Hot-N-Not-Ready

As you’ve no doubt noticed over the past few years, the temperatures haven’t exactly been cooling off the way they used to. If it’s above 35°C/95°F at your airport, you should give careful thought to going flying for an extended period of time. In this article, we’ll review a few factors worth considering. 

There are a few main stages of heat-related illness of which you should be aware.

• Heat stress (body temp around 99.5-100° F): Your performance, coordination, alertness, decision-making, and caution can deteriorate. You may experience painful (leg) cramps and flushed skin.
  
  
• Heat exhaustion (up to around 104-105° F): There’s more fatigue, cramps, nausea, vomiting, rapid breathing, headache, and the distinct possibility of fainting. Anxiety can accelerate.
  
  
• Heat stroke (over around 104-105° F): Highway to the danger zone. The body’s heat control mechanism stops working above that temperature, making seizures, coma, and death possible outcomes if untreated. In addition to the aforementioned symptoms, you may experience warm skin, a rapid heart rate, fatigue, confusion, agitation, lethargy, and stupor. 

Still, pilots continue to go up in really hot conditions for a variety of reasons, some related to the five hazardous attitudes, which include invulnerability and maybe a dose of macho. Flying without water because you drank some before you took off is poking the bear. Not stopping for water breaks once you do start to feel the effects can be caused by “get there-itis,” a documented factor affecting pilot judgment. 

So, what can we do to improve this essential component of our flying on a hot day? 

Reference a heat index calculator to see just how intense things are going to be. Understand that heat indices are calculated based on general guidelines indicating how a person perceives heat based on temperature and humidity. It does not factor in direct sunlight, which pilots receive in abundance on the flight deck.

Buy a laser temperature gun to measure the cockpit temperature before you go up. Unless your bird has AC, you may very well get a good baking just taxiing to the runway, particularly at a larger towered airport.  

Wear a hat during preflight. Your dermatologist also endorses this message.  

Buy a cooling vest with ice packets, as well as a rubber cooling towel that you soak, or any other sort of cooling scarf device. 

Buy a neck fan to wear while pre-flighting, taxiing to runup, etc. Unless the relative humidity is 100%, some cooling from sweat will occur.

Carry a small cooler filled with some ice, a little soaking water, and hand towels, which your passengers will particularly appreciate.  

Be aware of any forecast or reported turbulence in your area, as endless bumps and hot passengers do not always make for a positive combination. 

Use supplemental oxygen to help you remain alert should you begin to suffer the effects of overheating. Use your newfound concentration to find the nearest airport and land.

IMSAFE takes on even more importance, as heat often acts to amplify physiological problems, such as the aftereffects of alcohol and lack of sleep.

Consider adding personal heat minimums that you will not let yourself exceed. The cascading effects of overheating are not easily nor immediately reversible. 

Have electrolyte supplements, such as sports drinks and electrolyte powder mixes, at hand. Water alone may not be enough if you’ve been sweating a lot. The powdered mixes are inexpensive and carry essentially no weight penalty. 

Keep a few bottles of water in your plane to mix up the powder. If you can rely on bottled water at FBOs, great, but you should always carry some bottled water when it’s hot. One gallon is roughly eight pounds. Don’t worry about drinking too much for your bladder on a hot day, because it won’t fill up as quickly when you’re sweating.  

Finally, remember that dehydration usually appears as fatigue and clouded thinking before it presents itself as thirst.

You don’t have to buy every gadget on this list or take every step mentioned here, but you do need to have a viable plan if you’re thinking about flying on a particularly hot day. Figure out what works for you, and know when to make the difficult decision to scrub a flight when the heat starts to impact you on what otherwise may seem like a great day for flying.