!

There is a vendor selling ‘aviation specific’ systems but they are not necessarily the best. The latest system from say Inogen will provide enough O2 for 2 people up thru 14k, tested. Probably higher but I’m right of the Mississippi and don’t need higher. But it’s costless and no hassle to turn it on at 7-8k and enjoy a clear mind and normal vision up thru 14K. Just plugs into a standard 12v cigarette lighter power outlet (oh the irony).

Only trick is to lie to the vendor about having a medical need for the $2-3k device. But no more fill ups at eastern FBOs that don’t know if they have the proper fittings or the time to fool around with your little tank.

They work! Recommend checking it out.


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But will they provide their rated flow at altitude? There's less oxygen to concentrate at 13,000'. How does that affect the output? What volume of oxygen do they actually produce? Is this a sea level rating, and are there tables which detail available output as a function of higher altitude? Are there any studies available that address this issue?

I certainly wouldn't be comfortable plugging one into a lighter socket and flying over the Rockies.
 
Since my multiple leg surgeries I have noticed anything above 7k and over 4-6 hours and I have a hell of a time after I'm out of the plane. Typically I will have to lay down, elevate the leg and take a couple of Advil's or a horse pill Ibrupropen. I started to research, and everything pointed to O2 issues. I bought a pulse ox and started to monitor my flights, sure enough, above 7k and I would consistently drop below 90. I purchased the Aerox set up and flying has been much better, numbers now in the high 90's. I do want to switch to the boom cannula, it looks so much more comfortable then that darn hose around my face and ears.
 
But will they provide their rated flow at altitude? There's less oxygen to concentrate at 13,000'. How does that affect the output? What volume of oxygen do they actually produce? Is this a sea level rating, and are there tables which detail available output as a function of higher altitude? Are there any studies available that address this issue?

I certainly wouldn't be comfortable plugging one into a lighter socket and flying over the Rockies.

Personally tested to 14k with 2 people sharing one system using ‘oximeters’ to monitor 90+%. Of course it’s an RV10 so your YMMV.

I have a tank that now stays full but use supplemental O2 all the time, especially between 8 and 10. Those Rocky thingies… they are left of the Mississippi, yes?


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Personally tested to 14k with 2 people sharing one system using ‘oximeters’ to monitor 90+%. Of course it’s an RV10 so your YMMV.

I have a tank that now stays full but use supplemental O2 all the time, especially between 8 and 10. Those Rocky thingies… they are left of the Mississippi, yes?


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Bill, can I see a pic of where you mounted it on the 10 and the hook up. It was my understanding that you still need to manually turn it on, so cant be installed in the baggage area. Or PM me plz.
 
Cool video - glad your family is getting such a positive effect from the O2. This GA thing is so much more enjoyable as a family adventure rather than just a solo hobby. I hope this reinvigorates your wife and daughters to do more fun family trips with dad. Yours are not that far from the age where they spend more time with friends and less with family so best to enjoy it now!
 
Question for those with experience: at what typical altitude, without oxygen, does a healthy person's voice start to change? I'm talking a hypoxia onset symptom, kind of like a Donald Duck sound. Asking for a friend.
 
Question for those with experience: at what typical altitude, without oxygen, does a healthy person's voice start to change? I'm talking a hypoxia onset symptom, kind of like a Donald Duck sound. Asking for a friend.

Not until you reach the heliosphere where the gaseous composition changes from mostly nitrogen and oxygen to mostly helium from all those birthday balloons we have been releasing...
 
Not until you reach the heliosphere where the gaseous composition changes from mostly nitrogen and oxygen to mostly helium from all those birthday balloons we have been releasing...
That explains it. There may be an additional effect from the gender reveal balloons also.
 
Bill, can I see a pic of where you mounted it on the 10 and the hook up. It was my understanding that you still need to manually turn it on, so cant be installed in the baggage area. Or PM me plz.

I didn’t mount it. I mounted an O2 tank between the seats as shown here http://www.mykitlog.com/users/category.php?user=mauledriver&project=224&category=8533

Sometime after that I got an Inogen unit. It just sits in the back seat floor and I operate it from the front. It has some Bluetooth capability with my phone but cannot be turned on/off via Bluetooth.

Before someone reminds me again, it’s not a ‘legal or approved’ supplemental O2 setup. So it’s just a portable like hundreds of people a day use on the airlines.


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If I’m not going to go higher than 10k, would a concentrator work as well as bottled O2 I wonder for 4 people?
 
Depends on the concentrator, but note that most concentrators max out a bit over 8k. Also, multiuser concentrators are rare. You sometimes see two-person ones and those aren't very common. I've never seen more than two users.
 
Yikes that’s expensive. Just how much does it cost to refill an 02 bottle? If only doing 2-3 a year cross countries of two hours or more it might just be cheaper and as affective to use the simple regulator with bottled O2.
 
I looked into the concentrators. It didn't make sense for 4 people- was going to end up being VERY expensive (over 7k) and I think I read some issues with it doing enough around 13k or 14k.
 
upload_2022-1-22_14-5-28.jpeg

I always carry oxygen with me and can access from the left seat, I fill my own bottles so the cost is negligible. I always carry two 24 cf bottles on each trip and use one on the way there and one on the way back, If I only use 10% I can still top them up myself. GOOD TIP Dead folks don't need oxygen and I pick up 24 cf bottles at estate sales generally for about $10.00 each. I take them to Airco and they will hydro test, change to aviation fitting and fill the bottle for about $30.00. I have about 8 bottles so I fill them all up together.
I use O2 anytime I am flying at night or anytime over 8000 msl.

I have only had a bottle filled at an fbo one time and never again, the following annual found out that my bottle had been switched to one that was out of date.

Life is a barrel of fun.

Ken
 
Depends on the concentrator, but note that most concentrators max out a bit over 8k. Also, multiuser concentrators are rare. You sometimes see two-person ones and those aren't very common. I've never seen more than two users.

I got an Inogen G5 that has 6 O2 settings. I configured it with the minimum battery (since it will plugged in) and made not attempt to mount it. It is a single user system.

Since my use was aimed at optimizing pilot performance at the 8-10k altitudes where I normally fly, single user is okay. My wife/co-pilot mostly sleeps.

With that said, I put a T fitting in the tubing and feed two cannulas (I recommend the standard canulas over the soft ones that most regular users prefer. The standard canulas will not crimp so easily when routed around headphones). I use a clamp to make it a single user system.

I’m 67. Without O2, at anything above 8k flying for over 2 hours, I get sleepy. At 10k I start getting down to 90% saturation according to an oximeter. Hooking up to the concentrator as a single user, I’ve never set it over the ‘3’ setting and am easily able to stay in the 95% level up to 10k.

At this point I’ll just stay that I haven’t consistently recorded statistics so the recollections here are subject to qualitative and quantitative errors. YMMV and all that.

With both of us breathing from the single unit, we both stay above 90% up to 14K’. And that’s at the 5 or 6 level settings. We haven’t tried higher.

My sense is that with 2 people breathing through a T fitting, we are getting more efficient utilization of the O2 potentially produced. I don’t know if that’s actually true.

Is this cost effective? I don’t know. But I learned that I’m unwilling to keep my O2 tank filled and/or unwilling to use it as supplemental O2 below the legally required altitudes because of the hassle involved east of the big river. My sense is that out west O2 fill-ups are more commonly available. Yes, a home O2 tank fill-up system would be cost effective but I just didn’t go that route. So far, the concentrator is a simple ‘switch on when desired’ system with no frequent maintenance required. Very handy, compact, easy to use. The units are somewhat expensive. How long I can go before major service and such I just don’t know yet. We’ve been traveling less than usual due to you know what.

The most important point is that I feel the need to use O2 outside of the legal requirement. The concentrator makes that easy to do, so I end up doing it.


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But, the technology that is now ready for prime time are O2 concentrators.

I have an inogen g5 that works phenomenally well. Used it up at 17.5k feet and oxygen levels awesome. It also works for two people up to about 15k officially, but I've been told fine anywhere under 18k too for two people by someone whose done it multiple times. Battery lasts a few hours and the aviator edition comes with a 12 volt adapter. Weighs I think only about 5 pounds and fits nicely in my flight bag with everything else.

Downside is of course if you need for four people you need two of them and they aren't cheap. Upside is limitless air with built in battery backup, and no need for bulky tank or refills. :)

Also downside with Covid everybody is constantly borrowing it, so often don't have it when flying... ;-) But when I do, my turbo arrow III cruises extremely nicely up high. :)
 
I have an inogen g5 that works phenomenally well. Used it up at 17.5k feet and oxygen levels awesome. It also works for two people up to about 15k officially, but I've been told fine anywhere under 18k too for two people by someone whose done it multiple times. Battery lasts a few hours and the aviator edition comes with a 12 volt adapter.

Using the DC adapter, how many amps does it draw at the maximum setting?
 
I have an inogen g5 that works phenomenally well. Used it up at 17.5k feet and oxygen levels awesome. It also works for two people up to about 15k officially, but I've been told fine anywhere under 18k too for two people by someone whose done it multiple times. Battery lasts a few hours and the aviator edition comes with a 12 volt adapter. Weighs I think only about 5 pounds and fits nicely in my flight bag with everything else.

Downside is of course if you need for four people you need two of them and they aren't cheap. Upside is limitless air with built in battery backup, and no need for bulky tank or refills. :)

Also downside with Covid everybody is constantly borrowing it, so often don't have it when flying... ;-) But when I do, my turbo arrow III cruises extremely nicely up high. :)

I didn’t know there was an aviator edition. Cool. I just got the standard medical device and it came with the aforementioned 12 volt cigarette lighter plug - a truly lamentable irony.


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Using the DC adapter, how many amps does it draw at the maximum setting?

I vaguely remember reading 5-10 amps when I bought it a couple years back. I could be mistaken, however. Whatever the case, always works fine in my 1977 Turbo Arrow III plugged in to the cigarette lighter including also charging phones and what not too using a 12 volt splitter. Never popped the breaker. And if I actually remember to charge it up before a trip, plugging it in isn't needed.

And on the note of the inogen g5 aviator vs normal, I believe the only difference is the accessories it comes with. The actual unit itself is the same either way. So if you can convince your health insurance to pay for the non-aviator version somehow, that's always a plus. ;-) It's not cheap. :)
 
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I can’t find sales info on the Inogen aviator model.

I've been chasing the same information. Looks like ~$2700 is the street price, and the standard models have both power cords.

Locally, used ones are in the $1500-1700 range.

Lots of the websites pimping them seem dodgy like the ones for the folks who sell mobility scooters. They are more interested in getting their paws on insurance money than anything else. It also seems that you may need to find a doctor to prescribe supplemental oxygen to buy a new O2 generator, but that may be a misconception on my part.
 
I can’t find sales info on the Inogen aviator model.

The closest I’ve found is this
https://www.inogenaviator.com/
which appears to be only an accessory, and the company looks dodgy with no physical address.

No that's the one. They used to sell the unit as well with it, not just the accessory pack. When I bought it anyway. But from their page it seems they no longer do for some reason. They were great to work with though. When I bought it I was about to do a cross country trip (literally coast to coast) in late fall with unpredictable weather. So wanted it. But ups got delayed for no apparent reason and they called me about that as I'd mentioned to their support when I needed it and done super fast shipping. They hounded ups about it for me without even me asking and did their best to get it to me on time. Again, all without me even asking. Weird that they don't sell the unit with the accessories anymore.
 
It's been on the radar for a while, as wife gets headaches when we X Country to her destinations. This post just pushed me enough that I ordered a 4 place SkyOx from Sporty's.

Update - tank shortage??? They 4 place system is back ordered to June. I ordered the regulator and cannulas individually and will look to find an O2 tank. I called around and O2 supply places are telling me there is a tank supply chain shortage now.
 
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I've been chasing the same information. Looks like ~$2700 is the street price, and the standard models have both power cords.

Locally, used ones are in the $1500-1700 range.

Lots of the websites pimping them seem dodgy like the ones for the folks who sell mobility scooters. They are more interested in getting their paws on insurance money than anything else. It also seems that you may need to find a doctor to prescribe supplemental oxygen to buy a new O2 generator, but that may be a misconception on my part.

Dodgy just equals Selling. They have to be sold to make money.

Don’t mention aviation unless in the context of the most common use - supplemental O2 for COPD sufferers (i.e. former smokers) when flying the airlines.

My line is, ‘my Mom’s insurance won’t cover it but she can’t travel without it’. They want a Rx but mainly they want to sell them.

Plenty of used ones out there for the obvious reason.


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Does anyone use oxygen at night above 5000 msl.??
When I learned to fly, there was a suggestion in some ancient jepp filmstrip we were watching in grounschool that suggested flying below 5000 for the last minutes before landing at night.
My instructor pointed out that this was a bad idea where we were (the field elevation was 5600').
 
When I learned to fly, there was a suggestion in some ancient jepp filmstrip we were watching in grounschool that suggested flying below 5000 for the last minutes before landing at night.
My instructor pointed out that this was a bad idea where we were (the field elevation was 5600').

That would be a bad idea for you and me.. since I live at 6500 feet....:lol::lol:
 
Mountain High and other vendors put out a fine system.

But, the technology that is now ready for prime time are O2 concentrators. Those electrical devices that are used by veteran smokers to help them live a bit longer. They work!

There is a vendor selling ‘aviation specific’ systems but they are not necessarily the best. The latest system from say Inogen will provide enough O2 for 2 people up thru 14k, tested. Probably higher but I’m right of the Mississippi and don’t need higher. But it’s costless and no hassle to turn it on at 7-8k and enjoy a clear mind and normal vision up thru 14K. Just plugs into a standard 12v cigarette lighter power outlet (oh the irony).

Only trick is to lie to the vendor about having a medical need for the $2-3k device. But no more fill ups at eastern FBOs that don’t know if they have the proper fittings or the time to fool around with your little tank.

They work! Recommend checking it out.


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Do you have a link for a good one? I don't have any issues up to 12k but I wanna see if it reduces the potential of getting a headache after landing.
 
Do you have a link for a good one? I don't have any issues up to 12k but I wanna see if it reduces the potential of getting a headache after landing.

Headaches were what I used to get after long flights over 8k. But I use an Oximeter to check for O2 levels being a minimum of 90%.

I got mine from OxiMedical.com, 2/20/20 $1995 with small battery and cannulas. 866-696-9558


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