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Have you ever been so tired..


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Yesterday I flew 10 hours straight, up at 5:30 am, no a/c, rough air, about 50 t/o's and landings in the heat - over and under power lines, over sprinklers, trees, houses and tractors..

 

I was so doggone tired I couldn't even motivate to go for supper!

 

Can anyone relate? 3.gif

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Flybabe, most of the helicopter pilots can relate. Fires, seismic, airborne survey (bird towing), lake sed or other sampling work, and a host of other jobs routinely hit the double digits day after day. It's rewarding on the psyche and the wallet, but make sure you're well fed, hydrated and rested.

 

Check out these two articles

 

 

 

There will be a squillion stories on this forum of how people have messed up while fatigued. I have so many that it's scary. I once tried to start a 212 with the blades tied down in front of my eyes, after doing TWO walkarounds because I knew I was tired.

 

Not trying to ruin your obvious high, because I know how good it feel - but arm yourself with knowledge and common sense as well.

 

Enjoy!

 

BTW Schteevie - FYI - 'Choppers' have two wheels, handlebars, and a fat guy with a scruffy beard and tattoos. cheesy.gif
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excellent articles above...

 

re sleep apnoea...

 

People with sleep apnoea, for instance, literally stop breathing for short periods during sleep, but may never realize they have a disorder. As sufferers sleep, the soft tissue in the throat relaxes and obstructs the upper airways, causing them to snore loudly and eventually to stop breathing, which causes the brain to rouse and demand oxygen. This arousal interrupts the deep-sleep cycle, and may occur more than a hundred times in a night, without the sleeper’s awareness. As a result, the victim can be chronically fatigued, even though they spent a considerable time asleep. It is estimated that this condition afflicts four percent of the population, usually overweight, middle-aged men (so, does that make us helicopter pilots a high-risk category?).

 

i DEFINITELY have to address this... it's gettin' so even the **** dog won't sleep with me!!

 

 

re caffeine... gotta have that "hit" of a large, regular @ tim's or i get one helluva booming caffeine headache by 1100... by the same token, i gotta race like a piss horse for hours everytime i enjoy my coffee (which obviously supports rapid/ongoing dehydration)... stupid question of the week - is a caffeine pill a safe/reasonable alternative???

 

 

re tie-downs... with the onset of alzheimers looming, i've taken to adopting a manual spin of my tailrotor (to reposition the blades one full rotation) as a secondary precaution during my walkaround.

 

 

cheers...

 
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Chuck -

 

Where - KS

 

Acres - about 1300 (keep in mind this is only a Cessna, smaller loads because of higher density alt and slower ferry speed 3.gif

Money - chaCHING 2.gif

Ag flying is good work, too bad there isn't more of it back home in Canada. Does anyone know if there are any outfits left that have more than a couple machines?

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