Re: Things to remember in very hot weather

In rec.aviation.student Mxsmanic <mxsmanic@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> muff528 writes:
> 
>> If that's as high as your airplane will go you probably should get
another 
>> airplane. At least don't fly around out west where the hills are higher
than 
>> that. Sometimes even the ground is higher than that! :-)
> 
> I try to avoid the mountains when flying a small plane.  There are some
> extensive flat areas in the American west, but it is true that sometimes
to
> get between two points it's hard to avoid the mountains, short of
crossing
> half the continent to go around them.  Even if the aircraft has the
requisite
> ceiling, carrying oxygen for everyone is awkward and will not inspire
> confidence in passengers.

You don't legally need oxygen for the passengers until 15,000ft, and even 
the "it's a good idea even though it's not required" range probably isn't 
until 10,000ft or so. If you start out at sea level, those will get you 
into nice cool air.

At the risk of turning this thread into something useful, does anyone have

any recommendations as to when it's a good idea to give oxygen to 
passengers? I'm not talking about the legal requirements, but just when 
it's the smart thing to do. For example, as the pilot I like to start my 
oxygen at about 10,000ft even though it's not required until quite a bit 
higher. But then again, it doesn't really matter too much if my passengers

have mildly impaired judgement during the flight, even though I'd really 
want to avoid that myself.

This is really an academic question since I don't plan to take anybody 
that high to begin with, but I'm curious.

-- 
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon