Preparing for a XC : Bathroom Breaks

I've mastered fuel management now the hardest part. How to manage mine and
my wife's bathroom breaks. Our trips are typically 3 to 3.5 hours but our
blatters don't always make it thus forci6ng a stop. Thats a big 30 min
addition to the trip. On my last filight I filed two flight plans and then
called ATC to open the next flight plan when we felt we could make it all
the way without the stop. Seemed to work.

Any suggestions on preflight preparations that have worked for others ? No
coffee before the flight ? No liquids xxx hours before leaving etc. etc.
Sort of like preparing for an operations.

Thanks.
Holding it in

"TF" wrote in message
. ..

Any suggestions on preflight preparations that have worked for others ? No
coffee before the flight ? No liquids xxx hours before leaving etc. etc. Sort
of like preparing for an operations.

Dehydration gives no warning and can seriously degrade your pilot skills
just when you need them most. Drink normally and use piddle packs to extend
your range if you really don't want to land. Some glider pilots make their own
with freezer bags and the gel that is found in some diapers. There are also
products made to accommodate the female anatomy.

On the other hand, having a desperate urge to pee and no place to do it can
also degrade your performance. Always have a plan. On my little x-country
flights, I always pack a bottle of water. It is always nice to have the water
should I happen to get thirsty, but In a pinch that bottle could be very useful!

Vaughn

In article ,
"TF" wrote:
Any suggestions on preflight preparations that have worked for others ? No
coffee before the flight ? No liquids xxx hours before leaving etc. etc.
Sort of like preparing for an operations.

Do not drink anything later than one-hour prior to flight.
Immediately prior to departure, go to the toilet and clear out whatever
you have.
For 3-3.5 hour legs, wait until one-hour prior to arrival before
drinking. When you do drink, drink only water and only in small sips.
You should then be able to make it to your destination before the urge
for relief hits.

TF writes:

Any suggestions on preflight preparations that have worked for others ? No
coffee before the flight ? No liquids xxx hours before leaving etc. etc.
Sort of like preparing for an operations.

Make sure you are well hydrated in advance of the flight, but don't
drink much in the way of fluids in the last 3 hours or so. Avoid
anything with caffeine in it. Avoid alcohol (but you'll be doing that
anyway). Be sure the cabin is comfortably warm while you are flying
and avoid very cold temperatures prior the flight (cold produces
diuresis). If you are thirsty before the flight, you didn't drink
enough in advance. Make sure your thirst is quenched in the hours
before the flight, then avoid much in the way of drinks in the last
three hours or so. Avoid eating more than a snack during the same
period.

Bring something to drink along on the flight. If you get thirsty, you
can sip your drinks. If your flight is three hours, typically by the
time the stuff you drink on board starts to find its way to your
kidneys (if it does--it won't if you truly need the hydration), you'll
be back on the ground.

For emergencies, you might want to bring along urine collection
devices.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Vaughn Simon writes:

Dehydration gives no warning and can seriously degrade your pilot skills
just when you need them most.

Dehydration most certainly does give a warning: thirst. If you get
thirsty, drink. If you're not thirsty, you're not dehydrated. You
won't dehydrate enough in three hours to have any effect on your
flying ability unless it is extraordinarily hot inside the aircraft.
Make sure you are hydrated before the flight and you'll be fine.

On the other hand, having a desperate urge to pee and no place to do it can
also degrade your performance.

Much more so than the subclinical dehydration that might occur on a
short flight of three hours.

--
Transpose mxsmanic and gmail to reach me by e-mail.

Any suggestions on preflight preparations that have worked for others ? No
coffee before the flight ? No liquids xxx hours before leaving etc. etc.

My wife and two kids have flown cross country for the last 12 years,
and have successfully flown legs as long as 5 hours without a potty
break. This is a real trick, with two little kids!

The night before a long flight, don't drink alcohol. The morning
before a flight, consume no more than a single cup of coffee, and no
pop. There is nothing worse than drinking a diuretic before launching
to make for a crossed-leg landing.

Drink no water before a long flight, either. Bring along a small
container of water, and sip it often -- but only enough to wet your
mouth. Trust me, it's better to be a bit dehydrated when you land,
than to be dying to pee.

Bring along potty bags/sick sacks. Make sure they are the BIG ones,
with the absorbent gel. Because you have them, you probably won't use
them.

(It's funny, but *knowing* that they are on board makes NOT peeing much
easier. If you forget them, and you *know* you forgot them, you will
think of nothing but peeing... ;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkinn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"TF" wrote in message
. ..
I've mastered fuel management now the hardest part. How to manage mine
and my wife's bathroom breaks. Our trips are typically 3 to 3.5 hours but
our blatters don't always make it thus forci6ng a stop. Thats a big 30 min
addition to the trip. On my last filight I filed two flight plans and
then called ATC to open the next flight plan when we felt we could make it
all the way without the stop. Seemed to work.

Any suggestions on preflight preparations that have worked for others ?
No coffee before the flight ? No liquids xxx hours before leaving etc.
etc. Sort of like preparing for an operations.

Thanks.
Holding it in

I'm usually a two diet coke before going to work (or the airport) kinda guy,
but when I'm flying X/C I limit my intake to maybe 3/4 of a can, and make
sure that's an hour or more before departure so I can unload most of it at
the FBO prior to departure.

My airplane has a control stick and not a whole lot of room, so piddle packs
and/or a porta-john really are not options.

One of our routine trips is between Dallas TX and Atlanta. The airplane
will do it in 4 hours or less, but unless we're in a real hurry to get
someplace, we usually set down in Mississippi, just to stretch out and use
the bathroom. It makes for a more enjoyable flight than having to
figuratively cross your legs and pray that there isn't any turbulence for
the last 1/2 hour of the trip. Also, you can plan the stop for a field with
the services you desire.

Additionally, it is really futile to try and tough it out, then have to land
at some little armpit airport 30 minutes from home (after crossing your legs
for an hour) 'cause you realized that you didn't have a 4 hour bladder in
the first place...

Beyond that, the airplane has about 4.5 - 4.75 hours of fuel capacity, and I
feel a lot more comfortable planning to arrive at my destination with an
hour or more of fuel on board. Runways do get closed unexpectedly from time
to time, winds can drive you to alternate airfields, and there is always the
chance that you didn't get the last gallon or two into each of the tanks.

KB

TF, take no coffee or other diuretics for three hours before take off.
Drink water sparingly, but if thirsty aloft, drink some water.

You and your wife do not have wait until a flight to see if your
bladder endurance is what you want it to be. Go shopping and to a
movie, and call the start of the trip the ETD. From ETD minus 3 hours,
drink only water sparingly. Void before leaving to go shopping -- "I
don't have to go" is not an acceptable excuse.

Then go do your thing, have sips -- SIPS!!!!! -- of water from time to
time, and pay attention to how you both are feeling. See if you can get
to ETD plus 4 hours (it may take a time or two before you can do that.
This is an especially good practice because you'll be aware of what
you're trying to do, and it will make you more aware of your needs for
relief.

Try it a few times. Keep this in mind: you probably both go for many
hours when you're asleep. If, however, one or the other of you is
getting up every two or three hours at night, you'll just have to plan
shorter flight legs.

If these 'low and slow' flights work, do the same pre flight routine
for the real thing, void at the FBO before take off, and be confident
your personal tanks will not be full before the airplane's are getting
close to minimal reserves.

Good luck.

Oh, one other thing: don't try to be a hero. If the need is there, tell
ATC you want to land and do a personal weight and balance adjustment.
Too full a bladder IS a hazard to safe flight.


On Jan 24, 8:15 pm, "TF" wrote:
I've mastered fuel management now the hardest part. How to manage mine and
my wife's bathroom breaks. Our trips are typically 3 to 3.5 hours but our
blatters don't always make it thus forci6ng a stop. Thats a big 30 min
addition to the trip. On my last filight I filed two flight plans and then
called ATC to open the next flight plan when we felt we could make it all
the way without the stop. Seemed to work.

Any suggestions on preflight preparations that have worked for others ? No
coffee before the flight ? No liquids xxx hours before leaving etc. etc.
Sort of like preparing for an operations.

Thanks.
Holding it in

I had another thing worth sharing. In the hot summer time, I suggest
you get a couple of pint or half liter water bottles, fill them to
about 80%, then freeze them. Use them as your drinking water when
aloft. The thaw rate is often a nice moderator on how fast they'll
empty, they'll be cold for hours.

For golf I do that with Gater Aid or other sports drinks in liter
bottles -- walking hilly courses in hot weather is thirsty work. The
Army tells its members if they are doing hard work in the summer, that
if they are not ****ing they are not drinking enough. Thirst is NOT a
good measure of need in those circumstances.


On Jan 24, 10:03 pm, "Tony" wrote:
TF, take no coffee or other diuretics for three hours before take off.
Drink water sparingly, but if thirsty aloft, drink some water.

You and your wife do not have wait until a flight to see if your
bladder endurance is what you want it to be. Go shopping and to a
movie, and call the start of the trip the ETD. From ETD minus 3 hours,
drink only water sparingly. Void before leaving to go shopping -- "I
don't have to go" is not an acceptable excuse.

Then go do your thing, have sips -- SIPS!!!!! -- of water from time to
time, and pay attention to how you both are feeling. See if you can get
to ETD plus 4 hours (it may take a time or two before you can do that.
This is an especially good practice because you'll be aware of what
you're trying to do, and it will make you more aware of your needs for
relief.

Try it a few times. Keep this in mind: you probably both go for many
hours when you're asleep. If, however, one or the other of you is
getting up every two or three hours at night, you'll just have to plan
shorter flight legs.

If these 'low and slow' flights work, do the same pre flight routine
for the real thing, void at the FBO before take off, and be confident
your personal tanks will not be full before the airplane's are getting
close to minimal reserves.

Good luck.

Oh, one other thing: don't try to be a hero. If the need is there, tell
ATC you want to land and do a personal weight and balance adjustment.
Too full a bladder IS a hazard to safe flight.

On Jan 24, 8:15 pm, "TF" wrote:



I've mastered fuel management now the hardest part. How to manage mine and
my wife's bathroom breaks. Our trips are typically 3 to 3.5 hours but our
blatters don't always make it thus forci6ng a stop. Thats a big 30 min
addition to the trip. On my last filight I filed two flight plans and then
called ATC to open the next flight plan when we felt we could make it all
the way without the stop. Seemed to work.

Any suggestions on preflight preparations that have worked for others ? No
coffee before the flight ? No liquids xxx hours before leaving etc. etc.
Sort of like preparing for an operations.

Thanks.
Holding it in- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -

On Wed, 24 Jan 2007 20:15:26 -0500, in
, TF wrote:
Any suggestions on preflight preparations that have worked for others ? No
coffee before the flight ? No liquids xxx hours before leaving etc. etc.
Sort of like preparing for an operations.

You could always get a relief tube installed in your aircraft... Makes it
so much more fun when you fly over certain people's houses... evil-grin

For your wife, well, she can wear a pair of Depends... Hell, women are
used to having bodily fluids leaking from them anyway and having to take
measures for it, so wearing a pair of Depends shouldn't be too much to
ask, right? OK, so wearing a pair of Depends might clash with her thong
panties, but I won't tell if you won't...

If I'm flying alone, my plane has a 5-hour range... If I'm with Grace or
our daughter, a 3-hour range is probably pushing it... Damn women have
bladder capacities of a thimble... Driving across country is not any
better... For me, I stop when I need gas... For them, I have to stop at
ever damn rest stop I see along the highway in addition to when I need to
refuel...