A deterrent for using supplemental oxygen—especially in tight cabins—is having to deal with the hardware, including the bottle and oxygen lines strung every which way. Aithre, which has been cranking out decent portable solutions, has developed a hard-mounted system called the AVI C. I took a look at the system at AirVenture this past summer where it was installed in Aithre founder Jim Ruttler’s Van’s RV-10.
APPROVAL, INTEGRATION
That’s the key to the AVI C—streamlining the installation of the major components so all you and the passengers have to do is connect into the cannula plugs on the panel (for pilot and copilot) and wherever you can mount them in the cabin so passengers can get to them. Placing them next to the headset jacks makes sense to me. Of course, this hard interface is hardly new. OEMs have been integrating oxygen systems in aircraft for years, but we haven’t seen aftermarket installations like the AVI C. The system can be interfaced for up to six stations.