Portable Oxygen System

[ncdmtb]

My plane does not hat have an oxygen system. Yesterday, I flew with my son at FL160. The plane came with a portable bottle. It has a T -adapter. I used the nose cannula and my son had a mask. The whole set-up was sub optimal. What equipment do I need if 4 of us fly? I live in Germany and plan to frequently fly across the Alps. When I file IFR I fly FL150 for approx 45min each leg and dont want to fill up my bottle for each trip. What portable system do ypu recommend? In particular a system that I can use when I fly on my own, with 1 passenger, or even with 1-3 passengers?

[lamont337]

What brand and what size bottle do you currently have? I ask because the manufacturers that I'm familiar with (Aerox and Skyox) sell the regulators separately so if your tank size is adequate you can just replace this one part with a 4 place (which unfortunately is the most expensive part). Otherwise you can get a whole new system with a bigger tank and 4 outlets from either manufacturer.

 

http://www.skyox.com/

 

http://www.aerox.com/portable.html

 

You might find cheaper prices at Sportys.com or Aircraftspruce.com, but I don't know if they ship international.

 

Hope this helps.

[Awful_Charlie]

Guten tag nachbar!

 

If getting oxygen is a pain, for a high initial cost consider the electronic EDS units from Mountain High - they really save on oxygen consumption, but the units themselves are fairly expensive.  The lower consumption will help with getting a cheaper bottle, but I would suggest for 4 people and two man hours each, the bottle you end up with will be quite small, and getting something bigger wouldn't add much to the expense and weight.  I used to have two of the old style single place units, and they would gradually use batteries (PP3's) even when not in use, so would keep the batteries (and spares) in a separate bag for use when required.  One of the other advantages of the EDS is that it uses the cheap standard cannula, whereas the constant flow units use the more expensive (and slightly less comfortable) Oxysaver style.

 

You don't really needs masks until you get into the high teens of flight levels, and masks with a microphone are eye-wateringly expensive, and they are even more uncomfortable.

 

Spruce do ship to Europe, be prepared for a top-up bill from the shipper though!  I don't know about Sportys, I expect it is similar

 

Ben

[Glenn]

I have had a 40 cubic foot SkyOx bottle behind the pilot's seat of my M20F for years.  Used with Oxymizer cannulas it gives pretty good endurance between refills.