https://www.kitplanes.com/homebuilt-o2/ I Googled "Kitplane Oxygen" and the article popped right up. It's got some good references and other info, all of which I agree with except for their choice of regulator. The constant flow regulator shown in the article is a non-starter. As for a pulse-dose regulator, their recommendation of Mountain High as a source for oxygen components is also a non-starter- not because Moutain High doesn't make good products but rather because they charge at least ten times more than market price for equivalent components. The regulator shown in the article is a "Constant Flow" or "Continuous Flow" or "CF". They're all the same and used to be the standard issue aviation O2 regulator. I've read in Deakin's article (IIRC) that CF regulators waste 2/5ths or 3/5ths of the available oxygen. The Deakin article the author references is what got me thinking about oxygen many years ago. It eliminated the headaches I was getting from going from sea level up to the flight levels after not flying for weeks or months. Oxygen brings many other advantages with it besides headache elimination. I put the Osymizer cannula around my neck along with headset as soon as I get in the cockpit and wouldn't leave home without it. The article doesn't mention using a dive shop to fill the tank, unless I missed it. Dive shops, at least the ones I use, can also do hydrotesting - or know how and where to get it done. It's required by law every five years (could it be three years? Can't remember).
Here's the regulator I use: https://www.ebay.com/p/1821987293 I bought it on eBay for around $35, supposedly used but it was actually new. The one above for $65 is well worth it. Great regulator. I bought my "E" tank (24 cu. ft.) on eBay as well. And my cannula . . . in short, everything. Even the pulse oximeter. With this Devilbiss PD-1000, litres per minute are adjustable from 1 to ten ending with a CF setting (although I can't imagine a situation where CF would be required). As the name implies, it releases oxygen only when there's a drop in pressure (when you breathe in). How much it releases (the dose, or "bolus" to get really fancy) is determined by where you set the LPM dial. Using oxygen all the way there and back, on trips to Mt. Vernon I've arrived back home with oxygen still in the tank. A flowmeter (as shown in the article) unnecessarily complicates the set-up and just allows for another potential leak or failure point. Using oxygen for cross country travel is one of the nicest things we can do for ourselves. If you're carrying a passenger and want to give them oxygen this set up I've described will need to be re-thought. Mike Stirewalt KSEE ________________________________ -Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html -Change list delivery options at https://list.krnet.org/list/krnet.list.krnet.org/ Affinity List Info Board -Search recent KRnet Archives at https://list.krnet.org/empathy/list/krnet.list.krnet.org/ -Search John Bouyea's decades of archive at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/
