Wing Tape - Does Thickness Affect Performance?

Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never felt any need for an in-flight
relief system. Is this urge to go something most pilots are subject to,
or just a sub-set? Or is it something I can look forward to?

I'm not trying to start anything, I'd just like to know if there are
others like me. For the record, I'm 58, I'll drink up to 48 ounces of
water during flights, I've been airborne up to 6 hours, and I fly in
eastern Pennsylvania.

-John

You can look forward to it, eventually. It helps if
the cockpit seat is reclined a good bit; lying down
helps us spend 8 hours in bed without going. I'm down
to about 4 hrs in the cockpit without relief and I
have about 18 years on you.

At 17:44 25 January 2007, Jcarlyle wrote:
Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never felt any need
for an in-flight
relief system. Is this urge to go something most pilots
are subject to,
or just a sub-set? Or is it something I can look forward
to?

I'm not trying to start anything, I'd just like to
know if there are
others like me. For the record, I'm 58, I'll drink
up to 48 ounces of
water during flights, I've been airborne up to 6 hours,
and I fly in
eastern Pennsylvania.

-John

You would not like the results of a ruptured bladder if you crash on
landing!
It can be (and has been) fatal, as it is sometimes not detected till too
late.

--
Hartley Falbaum


"Nyal Williams" wrote in message
...
You can look forward to it, eventually. It helps if
the cockpit seat is reclined a good bit; lying down
helps us spend 8 hours in bed without going. I'm down
to about 4 hrs in the cockpit without relief and I
have about 18 years on you.

At 17:44 25 January 2007, Jcarlyle wrote:
Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never felt any need
for an in-flight
relief system. Is this urge to go something most pilots
are subject to,
or just a sub-set? Or is it something I can look forward
to?

I'm not trying to start anything, I'd just like to
know if there are
others like me. For the record, I'm 58, I'll drink
up to 48 ounces of
water during flights, I've been airborne up to 6 hours,
and I fly in
eastern Pennsylvania.

-John

On Jan 25, 12:41 pm, "jcarlyle" wrote:
Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never felt any need for an in-flight
relief system. Is this urge to go something most pilots are subject to,
or just a sub-set? Or is it something I can look forward to?

I'm not trying to start anything, I'd just like to know if there are
others like me. For the record, I'm 58, I'll drink up to 48 ounces of
water during flights, I've been airborne up to 6 hours, and I fly in
eastern Pennsylvania.

-John

John
You are very lucky, that your body has that ability. Many man at your
age start having problems with frequent urination even when not flying.
I am 60 years old. I for one have to get up 3 times during the night.
This is caused due to the swelling of the prostrate. Through drugs it
can be reduce to twice a night for the moment. It is caused by swelling
of the prostrate, which impinges on the bladder. Not only does the
bladder get smaller, but it also affects the flow rate and the bladder
muscle. In most cases it is a benign swelling of the prostrate. There
is an other potential risk and that is a bladder infection because the
bladder does not empty completely. This makes it even more important to
drink more fluid then normal.

As to your iron bladder and Kidneys. I knew a glider pilot who prided
him self of being the first one to launch and the last one to land with
out drinking and peeing.
Guess what, he had total kidney failure after 30 years. He was in his
mid sixties. As a side note he excelled in sports as well, he still did
competitive Figure skating in his age group just prior to the bad news.

Regards
Udo

jcarlyle wrote:
Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never felt any need for an in-flight
relief system. Is this urge to go something most pilots are subject to,
or just a sub-set? Or is it something I can look forward to?

I'm not trying to start anything, I'd just like to know if there are
others like me. For the record, I'm 58, I'll drink up to 48 ounces of
water during flights, I've been airborne up to 6 hours, and I fly in
eastern Pennsylvania.

I can be airborne for up to 6 hours, too, without resorting to the
relief system, but doing so leaves me noticeably dehydrated. Perhaps
this is a more serious concern out here in California/Nevada, but there
have been a number of accidents almost certainly due to pilot
disorientation resulting from dehydration. I carry a 96 ounce
Camelback, and if I'm properly hydrating it will be nearly empty after 6
hours, and I will have peed once or twice...

Marc

jcarlyle wrote:
Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never felt any need for an in-flight
relief system. Is this urge to go something most pilots are subject to,
or just a sub-set? Or is it something I can look forward to?

I'm not trying to start anything, I'd just like to know if there are
others like me. For the record, I'm 58, I'll drink up to 48 ounces of
water during flights, I've been airborne up to 6 hours, and I fly in
eastern Pennsylvania.

Here's what I've heard from soaring physicians. You are likely
dehydrated enough to affect your flying if:

1) you aren't urinating every 2 or 3 hours, and/or...
2) your urine is a dark yellow instead of pale yellow

My guess is you are taking off already dehydrated, so even drinking 48
ounces isn't enough to hydrate you during a 6 hour flight. Personally, I
am noticeably dehydrated after 6 hours in the cockpit in the summer if I
drink only 48 oz. I'm 64.


--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org

Thanks, Nyal. My seat is reclined, but perhaps the "changes" I can look
forward to haven't yet happened.

Hartley, I'm sure I wouldn't like a ruptured bladder. But if one
doesn't "have to go" then there shouldn't be any danger, correct? I've
had 5 hour flights where I drank as described, landed, disassembled the
glider and put it away, driven an hour to get home, had dinner, and
only then did I feel the "urge". Just lucky? Or pushing it?

-John

On Jan 25, 1:12 pm, "HL Falbaum" wrote:
You would not like the results of a ruptured bladder if you crash on
landing!
It can be (and has been) fatal, as it is sometimes not detected till too
late.

Based on the number of cross country or contest gliders I have seen with
pee tubes/systems, and more conversations and anecdotal experience than
you can imagine, I think you are one in a thousand. Virtually every
cross country and contest pilot I know has a pee system and uses it.



Dehydration, whether you need to pee or not, is a killer. Drink
_plenty_ of the right liquids, pee when needed. Period.



Larry Goddard

"01" USA



"jcarlyle" wrote in message
ups.com:

Perhaps I'm just lucky, but I've never felt any need for an in-flight
relief system. Is this urge to go something most pilots are subject to,
or just a sub-set? Or is it something I can look forward to?

I'm not trying to start anything, I'd just like to know if there are
others like me. For the record, I'm 58, I'll drink up to 48 ounces of
water during flights, I've been airborne up to 6 hours, and I fly in
eastern Pennsylvania.

-John

Udo, Marc, Eric - thanks for your inputs. I looked up "symptoms of
dehydration" with Google and found this:

Symptoms
* Dry or sticky mouth
* Low or no urine output; concentrated urine appears dark yellow
* Not producing tears
* Sunken eyes
Signs and tests (from a physical exam)
* Low blood pressure
* Blood pressure that drops when you go from lying down to standing
* Rapid heart rate
* Poor skin turgor (pinched skin doesn't spring right back into
position)

Udo, I can sleep for 8 hours without a bathroom visit, but my father
couldn't starting at about 70. Marc, you say "noticably dehydrated" -
what symptoms did you exhibit? Eric, my last bathroom visit before
flight usually produces a goodly amount of pale urine and I don't have
a dry mouth, so I don't think I'm dehydrated before flight. I'll keep
alert for signs, though.

-John

jcarlyle wrote:

But if one
doesn't "have to go" then there shouldn't be any danger, correct? I've
had 5 hour flights where I drank as described, landed, disassembled the
glider and put it away, driven an hour to get home, had dinner, and
only then did I feel the "urge". Just lucky? Or pushing it?


I use the same guidance I give the kids before car trips, etc., when
they always complain, "But, I don't have to," and that I've used in
forty years of all kinds of flying:

I say, "Go when you CAN, not when you have to."

Safety, schedules, and health are all better maintained that way. Why
push it, and why build habit patterns that will make it tougher to
adjust when your body does begin to show the common problems of aging?


Jack