O2 Concentrator instead of O2 tank

Chris writes:

I suspect that those pilots who have been busted recently either don't know
or don't care to know how alcohol works in the body.

People who fly aircraft should not be drinking alcohol or smoking at
all.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

On Tue, 05 Dec 2006 17:45:48 GMT, "Danny Dot"
wrote in :


"Chris" wrote in message
...
snip


Upto 10,000 ft air only
10,000 - 33,700 ft Oxygen/air mix
33,700 - 40,000 ft 100% oxygen
40,000 + 100% Oxygen under pressure



I flew fighters for the Air Force (F-4E) and I recal going to pressure
breathing at about 25,000 feet cabin altitude. This was an emergency only
because the cabin pressure never got this high. I also recall a rule to not
go over 50,000 feet because of blood boiling (bends) IF the cabin pressure
was lost at greater than 50,000 feet.


Danny Dot


Here's a little story on that topic:


A Frightening Parachute Ride

by Jim Bates

The U.S. Air Force song says, in part, "Off we go, into the wild
blue yonder,..."

Despite that "wild" warning in the beginning of a spirited
exaltation to the joys of flight, confident pilots often become
forgetful that it might be nice weather when a flight starts but it's
quite possible for aviators to experience first-hand how wild that
blue yonder can easily and quickly become.

Here's the tale-of a naval pilot who discovered the extent of
that wildness.

In May 1960, while flying in formation with another pilot, our
discoverer bailed out of a powerless F8U at 47,000 feet while on a VFR
(visual flight rules) journey from Massachusetts to North Carolina.
His unanticipated problems started while the two planes were passing
over a thunderstorm and his plane's engine made odd noises and a fire
warning light came on.

He took hurried corrective actions, but nothing worked. Abruptly
he was without power controls and the stick was locked in neutral
position. He hastily decided to eject rather than stay with the plane
that had started an uncontrollable plunge toward the raging storm
below.

Later reports estimated the thunderstorm to be some hundred miles
in diameter. His indicated airspeed at ejection was 210 knots (241.5
miles per hour).

The "wild blue yonder" gave him a frightening experience of a
nine-mile descent, lasting more than thirty minutes - an ordeal that
he fortunately survived - during which his parachute equipment did not
fail, though it had been subjected to extraordinary stresses. Parts of
his incredible adventure are given here in his words, garnered from
statements in an official U.S. Navy investigation.


* * *

"My first sensation was one of severe cold and extreme expansion,
as if I were about to explode. The cold rapidly changed to a burning,
tingling sensation. I felt as if millions of pins were sticking in me.
I sensed that I was tumbling and spinning like a cartwheel. My arms
and legs were out and I could not get them in.

"In a matter of seconds I realized I had retained my helmet and
mask but no longer had my visor although I had been flying with it
down because of the bright sunlight and reflection from the top of the
clouds. I believe it was torn away on ejection.

"I opened my eyes and saw I was entering wispy clouds. I was
going into the tops of the fleecy overcast that I had flown through
just a few minutes before. I seem to remember saying to myself, 'Well,
you're entering it and it's about 44,000 feet.' About this time I
managed to get my arms into my body.

"I looked down and noticed that I was absolutely forcing my torso
harness. It looked like it was going to burst. My stomach popped out
under my life vest as though I were pregnant.

"I had the feeling that I fell and fell and fell and fell for an
eternity. My oxygen mask was beating against my face. I held my mask
with my right hand. I put my left hand on my helmet which was pulling
on the chin strap as if it was going to go off. My left hand was very
cold and numb - it felt like somebody else's hand, not mine.

"Some time during the free fall, my right glove got in my way. It
inflated like a balloon so I let it go - just jettisoned it. I
remember seeing it go off and I thought 'Why did I throw the glove
away?'

"During the free fall I had the feeling of not being able to
exhale; in fact, I seemed to have to work very hard to be able to
exhale, but all I had to do was open my mouth and in-rushing air just
seemed to fill my lungs. At this time it was getting a bit darker in
the cloud.

"I had an urge to open the parachute but I told myself I was
still far too high and if I did I would either freeze to death or die
from lack of oxygen. I still had this tingling sensation but I sort of
had the feeling that I was slowing down and falling into denser
atmosphere and I seemed to be getting a little warmer.

"I was still in the free fall and thinking about opening the
chute. It was quite dark but I don't recall any great moisture or any
great violence. It seems like while I was thinking about opening the
chute, all of a sudden there was a terrific jolt and I knew the chute
had opened. I looked up but by this time I was in such a dense, dark
cloud that I couldn't even see my canopy. I reached up and got hold of
the risers and gave them tugs on both sides; it felt like I had a good
chute.

"From here on, my memory of what happened seems much better. I
now clearly recall running out of oxygen, having the mask collapse
against my face, and I believe I disconnected it from the right side
as I always do. At about this time I thought I definitely had it made
and was going to survive. However, I noticed I was still bleeding from
the nose, my right hand was cut, and my left hand was frozen numb, but
the pressure was going and I was much more comfortable. Then the
turbulence started and I realized I was entering the thunderstorm.

"As the turbulence started, I was pelted all over by hail. Then I
fell a little bit more and I seemed to be caught in a violent updraft.
I had the feeling that I was being tossed around - that I was actually
going around in a loop and I was looping over my canopy like being on
the end of a centrifuge. I got sick in the turbulence and heaved.

"Sometimes I could see the canopy and sometimes I couldn't. The
tossing and the turbulence was so violent it is difficult to describe.
I went up and down - I was buffeted about in all directions - at times
it felt like I was going sideways. One time I hit a very rough blast
of air - I went soaring back up and got in a very severe hailstorm. I
remember the hail beating down on my helmet. I had the feeling it
would tear my canopy up. The next thing I knew I was in rain so heavy
I felt like I was standing under a waterfall. I had my mask loose and
the water was so great that when I tried to inhale I got water with
the air like I was swimming. It seems to me that some time in the
storm I noticed my watch and was surprised that it had stayed with me.
I'm not sure but I think I was able to tell the time by the luminous
dial - I believe it was around 1815.

"At one time during an up or down draft, the parachute canopy
collapsed and came down over me like a big sheet. I could see my legs
in the shroud lines. This gave me some concern - I thought maybe the
chute wouldn't blossom again properly and since the hail seemed to be
larger now I was afraid it might damage the canopy and put holes in
it. I fell and the canopy blossomed again. I felt the risers and
everything seemed all right.

"At this time I looked down and saw what appeared to be a big
black elevator shaft. Then I felt like I had been hit by a blast of
compressed air and I went soaring back up again - up and down -
sideways. How much of this soaring went on I don't know. I had the
feeling that if it went on much longer I was not going to maintain
consciousness. I was being tossed around and beaten around and I
wasn't quite sure how much more I could take.

"The violence was so great that I thought that if it doesn't stop
soon, my gear will come apart - and my straps will break - I will come
apart. Stretching - twisting - slamming - the turbulence of this
thunderstorm was so violent I have nothing to compare it with. I
became quite airsick and I had considerable vertigo. Again I had the
feeling that I couldn't take much more of this but if I could only
hold out a little while longer, I would be falling out of the roughest
part of the storm.

"The lightning was so severe that I kept my eyes closed most of
the time. Even with my eyelids closed, there was a blinding
reddish-white light when the lightning flashed. I felt rather than
heard the thunder; it just about burst my eardrums. As I recall,
I had the feeling that I was in the upper part of the storm because
the lightning seemed to be just flashes. As I descended, I seemed to
see big red streaks heading towards the earth. All of a sudden I
realized it was getting a little calmer and I was probably descending
below the storm. The turbulence grew less, then ceased and I realized
I was below the storm. The rain continued, the air was smooth, and I
started thinking about my landing.

"By now my shoulders and legs hurt pretty badly. I checked myself
over again and thought I was O.K. I kept looking down and said to
myself 'Under the storm you probably won't have more than three
hundred feet.' It was just like breaking out when you're making a GCA
[ground controlled approach]. The first thing I saw was green and then
I was able to see trees and then I knew I was very close to the deck.

"I remember seeing a field off in the distance and I thought
there must be people nearby. As I got close to the trees I suddenly
realized there was a surface wind and I was being carried horizontally
over the ground quite rapidly - maybe 25 knots. I oscillated about
three times, then went into the trees. It seemed that my chute fouled
in two pine trees and I continued in a horizontal position with the
wind, then swung back to the left. I came crashing back through the
trees like a pendulum and hit a large tree with my left side. My head,
face, and shoulder took most of the blow. My helmet was knocked
crooked but I think it did a great deal to save me here. The blow was
so violent that it twisted my helmet back on the right side and pulled
the chin strap so tight over my Adam's apple under my chin that I had
to loosen it when I got on the ground. Anyway, I came down with a
crash. I slid down and landed on my side. I was cold and stunned but
still conscious. At first I thought I had broken something and was
paralyzed. Pretty soon, however, I was able to move my head and then
my arms. I checked the time; it was between 1840 and 1845."

The pilot's report went on to detail that he wasn't yet out of
trouble. It was still daylight but dimming quickly, and raining
heavily. The physically battered and stunned pilot struggled out
of the tangle of canopy, suspension lines, and harness webbing. He
wanted desperately to get out of the woods before dark, but he was
confused about what direction to go. Momentary panic worsened the
confusion but he forced himself to think rationally.

He then quickly recalled training in making square search
patterns. In the rainy darkness he saw a freshly cut tree stump, then
another, and another, then several more. He figured that a logging
operation of this size meant there would a logging road also. That
road would be the objective of his square search pattern.

On the third leg of the square pattern he found the road. In the
increasing darkness and steady rain he followed the dirt road until he
came to a farm field and across the field he saw automobile headlights
of several cars moving along a road. He wearily plodded through the
muddy field until he reached a paved two-lane secondary road.
Bedraggled, he stood on the edge of the road and tried to flag down a
passing car. He got annoyed, then angry, that by his count fifteen
cars went by without stopping to help.

His statement went on to read: "I must have looked like something
real unusual - all wet and bleeding and standing out there in my
flight suit in the dark and the rain. I guess they figured I was
drunk.

But suddenly he got a break: "Then after all these other cars had
kept on going, a car came by and I thought I heard a boy say, 'There's
a pilot, daddy."'

The car kept going into the rainy darkness, but then slowed,
turned around, and came back to the exhausted, hurt roadside figure.
The aviator's ordeal was done. He recovered from his injuries flew
again for many years.

The U.S. Navy's Approach magazine, produced for naval and marine
corps flight crew members, included the pilot's amazing flight
experience in an issue published soon after the official investigation
had been completed.

The "wild blue yonder" had been bested and another flyer's life
was saved with a parachute.


The author can be contacted via e-mail:
Copyright (c) 1995 Aero.com. All rights reserved.
http://aero.com/publications/parachutes/9610/pc1096.htm

LtCol. William H. Rankin
The Man Who Rode The Thunder


Here's the tale-of a naval pilot who discovered the extent of
that wildness.

In May 1960, while flying in formation with another pilot, our
discoverer bailed out of a powerless F8U at 47,000 feet while on a VFR
(visual flight rules) journey from Massachusetts to North Carolina.
His unanticipated problems started while the two planes were passing
over a thunderstorm and his plane's engine made odd noises and a fire
warning light came on.

The name of the pilot is William H. Rankin. At time Lt. Col. Rankin was
commanding officer of the Marine Corps Squadron VMF-122. He wrote a book,
The Man Who Rode the Thunder, about the event. I can't find my copy at the
moment.
I met Col. Rankin during one of my USMC tours after his experience. As I
recall, he ejected somewhere over Virginia and landed in North Carolina
almost an hour later. That he went on to fly again is testimony of what a
Marine Corp aviator is made of.
Sempre Fi!

On Wed, 06 Dec 2006 08:58:43 -0500, in
, Ron Natalie wrote:
That's not a reasonable rule. The generally accepted rules run 18-24
hours, but they all START a with a single dive. Nitrogen absorption
is not just a matter of depth but also time. Even at 10 feet if you
dived for a for over an hour you'd be in trouble.

If I'm flying my plane after a dive, I just don't go that high... I'll
usually make the return flight at 1000 ft -- perhaps up to 3000 ft
sometimes...

AIM 8-1-2
http://www.faa.gov/ATpubs/AIM/Chap8/aim0801.html#8-1-2
Decompression Sickness After Scuba Diving.
1. A pilot or passenger who intends to fly after scuba
diving should allow the body sufficient time to rid itself
of excess nitrogen absorbed during diving. If not,
decompression sickness due to evolved gas can occur during
exposure to low altitude and create a serious in-flight
emergency.

2. The recommended waiting time before going to flight
altitudes of up to 8,000 feet is at least 12 hours after
diving which has not required controlled ascent
(nondecompression stop diving), and at least 24 hours after
diving which has required controlled ascent (decompression
stop diving). The waiting time before going to flight
altitudes above 8,000 feet should be at least 24 hours after
any SCUBA dive. These recommended altitudes are actual
flight altitudes above mean sea level (AMSL) and not
pressurized cabin altitudes. This takes into consideration
the risk of decompression of the aircraft during flight



The added pressure from a dive to 10 feet is 5 psi, at 30
feet the added pressure is 15 psi, making a total pressure
of 30 psi. That is double the sea level pressure so twice
the normal, amount of nitrogen will become dissolved in the
blood and tissue. This takes some time in both directions.
Mere skin or snorkel diving does not cause problems. But
the term saturation dive should be understood.
Decompression tables get the diver back to the surface, they
may just consider a slow swim up from 60 feet [or deeper] or
they may require stopping at certain depths to allow
dissolved gases to exit the blood to the lungs.



But keep in mind the soda bottle, you can unscrew the cap
and it may not bubble or it may over flow with a lot of
froth. If you're flying and climb fast, maybe some
turbulence [shaking your "bottle"] or a cabin decompression
or fast climb in a high performance airplane can cause you
pain. A single dive to less than 30 feet and 1 hour will
probably be clear 2 to 3 hours. A long day of multiple
dives to 30-60 feet, will take longer because you become
saturated.







"Grumman-581" wrote
in message
news | On Wed, 06 Dec 2006 08:58:43 -0500, in
| , Ron
Natalie wrote:
| That's not a reasonable rule. The generally accepted
rules run 18-24
| hours, but they all START a with a single dive.
Nitrogen absorption
| is not just a matter of depth but also time. Even at 10
feet if you
| dived for a for over an hour you'd be in trouble.
|
| If I'm flying my plane after a dive, I just don't go that
high... I'll
| usually make the return flight at 1000 ft -- perhaps up to
3000 ft
| sometimes...

This thread has a lot of confusion.
I will try to resolve/simplify the confusion...


Suppose you are breathing 1 liter per minute.
(I'm using a round number not the correct one.)

If you are breathing normal air you get .21 liters of O2 at ambient pressure and .79 liters of nitorgen at ambient pressure.

If the concentrator takes in 4.76 liters of air and removes all the nitrogen (out to an exhaust port)
this leaves 1 liter of O2 at ambient presssure, you then breathe this 1 liter per minute of concetrated O2.

The keys are that the concetrator uses more air that you would (4.75 vs 1 liter) and
it exhausts most of that as pure nitrogen.

Notice that the concept of the concetrator is the same reguardless of altitiude,
it is increasing the concntration of O2 at sealevel this is 99% O2 at 14.7 PSI,
at 18000 ft this is 99% O2 at 7.3 PSI.

Paul

Jim Macklin wrote:
AIM 8-1-2
http://www.faa.gov/ATpubs/AIM/Chap8/aim0801.html#8-1-2
Decompression Sickness After Scuba Diving.

Scuba divers are well advised to pay attention to the
diving-oriented medical research and not the FAA.