Oxygen - equipment, getting refills, refill hoses, safety, etc

@Mooney_Driver: Which shop have you used? When I go to PanGas’ website, they provide a list of third companies, not their own shops.

Another source of O2 refills may be your local gliding/soaring club…

I’ve been reading about oxygen systems recently and several times I came across a backup mentioned by some of the people (e.g. Peter here mentioning that he has a second cylinder in case one leaks out). This got me wondering:

• What are the legal requirements to bring backup?
• What makes sense and what do you, the more experienced pilots in that area, do? Do you carry a complete second system, i.e. all components doubled?
• Up to what altitude do you think you would have the time and capacity to exchange a failed component?

I have this one http://feeloxy.com/shop/feeloxy-large-with-nozzle-for-tube-and-mask/ as backup. Since I still hesitate to go >FL200 (normally no need for me to do) I think it delivers sufficient Oxygen to get down to 13k ft or so. Plus it’s very easy to handle.

When using the O2D2 the worst thing that can happen is that it stops working either due to an electronic or mechanical failure, or run-out battery. That’s why I have two of those and cn quickly move my O2 source from one to the other.

I am not too worried about running out of O2. That’s what gauges are for.

Switzerland has loads of mountains so oxygen must be widely used there. People must have found a solution.

However fairly obviously the best solution for a club is to rent a big cylinder from an industrial gas supplier… and they possibly won’t supply visitors.

Oxygen is hardly used here, in spite of the mountains.

Oxygen is hardly used here, in spite of the mountains.

I know one Swiss pilot of a canard homebuilt who did 18000ft without O2 and woke up in a forest on the side of a mountain (the only patch of trees on the side of that mountain), loads of broken bones and a field of smashed fibreglass around him… so yeah I can believe that

I need to get him to do my national lottery numbers.

Shorrick_Mk2 wrote:

Oxygen is hardly used here, in spite of the mountains.

Yes we just man up and get on with it :-)

(sorry I’ll leave now :-)

Vladimir wrote:

Which shop have you used? When I go to PanGas’ website, they provide a list of third companies, not their own shops.

PanGas themselfs Zürichstrasse 98, 8600 Dübendorf.

The good bit about this is that you exchange the bottles so you always have one in new condition. With the MH regulator and 2 people they last very long indeed.