Food for thought

In the GA field a typical day could go from trying to fill in time to running at full throttle.

The former allows time for getting a meal and a drink. The latter could well mean that a pilot may be running between flight jobs and not have time for a proper meal break or for that matter just plain missing meals. Long hours, workload, hot/cold cockpit temperature, vibration, stress, lack of sleep and poor eating habits are a bad combination. The end result is fatigue.

As pilots we are often told to ensure that we have an adequate breakfast so that our blood sugar level is satisfactory before we start out on the day’s operations.

Indeed this applies in all walks of life, not just flying.

These days it is not too hard to ensure that a pilot has the availability of drinking water by way of a plastic water bottle.

A bottle can come in several sizes and can be purchased at supermarkets, petrol stations and convenience stores. A wise pilot would reuse a water 86

bottle and maybe even cool it overnight in the refrigerator.

Put your car keys with it to ensure that it gets collected for the flight. In flight the aim is to drink enough water in sips to stay hydrated but not drink too much that you need to make a pit stop. Dehydration can lead to a decrease in performance and vigilance.

Be careful of coffee and Coke, great drinks that they are but both contain caffeine while Coke also has a good dose of sugar in it. When the effect of both ingredients wears off so does your attention span.

A meal can be a different issue.

In an ideal world it would be nice to finish a flight, have a meal and then resume flying.

In the GA field this does not

happen. It is often all go go go.

Another option would be to take a sandwich pack in a cool container. The reality is that not all pilots have the facilities to make and carry perishable food such as sandwiches. So what alternatives are there? Food in cans is one thought but opening and eating out of a can might result in spilt food and may involve using both hands – a problem in flight.

Cans and food that crumbles are better options to have after shut down, outside the cockpit.

Another option might be fruit or cereal-based energy food bars. Fruit can be messy to eat and energy food bars can crumble. Yet another option might be to take meal replacement drinks. These have fibre, fluid and protein.

The lack of adequate food and drink when flying an aircraft can have a marked reduction on performance.

on a platter Not for the GA pilot the luxuries of business class meals served by smiling flight attendants. In GA food is not handed to you on a platter, which means thinking ahead and planning nutrious eating options to keep the pilot fully fuelled. (Paul Sadler/Airservices)

For a working pilot also comes the consideration of when and where to obtain flight food. More than one reader pilot will be able to attest to being on the job before the store opens and finishing the day after the store closes. The trick here is to plan ahead, buy ahead and take what is needed with you on a flight.

It might be that the energy food type bar is going to have to be the flight food. Another option could be to take a trail mix containing nuts, seeds and dried fruit to consume as the flight progresses – grazing as a former ag pilot friend called it. Fruit cake was a further option as told to this writer by a Queensland long distance flyer. Fruit cake is moist, has protein, nuts and fruit in it as well as sugar. It is chunkier than a health food bar, does not dry out too quickly and stores well.

Fast food can be a negative, with excessive fat and sugar content. A great meal until suddenly you want to have a snooze, maybe in flight.

For the pilot of a GA aircraft there are several nutrition considerations. One, to get suitable food and drink for a meal while on the job – quality and quantity. Two, is to get time to consume that food and drink, be it in the air or on the ground. Three, is to have an adequate carbohydrate meal the night before coupled with adequate sleep to be able to tackle the day ahead. In addition it is important to have meals on a regular cycle and not skip them.

Good nutrition can improve your alertness and performance.

Eat and drink right and at the correct times.

n Contact Dave by email at flyer02@optusnet. com. au