For aviators and their passengers, oxygen means life at the high altitudes traversed by modern aircraft. True high-altitude passenger flight wasn’t really practicable until large-cabin pressurization was introduced during the halcyon days of aeronautical development surrounding World War II, most notably aboard the Boeing 307 Stratoliner and Lockheed Constellation transports and Boeing B-29 bomber. Pressurization freed crews from the need to constantly wear oxygen masks by concentrating more air within the cabin volume, effectively lowering the “cabin equivalent” altitude by stuffing more air molecules into it.
Modern commercial aircraft are typically pressurized to the cabin equivalent of 8,000 ft, meaning that someone sitting in an aircraft cruising at 35,000 ft is experiencing the same concentration of this life-giving gas that they would experience at an altitude of 8,000 ft.
More In Cabin Interior and Electronics
