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  1. #1

    Join Date
    Jul 2011
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    Dangers of co

    I read something on a car forum that may apply to airplanes or at least pilots. First, I met a pilot who talked about someone he used to know that flew for UPS in a Caravan each morning from Denver to Aspen. One day he was lost, in good vmc he just flew in level flight at 12,500 until he ran into the mountain range which has tops up to about 14,500. The post flight accident investigation showed a high level of carbon monoxide in his blood, and with no evidence of a problem with the airplane heater, it was discovered that just before the flight he had stood out on the ramp next to the automatic package loader as it was running and the exhaust was putting out a lot of CO. The pilot was probably using the autopilot for the first portion of the flight, and forgot or was asleep and never took it off to climb for the last leg.
    I know some airplanes put out a lot of CO even at idle, ( I think a Firefly is one, maybe P-47) and it is recommended to use O2 even on the ground.I know if you need to sit for awhile and idle behind a Merlin, it is a good idea to have the wind so that it doesn't blow into the cockpit.
    Anyway, the car owner was curious about CO in his garage, so he bought a electric detector and found that when he was running his car in the garage with the door open, there was pollution when he got near the rear, even though he got no reading inside the car with the heater on. So, back the car out in the open if you need to run it, and it is a really good idea to use a CO detector if your plane is that type. Sporty's sells those inexpensive plastic stick on detectors.
    If you are operating at high altitude, as the pilot out of Denver was, then O2 in your body is already down a bit, and you don't want any CO or other pollution to get into you body.
    Of course, it is critical to have the heater checked at annual to make sure it is not leaking into the plane. And Co is odorless and tasteless, so can sneak up on you, except other smells in the exhaust may alert you.
    Last edited by Bill Greenwood; 01-28-2014 at 02:47 PM.

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