Max altitude for a non-turbo M20F

[N201MKTurbo]

One thing that will affect your altitude tolerance is the amount of red blood cells you have. If you live at a high elevation location your body will produce more red blood cells to carry more oxygen around your body. Cheating athletes take drugs (EPO, Procrit) that will make their body produce more red blood cells or actually have their own blood centrifuged to make packed red blood cells, save it up and inject the red blood cells before an event. This will significantly increase your endurance. Some athletes sleep in altitude chambers like the PROTE chambers so their bodies will naturally produce more red blood cells. All of these things would make our altitude tolerance much better. 

[Jerry 5TJ]

1 hour ago, Marauder said:

Do you think I should try to attend with my portable de-fib? I could charge (pun intended) by the number of zaps.

Pilots come out of the training looking very sober.  Then, I hear, they head over to the Sky Ox booth.  

[0TreeLemur]

This reminds me that I did an altitude chamber ride at Ellington field (Houston) back in 2003 as part of my training to ride on the NASA vomit comet.  Come to think of it, I don't remember whether or not that one had any E-stop's,  but it was crewed by a large NASA staff both outside and in.   The fun bit was that our flight included  a mix of NASA/civilians and USAF fighter pilots.  The competitive nature of the fighter jocks led three of them to a fight to the bitter end over who would last the longest with their mask off at I think a pressure altitude of 26,000 ft.  After about 3-1/2 minutes I got to witness a human being drool then drop his forehead on the desk.   The other two were not as entertaining.  The second one just ceded without passing out, then the last one conscious just grinned and put his mask back on.

[cliffy]

Did mine at the old AF base in Victorville CA   They gave us a pop to 28000'. Saw the fog and everything else. My partner was told 3 times to put on his mask and he verbally agreed each time BUT- when he fell forward I put it on for him :-)

Hypoxia is a sneaky little bastard. You may/probably will never know it has raised its ugly head, especially in an unpressurized cabin. Its nothing to fool with even in the middle 20s.

Don't even think you are going to troubleshoot the problem or even change systems to the backup before you start down.  The longer you wait at high altitude the more probability of a bad outcome. 

Don't screw around. If you even suspect O2 problems dump it at Vne POWER OFF (to hell with the shock cooling at this point, you're in an emergency condition that can kill you, OK?) and get down now! Then call ATC to explain.  YA, its that important! You're gonna die if you don't do it correctly. Thankfully most O2 systems are pretty reliable BUT? I've had 3 complete losses of pressurization in 40 years in jets. Its nothing to screw with. 

Home work problem- How long will it take you to get down if your O2 fails at FL 240? Again, I'll buy dinner if you can meet your ETA the first time you try. You'll never make your estimate the first time, guaranteed! I've seen it happen too many times in the sim. 

[Shiny moose]

I wish and hope all pilots would read and heed these chamber experiences. Altitude, is a very serious thing and not given any attention during pvt, com, or ATP pilot training. You will probably not see any mention of human altitude problems until you attend some advanced sim training or head to the chamber. Anyone who flys in the flight levels who thinks this is not a big deal needs to have more training. 

 

 

[SantosDumont]

I’ve been to 15,500. Performance was so sluggish that I stopped there and didn’t try for 17,500.  Maybe I’ll try again in the winter.  I use a portable Aerox bottle size M. 

[RobertGary1]

On 9/3/2018 at 8:16 PM, SantosDumont said:

I’ve been to 15,500. Performance was so sluggish that I stopped there and didn’t try for 17,500.  Maybe I’ll try again in the winter.  I use a portable Aerox bottle size M. 

Ditto on both accounts. If you have the funds, Aerox is the best system you can get. SkyOx will save you a few bucks but you have to share a flow regulator.

 

-Robert