Reno Air Races -- 2600 Miles in 2 Days!

Jay,

I used to do the dehydration thing for long trips as well, but found
that as I aged it lead to some slow reactions and questionable
decision-making. Had a chat with an aviation medical type who
encouraged me NOT to dehydrate myself as the potential results were
more embarassing than using the piddle pack. Apparently the symptoms
of dehydration involve delayed reactions and impaired thinking.

Warmest regards,
Rick

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:SLM3d.20035$wV.8031@attbi_s54...
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...)

kage wrote:
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
(CRAP SNIPPED)
Karl


Ok, Kage, you cant "SHAME" someone into changing themselves... its
counterproductive.. It turns people off to you.

Poor judgement skills are not the sole realm of VFR private pilots..
there are plenty of other "professionals" out there who have exhibitied
such fine judgement that they become a black smudge on the ground or
mountainside.

My personal feelings on an instrument rating are that it increases the
utility of the airplane. It's not a license to ignore weather. I've made
a few "across the country" jaunts both VFR and IFR (CFI bro in law was
PIC for the IFR) and have to admit that being able to climb and descend
through layers, as well as shoot approaches into airports that were not
VFR does come quite in handy in making for a safe but expeditious trip.

Still had to go AROUND, rather than through areas of thunderstorms.. and
never had to deal with visible moisture in subzero temperatures.. but I
think that anyone who CAN safely complete an instrument rating would
benefit from it.. even if they never actually get "in the soup".

I have nobody but myself to blame for not finishing up my IR close to 3
years ago... and while my current flying activity isnt anywheres enough
to maintain that proficiency, I cant deny that the instrument TRAINING I
recieved along the way has benefitted me immensely, especially the 20
hours or so of ACTUAL that I have to date (yea... I was fortunate enough
to get some pretty good actual experience/instruction along the way)

You don't have anything to lose, Jay.. even if you dont finish the
rating, the training will help a LOT.

Dave
Houston

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

"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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"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:kiK3d.227481$Fg5.84932@attbi_s53...
Most of us just "ride the wave." It took me a couple of trips and
some
hangar flying with an old timer to get the idea. If you're VFR, why worry
about going uphill for a while as long as its free.

Well, if I had been at 9500 or lower, I'd have done just that, probably.
But at 10.5 or 11.5, we're already close to an altitude where oxygen would
be good to have (I know this flat-lander was awfully tired after spending an
entire workday above 11,000 feet), and I didn't want to go any higher.

I thought about riding the downdrafts down, but I didn't know where they
would stop! And that cumulo-granite sure looked hard...

;-)

Generally the up and down drafts will be well under 1000 ft of change.
So running between 10,000 and 12,000 would have been pretty easy.
500ft change even more common.

In our gliders most of us have fancy (or even not so fancy,Airspeeds
marked on the rate of climb indicator (vario)) computers to tell us
the best speed to fly through the lift and sink. In the Glider we slow
way down or even circle in the up and go like stink through the down
to get out if it.

More practical (and easier) in power aircraft is to just trim out for
level flight and let the currents raise and lower you. Adjust the
trim slightly if you would rather be higher or lower. If you want to
push a little in the sink and pull a little in the lift you will
improve you fuel economy and speed.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL

You don't have anything to lose, Jay.. even if you dont finish the
rating, the training will help a LOT.

Thanks, Dave. According to my log book I've shot 52 approaches under the
hood, and have over 25 hours of instrument dual.

I *know* the training made me a better pilot.

But that's got nothing to do with getting the rating itself. Until I have
either (a) unlimited time or (b) a much more capable plane, there is simply
no good reason to finish up the rating.

Eventually I'll have one, or the other, or -- if I grow up to be Mike
Rappaport -- both!

;-)
--
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.

Interesting.

Neither of us had a headache, nor were we overly thirsty when we landed.
(Although a couple of Sam Adams DID go down really, REALLY fast at the
casino bar... ;-)

However, at the Air Races the next day, I was constantly, ravenously
thirsty. I'll bet I drank two gallons of water in the pit area, with the
sun, wind, and incredibly low relative humidity conspiring to dehydrate me.

A delayed (or compounded) reaction, perhaps?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Dudley Henriques wrote:
"Newps" wrote in message
...


Dudley Henriques wrote:




or.......you could get the rating and NOT make stupid decisions and
become a much better pilot than you were before you got the rating,
which is exactly what happens to all but those who are accidents
waiting to happen anyway

Except the statistics say otherwise. Once you get in the 800-1000
hour range, especially if you do it fairly quickly, all VFR, an IFR
rating will add little to nothing to your flying skills other than
being able to be legal.


In my experience this isn't the case at all. In fact, it would be just
the reverse.

The stats say an instrument rated pilot is much more likely to take up
farming by scud running than a VFR only pilot.

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.

You know, we've talked about doing this for two years, but by the time we
add up the cost of glass and materials, plus time, we just couldn't make it
make sense.

Where do you get glass cut? Or do you do it yourself? (And, if so, where
do you get "bulk" glass?)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"