Posted on 02/29/2012 4:16:32 AM PST by EnjoyingLife
Air Force leaders still do not know for sure why the F-22 Raptor keeps suffocating its pilots after the service completed a fleet-wide study of its aircraft oxygen generation systems.
Air Force engineers didn't find a "smoking gun" during the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board's quick-look study, said Lt. Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle, the Air Force deputy chief of staff for Operations, Plans and Requirements. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley ordered the study after the service grounded its F-22 fleet when multiple pilots experienced "hypoxia-like" symptoms in flight.
(Excerpt) Read more at dodbuzz.com ...
It’s probably a virus embedded in the software from a component they outsourced from China. Isn’t it sad that something I totally made up might make you wonder?
It didn’t make me wonder. That was my first thought when I saw the headline.
The same (or very similar) OBOGS is also used on the F/A-18, and they have had similar problems.
"I'm sorry Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that."
Wonder if because of the G’s the oxygen hose gets compressed, feeding less oxygen to the pilot. When the plane stabilizes, the hose expands and more oxygen gets to the pilot.
$50 hose?
I know it’s heavier, but an oxygen bottle is more reliable, and they make bottles out of fiber, now.
I think the Aviator O2 is cleaner. I’ve always been suspicious of generated O2.
An On-Board Oxygen Generating System (OBOGS) offers significant advantages over the traditional stored-oxygen systems used today on most high-performance, high-altitude military aircraft and commercial airliners.The on-board generation system is more reliable, safer and requires much less maintenance than a comparable stored-gas system. In addition, stored-gas systems have capacity limitations that simply do not exist with an OBOGS. In an OBOGS application, an adsorbent is used to remove nitrogen from the air, which in turn enriches the oxygen concentration in the outlet air stream. Materials such as zeolite are commonly used to remove nitrogen and concentrate oxygen.
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