Supplemental oxygen

The smart guys are on O2 at 10,000 during the day and 5,000 at night. Most humans are measurably impaired at 12,500.

T8

On Tuesday, July 23, 2019 at 8:57:52 AM UTC-7, Tango Eight wrote:
The smart guys are on O2 at 10,000 during the day and 5,000 at night. Most humans are measurably impaired at 12,500.

T8

The Air Force have done tests that show flight decision making can be negatively affected without supplemental Oxygen above 6000 feet. I always put mine on when I got into the cockpit when releasing above 6000 feet.

gkemp

O2 systems fail. Probably, the best thing you could do, would be go thru a altitude chamber course. Everyones symptoms are different and it is insidious while its happening. knowing your symptoms and when it(hypoxia) is happening to you, can be a life saver! I went threw a course at ASU a few years back. Recently while flying a friends glider in Moriarty, I noticed my symptoms gradually appearing (tingling o, the back of the neck and headache). This lead me to check the EDS system and realize it was not fuctioning properly. I was able to reset it and get it working so didnt abort but had I not recognized the problem------

CH

At 15:57 23 July 2019, Tango Eight wrote:
The smart guys are on O2 at 10,000 during the day and 5,000 at night.
Most humans are measurably impaired at 12,500.

T8

Much depends on your age, fitness, smoking habits, medication such as
beta-blockers, length of flight and the altitude at which you normally
live. At 10,000ft, you need 30% oxygen to function as well as normal if you
live at sea-level. Since air is 21% oxygen: that is a 50% increase. Even
10,000 ft is too high without supplemental oxygen for many middle-aged
pilots who should be using a pulsed-demand supply soon after take-off for
high flights. The law is set in much the same way as blood/alcohol levels.
If you stay within legal limits, it does not mean that you are flying as
safely as you could. For example: visual sensitivity at night is decreased
by 10 percent at 5,000 ft and by 30 percent at 10,000 ft. Even in the day
at 10,000 ft there are reductions in memory capacity, patience, focus,
endurance etc. Jean-Marie Clement's book has 39 pages on the subject!

Agreed.....what is the cost of an O2 refill vs. a bad outcome?!?!??

Poor physical health, smoking (my bad....don't harp....I get enough already....), lack of sleep, different start point (coastal pilot suddenly flying at Denver or similar....) etc.
In general, I see no real downside to excess O2 other than sorta hyperventilating.....not great, but the opposite is way worse.
When you go O2 low, first thing to go is higher thinking.....exactly what you need then.....

No....have not done an altitude chamber....
No....have not done much flying above 10K'ASL.....
Yes, did a gold climb with no external O2 to about 13.5K' on the eastern seaboard.

On Tuesday, July 23, 2019 at 10:23:55 AM UTC-7, Charlie M. (UH & 002 owner/pilot) wrote:
Agreed.....what is the cost of an O2 refill vs. a bad outcome?!?!??

Poor physical health, smoking (my bad....don't harp....I get enough already....), lack of sleep, different start point (coastal pilot suddenly flying at Denver or similar....) etc.
In general, I see no real downside to excess O2 other than sorta hyperventilating.....not great, but the opposite is way worse.
When you go O2 low, first thing to go is higher thinking.....exactly what you need then.....

No....have not done an altitude chamber....
No....have not done much flying above 10K'ASL.....
Yes, did a gold climb with no external O2 to about 13.5K' on the eastern seaboard.

Personally, I use a Mountain Pulse-Ox system that I set to come at 10,000 ft which you usually reach in a few minutes in the high desert. People, simply, should not bring gliders not equipped with O2 into this environment.

I took an altitude chamber ride to 25,000 ft, but that was 40 years ago. And half the day was spent in the classroom discussing physiological effects. Now they only take you to 18,000. All of the comments about physical degradation are, of course, valid and a wise pilot pays attention to them, especially drugs, dehydration and sleep quality. The basic problem with pushing the limits are the consequences of going past them. Remember, most accidents a series of factors that align malevolently, not just a single one.

Tom

Tango Eight wrote on 7/23/2019 8:57 AM:
The smart guys are on O2 at 10,000 during the day and 5,000 at night. Most humans are measurably impaired at 12,500.

I might be even smarter: last year, I began using oxygen above 8000', when I
discovered I began a form of periodic breathing at about 8500'. It's easy to
detect with an oximeter, which showed my oxygen saturation varying between 95 and
90 over a 1 to 2 minute period. With my EDS turned on, I stay in the 96-97 range.

The periodic breathing is fairly common, I've read, among pilots and mountain
climbers. Another reason to carry and use an oximeter.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1
- "Transponders in Sailplanes - Dec 2014a" also ADS-B, PCAS, Flarm

http://soaringsafety.org/prevention/...anes-2014A.pdf