Aero-Tips!

A good pilot is always learning -- how many times have you heard this old standard throughout your flying career? There is no truer statement in all of flying (well, with the possible exception of "there are no old, bold pilots.")

Aero-News has called upon the expertise of Thomas P. Turner, master CFI and all-around-good-guy, to bring our readers -- and us -- daily tips to improve our skills as aviators. Some of them, you may have heard before... but for each of us, there will also be something we might never have considered before, or something that didn't "stick" the way it should have the first time we memorized it for the practical test.

Look for our daily Aero-Tips segments, coming each day to you through the Aero-News Network.

Aero-Tips 08.12.06

All pilots should know that, as altitude increases, available oxygen decreases. Vision is the first thing to deteriorate, especially at night. Brain function suffers, taking judgment with it while an hypoxic euphoria tricks us to think everything's okay. In extreme cases more physical symptoms occur, ultimately leading to pilot incapacitation and death.

Since "death" is never a good word with which to end a paragraph, let's look at the life-saving rules for supplemental oxygen use in unpressurized airplanes. FAR 91.211 details supplemental oxygen requirements for privately operated airplanes. "Personal pilots" are often allowed to get away with looser rules than their commercial counterparts, and supplemental oxygen rules are one example. FAR 135.89 and 135.91 tell us the rules for commercial operations.

Why require supplemental oxygen at lower altitudes for commercial operations in the same aircraft? Because commercial use implies an unknowing public and demands a higher standard of care.

Many aerospace physiologists recommend using supplemental oxygen at any time when above 5000 feet MSL at night, to protect night vision. Some advise that, if climbing to "oxygen altitudes", it's best to begin using supplemental oxygen at takeoff, to test the flow and oxygen-saturate tissues before reaching an altitude where oxygen is scarce.

Aero-tip of the day: Ask yourself if you and your passengers shouldn't be held to the higher standard of care required for commercial flight, where supplemental oxygen is concerned.

FMI: Aero-Tips