Reno Air Races -- 2600 Miles in 2 Days!

Just courious, and some people may consider this too much information,
but... what do you do for relief on those long legs?

Just courious, and some people may consider this too much information,
but... what do you do for relief on those long legs?

Our longest leg was 5.4 hours -- almost two hours longer than our original
flight plan -- so this could truly have been a serious problem. Luckily, it
wasn't, thanks to long experience with cross-country flying.

Our secret? We carefully avoided drinking beverages before launching.
This, for a coffee addict like me, was one of the most difficult parts of
the trip! Flying at sunrise without my usual caffeine jolt was a true
hardship -- but it's one that's well worth enduring.

Actually, the reverse was true -- we became quite thirsty aloft. To help
with this, we kept a small water bottle on board, just to wet our lips and
cut the thirst to a manageable level.

Between limiting our fluid intake, and the extreme dryness at 11,000 feet,
we had amazingly little trouble "holding it" for that long. (We had relief
bags on board, just in case...)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote:

Our secret? We carefully avoided drinking beverages before launching.
This, for a coffee addict like me, was one of the most difficult parts of
the trip! Flying at sunrise without my usual caffeine jolt was a true
hardship -- but it's one that's well worth enduring.


I think we're getting to the real reason you were so tired after all day at
11,000 ft. And you thought it was the altitude. :-)

Great story, Jay. Thanks for sharing.

Mike

I think we're getting to the real reason you were so tired after all day
at
11,000 ft. And you thought it was the altitude. :-)

Great story, Jay. Thanks for sharing.

Man, I was STILL tired this morning, even with coffee. That was an intense
four days, for sure. Between the flying and the non-stop racing action, we
were pretty much wired for 96 straight hours.

I need to get back to work tomorrow, so I can get some rest! :-)

And then, the coup de grace: Mary went to the frame shop today, to get all
of those beautiful posters framed and matted. Augh!

And I thought Avgas was expensive! Even with our usual "bulk discount" the
price was breath-taking...

:-(
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote


And then, the coup de grace: Mary went to the frame shop today, to get all
of those beautiful posters framed and matted. Augh!

And I thought Avgas was expensive! Even with our usual "bulk discount"
the
price was breath-taking...

:-(
--
Jay Honeck


You need another hobby. ;-) Seriously, get a power miter saw, some picture
frame stock, and a matt cutter, and learn to do it yourself. It really is
not that hard, or time consuming. It could pay off. BIG time.
--
Jim in NC


---
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Mike Adams wrote:

"Jay Honeck" wrote:


Our secret? We carefully avoided drinking beverages before launching.
This, for a coffee addict like me, was one of the most difficult parts of
the trip! Flying at sunrise without my usual caffeine jolt was a true
hardship -- but it's one that's well worth enduring.



I think we're getting to the real reason you were so tired after all day at
11,000 ft. And you thought it was the altitude. :-)

Great story, Jay. Thanks for sharing.

Mike

I have felt quite wiped out after making 4 and 5 hour legs at 10k feet
too.. I wonder if a little smidgen of oxygen would have helped a bit..

Dave

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 20:11:30 GMT, Dave S
wrote in et::

I have felt quite wiped out after making 4 and 5 hour legs at 10k feet
too.. I wonder if a little smidgen of oxygen would have helped a bit..


That's what these are for:
http://www.mhoxygen.com/index.phtml?...product_id=390

In article SLM3d.20035$wV.8031@attbi_s54, Jay Honeck wrote:
Our secret? We carefully avoided drinking beverages before launching.
This, for a coffee addict like me, was one of the most difficult parts of
the trip!

Especially since most pop and coffee is a diuretic (i.e. it makes you
go much sooner). You can drink plain water and still hold on fine for
that period - water will keep you with the fluids, but you won't have it
come out fast like coffee.

The longest GA leg I did was about the same length in a Piper Apache
which carried 7 hours of fuel. It was my ass that was sore after that...

--
Dylan Smith, Castletown, Isle of Man
Flying: http://www.dylansmith.net
Frontier Elite Universe: http://www.alioth.net
"Maintain thine airspeed, lest the ground come up and smite thee"

The longest GA leg I did was about the same length in a Piper Apache
which carried 7 hours of fuel. It was my ass that was sore after that...

Speaking of this, two things of note:

1. After 21 hours in the air, our Lightspeed Twenty 3G headsets were STILL
comfortable. Well, by the end, the left ear piece was just starting to push
the bow of my glasses into my ear in an uncomfortable way -- but what an
amazing testament to the comfort of those headsets! (Best of all, they
continue to work perfectly...)

2. Ever on the longest legs our new seats were still comfortable. If we had
tried this flight before having the seats reupholstered, Mary would've had
to extract me from the plane surgically. Good seats are worth their weight
in gold!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

If you don't already know it, you dehydrated yourselves.
The time you spent at altitude will take its toll without your realizing it.
I learned my lesson the hard way back in 1986. My wife and I rode with
another couple in their C310 from Columbus OH to Ft Lauderdale FL.
Six hours at 11000 feet with only a small bottle of water inflight. When
we landed I had a severe headache. We went from the airport to a
restaurant for dinner. I couldn't eat, but I did drink two pitchers of
ice water before I felt better.

Jay Honeck wrote:
Just courious, and some people may consider this too much information,
but... what do you do for relief on those long legs?

Our longest leg was 5.4 hours -- almost two hours longer than our original
flight plan -- so this could truly have been a serious problem. Luckily, it
wasn't, thanks to long experience with cross-country flying.
Our secret? We carefully avoided drinking beverages before launching.
This, for a coffee addict like me, was one of the most difficult parts of
the trip! Flying at sunrise without my usual caffeine jolt was a true
hardship -- but it's one that's well worth enduring.
Actually, the reverse was true -- we became quite thirsty aloft. To help
with this, we kept a small water bottle on board, just to wet our lips and
cut the thirst to a manageable level.
Between limiting our fluid intake, and the extreme dryness at 11,000 feet,
we had amazingly little trouble "holding it" for that long. (We had relief
bags on board, just in case...)