Seattle to east coast - IFR below 12.5K feet?

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Localizer
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Re: Seattle to east coast - IFR below 12.5K feet?

Post by Localizer »

Thank you all very much for this great information.
I'm easy to convince when it comes to good, useful things. Looks like I'm going to purchase portable O2. I've spoken with Eric at Mountain High today. Yes, pulse O2D2, is the way to go.
I'm glad I asked here. I now know where to fly and what to wear. :D
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Paul
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Re: Seattle to east coast - IFR below 12.5K feet?

Post by Paul »

I have the O2D2 as well. It's awesome and dramatically increases how long a bottle will last. The other thing I have that goes incredibly well with this system is an OxyArm that mounts to your headset. This is as close as you can get to pressurization.
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Colin
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Re: Seattle to east coast - IFR below 12.5K feet?

Post by Colin »

+1 for the O2D2 as well.

When I first bought the plane I bought a system from Mountain High. Then I did a year of flying back and forth to Las Vegas at 8,500 and used it *once* during a trip with my brother when we flew to 16,500 to see how the plane performed (still climbing 200fpm). After a year of it sitting in the dock box next to the plane I sold it to another pilot for a few hundred less than I paid.

Then I used an oxygen generator on a trip across the country. Blog entry I wish those had dropped in price because I would have installed a pair in the back, hooked it to the electrical system and never thought about it again. Bummer. (If not for Medicare I am convinced you'd buy one now for less than an iPad. They are sold almost exclusively to Medicare patients for $5,400 and cost (then) about $1,100 to make. It was before rampant off-shoring of manufacturing, so I bet you could get one made for $700 these days. Install it in that storage area under the luggage space, with the tow bar, get the O2D2 regulator hooked up and connected near the seats... it's a dream.

On a trip where we were going to fly north through Wyoming to cross the country at my son's request, I ordered another system and had all four of us on it, since I knew that through the Rockies that far north I would want to be above 12,500 for extended periods of time. And I was. But I was shocked how much better I felt when we landed after the first day. So now it is along for every long trip.
Colin Summers, PP Multi-Engine IFR, ~3,000hrs
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Jean
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Re: Seattle to east coast - IFR below 12.5K feet?

Post by Jean »

40.446, G1000, KAP 140, Hartzell Metal
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Localizer
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Re: Seattle to east coast - IFR below 12.5K feet?

Post by Localizer »

Thank you all for these great tips and opinions.
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Re: Seattle to east coast - IFR below 12.5K feet?

Post by carym »

+1 from me too. I bought my tank and 02D2 from mountain high when I bought my plane 7 years ago. I had to return my O2D2 once for repair, but the service was great. My wife and I are on oxygen anytime we are above 8K and with this system I rarely have to refill the tank. Going from Indianapolis to Seattle, mostly at 15K we used less than 1/2 tank.
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Re: Seattle to east coast - IFR below 12.5K feet?

Post by Barry »

Not sure if you made this trip yet, but I just did, at least as far as Boulder, CO. I filed at 12000 going eastbound and they actually let me stay there most of the trip. In Wyoming, we had to climb to 13000 do to opposing traffic. We used the O2 since I didn't know how long we have to stay there, but I'm pretty sure I could have negotiated lower once the traffic passed. There is so little traffic that the controllers seem to be very accommodating. I was als surprised at how flat it is going this route... After crossing the cascades you have the mountains of eastern Oregon and then not much until the Ogden area and that was also minimal. after that, it is flat until you reach the Appalachian mountains! By the way they were also great with the weather helping us negotiate the thunderstorms along the front range. They were very helpful in verifying what we were seeing on XM and visually since they were isolated cells.

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Localizer
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Re: Seattle to east coast - IFR below 12.5K feet?

Post by Localizer »

No, I haven't. I didn't need to fly after all. But thanks for info.
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