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A few weeks back I bought an Aerox O2 system off of Ebay for a great bargain. The system was practically new. Getting the tank filled was another adventure in its own. I eventually found a local welding supply company which didn't mind filling it with O2 as long as I promised not to breathe it. I long long long time ago I bought a cheap pulse oximeter. I decided to give it a try to make sure my o2 system was functional.  I climbed up to 10,000' before I turned on the O2 system.  My blood oxygen saturation was at 93% at 10k'.  The Aerox system was easy enough to dial into what O2 flow was needed depending on the altitude.  Boom! Made it to 17,500! I was pretty impressed with the climb performance of the RV. The average vertical speed from takeoff (811' AGL) to reaching 17.5 was 521 ft/min over a period of 21 minutes.  I was super impressed with the climb performance of the RV. The highest I had taken her until now was 12,500'. The O2 system was easy to manage and keep track of if it was working between the pulse oximeter and the flow gauge on the Aerox system.  My blood saturation level was at 92% at 17,500'. It should of been higher, but I needed to always adjust my breathing to get use to the canulas.  The airplane was VERY sluggish up at 17,500'. It reminded me a lot of how the airplane flies when it is near a stall. Sort of spooky as it seemed very unstable. Not the nimble quick little sports car up high!  Now the fun part - on the descent I reached 211kts. I didn't have her in too aggressive of a dive as I didn't want to shock cool the engine.  At 12,500' I turned off the O2 to see what my blood saturation level would be without O2 - 89% - a little low. Good to know when I decide to go high again without o2.  The timing of my day worked out so I had a nice sunset while approaching KDMW.  My flight path for the test was to fly direct towards State College, PA (KUNV). Reason for this is there is no airspace concerns on this straight course from KDMW. I was actually surprised how long it took me to get up to 17,500'. Without doing any math, I would of thought I would of been up at altitude about the halfway point. 
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Last Modified: October 5, 2024 |