Portable O2 system

[LanceS]

I'm considering purchasing a portable O2 system for my Cessna 182. My 80% mission is myself and maybe one other passenger, however some of my longer X/C's involve 4 passengers. For those who have used these systems, does the tank take up too much space in the back and make it uncomfortable for the passengers? Options available are the 15, 22, and 24 cu ft cylinders. I'm leaning toward the 22 cu ft cylinder but am curious as to what others recommend.

 

[murphey]

I fly a cherokee and put the O2 tank in its carry bag in the back seat, upright, strapped to the seat. When I have 3 people (never 4 in the cherokee) it's in the baggage area, also strapped in upright position or in the empty back seat. One data point - what's your most frequent cruising altitude? Since I start at 5000 MSL, my normal cruise is 10K-12K MSL. Since you're pretty much starting at sea level, where do you cruise? If you rarely go over 5-6K, then O2 is dependent on your personal need for O2 and the pax.

 

[robin ardoin]

My 22cuft cylinder has a carrying bag that straps to the back of a seat. If your passenger in the right seat is short and can tolerate moving the seat forward a bit, the passenger behind them should have enough space to feel comfortable. I have a Mountain High system with a couple of O2D2 units in a 210.

 

[LanceS]

I fly a cherokee and put the O2 tank in its carry bag in the back seat, upright, strapped to the seat. When I have 3 people (never 4 in the cherokee) it's in the baggage area, also strapped in upright position or in the empty back seat. One data point - what's your most frequent cruising altitude? Since I start at 5000 MSL, my normal cruise is 10K-12K MSL. Since you're pretty much starting at sea level, where do you cruise? If you rarely go over 5-6K, then O2 is dependent on your personal need for O2 and the pax.

I typically cruise 7-11K, but being on the Gulf Coast I'd like the option to get above the cumulus layer in the summer, which is often above 10-12K in the afternoon.

 

[Kitch]

I run a 22cuft cylinder in a bag on the back of the pilot seat. Plenty of room in a 206 for the person behind me (although its usually bags because we need to take everything we own when we travel apparently)
22cuft gives 2 of us about 10 hours of use on the mountain high pulse system. I'm a wimp so if I'm over 7k for more than a couple hours I'm putting it on so I don't feel like hammered dog$h!t the next day.

 

[robin ardoin]

I agree with @Kitch ... even at levels not requiring O2 by regulation, I find that using it keeps me feeling nice and fresh upon landing when flying longer than an hour or so. I set mine to come on at 5k for longer flights and continuous mode at night. I flew a 2.5hr night IMC trip at 15,000' the first time I used the O2D2 system and found that, upon landing, I felt better than after much lower altitude flights using my Inogen O2 concentrator (which was a lot better than no O2 at all).