Salute!
Yeah, Spaz, I flew with the O2 under pressure in the VooDoo. Guess they were thinking we could zoom way up and survive a little bit bove 50,000 feet without spacesuits when doing a snap up versus a target at 70,000 + feet. We were pressurized, but guess they were worried it might fail.
Then the delayed ear blocks we learned to clear when sleeping was the best trick I learned. We also had something like the Raptor Cough but we never pulled sustained gees and certainly nothing above 4 or 5 gees for more than a few seconds.
I question the assertion that OBOGS defeats chem warfare, as tanked oxygen is guaranteed not to become contaminated.
As Wolf has noted, the technology is old. We tested a few jets at Hill in early 80's. My theory is HHQ folks wanted quicker turns and less dependence upon ground equipment and all the stuff required for LOX. Due to my corroded lungs, I use both portable and home model concentrators. They provide 95% O2 up to 10,000 feet, then fall off. I haven't heard of histotoxic hypoxia with those machines.
I wonder why we can't have sensors in the system to detect harmful gases or even particles. That won't prevent the high gee and pure oxygen problems, but it would sure as hell let the pilot/crew know their system was porked.
Gums sends...