2020 Mackay, Idaho Regatta

On Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 10:54:29 AM UTC-8, Matt Herron (Sr) wrote:
On Thursday, October 31, 2019 at 8:43:34 AM UTC-7, Dan Marotta wrote:
In the past, at another location, a friend and I on safari rented a
large O2 bottle from the local medical supplier.Â* Cost was $42 for a
month though we only needed it for a week.Â* We brought our own
trans-fill hose and, at the end of the week, offered free O2 for anyone
who wanted it.

On 10/31/2019 8:40 AM, Brian wrote:
On Thursday, October 31, 2019 at 6:41:46 AM UTC-6, John DeRosa OHM Ω http://aviation.derosaweb.net wrote:
I must ask about the lack of "nearby" oxygen refills.

The regatta is 10 days long. The field elevation is 5892ft. So oxygen use would be expected and refills would be needed.

The limiting factor is then how far away would one have to travel to get a quick turnaround refill?

Thanks, John
He is just saying that commercially available oxygen is not available close by, so don't plan on coming and then filling up your oxygen bottles because the supply is limited. If you are coming and can bring extra please do, If you need oxygen please coordinate with Tom, a number of us bring extra, But availability is a bit potluck, if you don't bring your own. So far we have always had enough, and just want to keep it that way.

--
Dan, 5J

Oxygen is Oxygen. There is no difference between aviation and commercial welding oxygen except for liability insurance. I once ran a welding business so I have a large bottle of welding Oxygen that I use to refill my glider bottle. Done it for years. no problem.
And it's easy to rent a welding bottle from any commercial supplier for far less bucks.
Matt Herron

I spoke to an O2 supplier about this once. He agreed that "oxygen is oxygen", but he said that there is a cleanliness standard for medical and PBO bottles. Contamination from a bottle may cause a system malfunction which in a welding application is no big deal, but in PBO or medical could be fatal..

See Brian's response. Historically we have had some bring big bottles to use as refills. We have the necessary hoses and adapters for USA stuff. Those that bring the big bottles - large med tanks - get first use but usually are able to help others. My glider only has room for the small 'D' bottles but I have 5 of them so have not needed to refill in the past. Towards the end of the stay one may only get 1,100 lbs +/- . A commercial refill is about 3 hours each way. So obtaining a large bottle as Dan suggested is optimal.
tom





On Thursday, October 31, 2019 at 6:41:46 AM UTC-6, John DeRosa OHM Ω http://aviation.derosaweb.net wrote:
I must ask about the lack of "nearby" oxygen refills.

The regatta is 10 days long. The field elevation is 5892ft. So oxygen use would be expected and refills would be needed.

The limiting factor is then how far away would one have to travel to get a quick turnaround refill?

Thanks, John