darryl ramm’s blog

These notes are mostly aimed at pilots who are new to cross country flying dual with me in the BASA DG-1000 during the spring time Hollister League contest. This is quite an extensive list, but gives a good idea of what a well equipped (or at least anal retentive) cross county pilot flies with. Although the DG-1000 has more storage space than some other gliders the space is still very limited, so pack light. It is a good idea to carry everything you will fly with in a small gym bag or day pack that you can pack everything into beforehand (a check list can be handy) and carry just the bag and the parachute to the glider.

It is important to be comfortable. I can get hot in the cockpit, you need to bring lots to drink, to have way to urinate and some snacks to eat. The only technical preparation I will ask you to do is some homework on marking up maps with landout locations as this will help orient you and allow you to the most out of this flight. The things described below are basic things to bring with you, I’ve also have informaiton on survival equipment.

Hydration

The impact of being dehydrated on physical and mental skills could be pretty catastrophic. Budget bringing enough water for five or more hours and possibly being very hot and leave some extra to cover any landout. You need something to hold drinking water and it needs to be easy to reach and use in flight. On long flights I normally carry two 100 oz CamelBak “Unbottles” that provides enough for the flight and an emergency reserve in case of land out. CamelBak Unbottles are available from REI in two sizes 70 oz Camelbak “Unbottle” and 100 oz Camelbak “Unbottle”.

The Unbottles can be placed on the luggage shelf behind the back seat or jammed down next to your seat. It is also possible to can find ways of stowing plain plastic drinking water bottles but the Unbottles probably work better. You should bring at least one of the 100oz bottles or something of similar total capacity. You especially want to avoid any problems or concerns with urination that might stop you from drinking, more on that below.

During hot weather and where you are busy you can easily get dehydrated — do not want to rely on “just drinking whenever thirsty”, you make a habit of drinking regularly even when not feeling thirsty. Plain water is a good place to start. Carbonated drinks or Gatorade or similar sports drinks are really not necessary and can make a sticky mess if spilt. You also do not want to rely on drinking full concentration sports drinks to keep your fluid level up, that is a lot of electrolyte to consume, which can put stress on your kidneys or just plain make you feel nauseous form all the salt.

On warm days if ice is available I’ll partially fill the Unbottle with ice which can last a remarkably long if the unbottle is kept out of the sunlight. I’m naturally low on electrolyte so some Gatorade helps me. I’ll dilute the Gatorade down to half to one third of the usual strength. If you want to do this the powered Gatorade available at most supermarkets is more convenient than carrying around the usual premixed liquids. This also just makes the water more palatable and can encourage more water consumption.

Pee Tubes and/or Bags

You will be in the glider for several hours and you need to keep drinking to stay hydrated and so you need some way to urinate. There are two choices.

• Pee Tubes

The DG-1000 has holes for pee tubes, which is far better than using pee bags. I use a pee tube and adhesive external catheter in my own glider and in the DG-1000. More information on using and constructing pee tubes is available here.

• Pee Bags

Worse case pee bags will do. Even if you are using a pee tube you should carry a few bags as backups in case something goes wrong with the pee tube, hoses or catheretes etc. Pee bags require a lot more futzing about than a pee tube, not a good idea when you should be concentrating on what is going on outside the glider. They also leak or splash and since they get throw overboard after use they are a blight on the environmnet.

I have tried different brands of pee bags and by far the best are the TravelJohn Disposable Urine Bags available at PilotMall and many other places. The TravelJohn are less cumbersome that some others and the gel solidifies quickly (which helps avoid splashes). These commercial bags are also better than terry cloth in plastic bags or other roll your own approaches. I also do not like the Restop brand Disposable Travel Toilets. They are too large, the rigid flaps on the top of the bags are cumbersome and the gel does not set up quickly. I also do not recomend pee bags connected by catheter, they are unweildy, can leak - especially in the reclined seating postition in the front seat of the DG-1000S and if you are going to attach a catheter you might as well go ahead and vent overboard.

Clothing

• Wear comfortable light weight loose fitting clothing

Long pants and long sleeve shirts are best since they provide sun protection. Synthetics are good since they wick away sweat. I prefer to wear real shirts, with buttons on the sleeves that make them easy to undo and roll up, a pocket to hold stuff and a collar that helps prevent you neck getting sun burnt and the harness straps rubbing on your neck.Long pants are better than shorts, especially as in the front seat you legs are very exposed to the sun. They are also better in case of a land out etc. and having to camp out late or hike any distance.

Cargo style pants are great, you can use the cargo pockets while in flight, but with regular pockets you probably find you can’t get anything out of pockets when you are wedged into the cockpit. After trying out several different styles of cargo pants I found I like The North Face Paramount Convertible Pants available from REI, very comfortable and with pockets in all the right places.

• Wear sneakers or lightweight hiking boots
  You should wear comfortable gym shoes or lightweight hiking boots. You want something comfortable yet that would protect your feet and you can walk in for several miles in the case of a land out.

• Wear a baseball cap or hat
  Bring whatever you prefer but a baseball cap is nice if you want to sit up front so I can see around your head more easily. If possible avoid baseball hats with the scull cracker button on the top, in turbulence there is a chance of hitting your head on the canopy. The AOPA Pilot Cap is one of the few baseball caps that do not have the button on top (and you get to promote AOPA). If you have as little hair left as me and will suffer without a hat after a bail out it might be a good idea to stick another small fold up hat in your pocket or in the parachute case or in a pack attached to the parachute if it has a suitable place.

• Bring a light jacket

A spray jacket or thin Polartec type jacket is handy in case of land out

Emergency Parachute

We will be wearing emergency parachutes. BASA provides parachutes or you can use your own if you have one. I will assume you are familiar with pre-flight inspection and operation of the parachute. If you are no let me know before hand. A good source of information are Allan Silver’s articles on parachute use and care.

Look after the parachute, don’t leave it lying on the ground or in the sun. Carry the parachute to the glider in its case, leave it in the case until ready to put on and fold up the case up and put behind the seat or in the luggage compartment.

Snacks

Bring snacks to eat that keep your energy up. You need to find thing that are conveniently packaged or repack them yourself into smaller packers that can be stored easily and opened and resealed without making a mess. I usually take things like granola bars, energy bars, bananas, apples, dried fruit, trail mix, beef jerky. Avoid chocolate, it always melts and makes a mess. Pack more than you will eat during the flight in case of a land out. Avoid too much salty food as it can make you overly thirsty.

Personal Items

• Towel

Bring one or two small hand towel or terry cloths. I use the cheap white terry towels designed for polishing cars brought in bulk from Costco. These are incredibly handy. On hot days you can wet them and pack behind your neck for temperature relief, for wiping sweat off your face or hands. They are handing or mopping up drink spills, or the inevitable accidents with a pee bag or pee tube. I use the same type of towel for cleaning the glider etc.

• Suncream and maybe lip balm

The acrylic canopy of the glider provide only a small amount of protection from UV. Without suncream you can still get a really nasty sunburn. Watch how you put suncream on your face. Avoid putting it near you eyes or on your forehead as sweat will cause it to run into your eyes and many suncreams can really sting if they get in your eyes.

• Sunglasses and retainer strap

• Eyeglasses
  Eyeglasses if you wear them and they would be needed in case of land-out or bail out. Preferably kept in cargo pants pockets as you will likely lose sunglasses in a bail out regardless of how well they are strapped on.

• Wristwatch

• Cell phone and list of contact numbers

Preferably have the contact phone numbers printed on paper as well in case the cell phone does not work, or has flat batteries - you might always be able to hike to a farm house to make a phone call.

• Small camera if you want to take photos

• Medications, etc.

Any medication, or anything else critical that you would need if we landed out and could not get retrieved (think of anything you would need for an overnight stay).

• Airsick Bags

If you think you have a chance of getting airsick pack some airsick bags. There is absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about with airsickness. Long flights, of many hours particularly with lots of time thermaling at 45 to 60 degree bank angles and warm stressful temperate can upset people who normally don’t get airsick.

My advice to people who do get airsick is to keep looking outside the glider at the horizon particularly when thermaling and if it is a hot day make sure you keep cool, head covered with a hat and keep the vents open and cool air flowing on your face and stay hydrated. Also don’t hide feeling sick or tired or anything else, tell the other pilot you feel airsick and maybe try switching workloads around or just try flying more gently.

Navigation Equipment

• Current sectional charts marked up with landout options

Clearly marking up known good landout locations and basic information about those locations is really important and something that I’ll expect new cross county pilots do if they want to fly with me. Even if they are using a PDA or handheld GPS unit pilots should also bring marked up sectional charts. Marking up glide distance circles is optional – and may be useful for your first few cross country flights. Notes on marking up sectional charts for flying out of Hollister are here.

• A glide slope ruler for the DG-1000

See Russel Holtz’s Glider Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge on how to make these rules, also see the downloadable PDF glide slope ruler template.

Preferably also have markings in the glider slope ruler that factors in headwind as described in Russel’s book. You should have a glider ruler even if you also have a PDA or GPS. And don’t rely on a glider ruler being in the glider, make your own.

The BASA flight rules for the DG-1000S require we assume a no wind glide ratio of 5 nm per 1,000 feet in 20 meter configuration. This is assuming 35% bugs over the flight manual specification of 46.5 maximum L/D. This is fairly conservative, but for first solo cross country flights you will want to assume higher, maybe as high as 50% bugs. BTW this needs a longer conversation, but I fly my own glider with near zero percent bugs and factor in the safety factors in my head.

• A PDA or handheld GPS if you have one

Bring a PDA and handheld GPS if you have one. However you don’t need to buy one to get started flying cross country. But if you have one then you should bring it on the flight. I will expect you to have the PDA or GPS properly configured, correct waypoints loaded and a good basic understanding of the operation of the unit before we go flying. See information on configuring PDA/flight computer software and GPS units here.

• Pens and/or mechanical pencil with soft lead

• A small plastic sectional ruler/plotter

This is optional, but I find it occasionally useful for measuring distances on a sectional chart or drawing lines etc. I use the Jeppesen Student Plotter available from Pilot Mall and other sources.

Tie Down and Emergency Supplies

• I usually carry a fairly comprehensive set of tie down and emergency supplies.