On Sep 13, 10:51 pm, "Marc J. Zeitlin"
wrote:
es330td wrote:
..... While I know that oxygen is required at altitude, what is the
effect of the lower pressure on pilot and passengers? I am doing
this in part for the purpose of transporting myself and family to
visit friends and relatives and am curious about the effect on my
two children, currently 3 and 5, and whether this will make them
less pleasant to fly with.

You've gotten a number of reasonable answers from folks that don't fly
canard aircraft of this type - here's some info from someone that
does. I have a COZY MKIV with an O-360-A2A 180 HP engine. I
regularly fly at 13.5K ft., and have been to 15.5K ft. once. The
reasons to go that high are to get above the haze layer, get above a
cloud layer, see distant T-storm buildups, miss mountains, and get
into more favorable winds to get better fuel economy.

I normally fly around 7.5K ft - 10.5K ft., as the plane is fastest
down there (at 60-75% power) and I don't need O2. I'll go higher for
short periods of time for ground clearance when crossing the Rockies
or Sierras, or when flying over northern AZ where the ground's at 7.5K ft.

Above 18K ft., you'd have to wear a mask, rather than a cannula. The
Cannula is not particularly intrusive, but masks are. Plus, you'd
have to be on an IFR flight plan (and obviously be IR). There are a
few canard folks that regularly fly in the low 20's, but only when the
winds are favorable (generally going east).

At any rate, assuming that you've got O2 on yourself and your family,
up to 18K with cannulae, you're fine (get a pulse Oximeter so that you
can measure your blood's saturated O2 levels to make sure you're
actually getting the O2). The lower pressure has essentially no
effect, if you've got O2.

Keeping cannulae on little kids would be difficult, but as you state,
it'll be a few years (not 10, as proposed - it took 7 for me to build
my COZY, but I know many folks that have built canard aircraft in 2-5
years) before they're actually flying. In fact, per 91.211, they
don't HAVE to have O2 unless you're above 15K ft., so you can fly up
to there, use O2 for yourself, and let them nap in the back without O2.

If you're seriously considering a canard aircraft, I suggest that you
join the COZY mailing list and/or the yahoo canard-aviators mailing
list, to get information directly from hundreds of folks building and
flying canard aircraft. There are only a few Aerocanards flying (less
than 15 - maybe less than 10), and there's no specific list for them.

--
Marc J. Zeitlin
http://www.cozybuilders.org/
Copyright (c) 2007

Thanks for this response. I am serious about owning a canard; I can't
find a manufactured plane that will give me the range and speed to
make the cross country flying worth doing at a cost I can afford. I
am leaning toward the Aerocanard as it is kit rather than plans built
so it should get flying sooner rather than later.

To all: This discussion has been very educational. I haven't learned
yet at what altitude a plane gives maximum performance at cruise power
though from these responses it appears that under FL100 is expected
and preferred. I guess I'll leave Class A to the turbine powered
airplanes.