Aviation articles by Garth Wallace

28/ Do insomniacs make good pilots?

Don't you hate it when you wake up and discover that you're flying?
As your foggy brain realizes you are in a pilot's seat, it immediately commands all muscles to contract. Your body slams into one almighty, twisting, passenger-alerting spasm rendering you totally incapable of doing anything. Then your brain signals for an overdose of adrenaline to be shot straight to your heart. This spikes your pulse from a resting beat to a chest-pounding, death-defying, triple-digit rate which rams a hot flush through your arteries, releasing your sphincter muscle along the way.
This is not healthy. Either is staying asleep in the air.

FLIGHT NAPPING
Researchers in London, England have discovered that employees who nap in the middle of the workday are mentally sharper than those who don't. According to the research, napping is a proven way to have a more productive afternoon. Trust the Brits to pay scientists to find out what millions of Mexicans have known for centuries.
"Naps are one of the most powerful alertness strategies," says Mark Rosekind, PhD, president and chief scientist at American-based Alertness Solutions. "It is the only strategy that gets directly to the 'sleep debt' we rack up at night when we don't get the amount we need."
Apparently it works for astronauts. Heather Hatfield, a member of the National Sleep Foundation in the United States, says, "At NASA we gave pilots a planned nap in the cockpit. While two pilots flew, the third would have 40 minutes to nap. We found they would sleep for 26 minutes, which boosted their performance by 34 per cent and their alertness by 54 per cent."
The airlines and aviation regulators have bought into a snoozing strategy. Air carriers are required to provide an extra pilot and a bunk on their long haul routes. Imagine the money the airlines could save if they only hired insomniac pilots. I am not familiar with the protocol on the number and gender of the crews using the bunk at the same time but they must have it worked out.
The hurry-up-and-wait life of business pilots often provides napping time while the passengers are in town. That's why older corporate pilots walk bent. Their spines are permanently warped from sleeping in chrome chairs and lumpy airport Lazy-Boys.
All this talk of napping puts a new perspective on, "All I know I learned in Kindergarten."

SINGLE-PILOT OPERATIONS
I have nodded off as pilot-in-command of a small airplane. It's easy to do especially after a double-cheese pizza lunch. The sun warms me through the Plexiglas and the engine hums me to sleep while my student pilot practises takeoffs and landings in the circuit. Flying school customers don't like to embarrass their instructors by waking them up, except the guy who yelled at me for sleeping on his nickel.
Maybe flying schools should schedule naps for their pilots.
Flying alone, at night, with an autopilot is probably the hardest time to stay awake in the air. A pilot friend was ferrying a Piper Navajo by himself at night. He climbed the airplane to altitude, set the power, turned on the autopilot, leaned back and fell asleep. The airplane might have run out of fuel somewhere over the Arctic except he penetrated the Air Defence Identification Zone without a flight plan and at sufficient speed to trigger an intercept. He was lucky. The fighter pilots woke him up with their landing lights, not their cannons.
"I thought it was sunrise," he moaned.
The guy had plenty of time to sleep during his licence suspension.
I couldn't find an air regulation outlawing airborne napping at the controls but it's probably not a good idea.
Canadian Air Regulation 602.02, says; "No operator of an aircraft shall require any person to act as a flight crew member and no person shall act as a flight crew member, if either the person or the operator has any reason to believe, having regard to the circumstances of the particular flight to be undertaken, that the person is suffering or is likely to suffer from fatigue."
How do you know if you're going to get sleepy? Maybe the commercial pilot medical should include a "Stay-awake test"; chronic sleepers need not apply. Maybe it already does, in the doctor's waiting room, before the examination.

WHAT'S A RECREATIONAL PILOT TO DO?
It's hard to fall asleep hopping a bunch of excited kids around the area. It's on those epic trips to the far corners of Canada that recreational pilots might have trouble staying awake.
Fortunately, there is lots of information on the internet about, "How to stay awake." It's all very scientific, of course, written by doctors with lots of letters after their names and sponsored by drug companies selling caffeine pills. The following are some excerpts:
1/ "Move. Stretch your arms, stamp your feet, roll your head, do anything to increase your blood flow."
I prefer adding a few steep turns, lazy eights and chandelles to crosscountry flights. They up my heart rate along with everyone else's in the aircraft.
2/ "Pinch yourself or wear a rubber band on your wrist and snap it whenever you feel sleep creeping in."
I think this is called self-flagellation but I wouldn't mention it in polite company. Passengers can also thwack the rubber band on sleepy pilots. The pilots will think they woke themselves.
3/ "Drink as many caffeinated beverages as you can handle without giving yourself too bad of a case of the jitters."
This comes from ehow.com. It's an article about staying awake, not on staying healthy.
Drinking lots of fluids has the added benefit of filling your bladder. It's difficult to fall asleep when you need to go. Of course, it's harder to fly with your legs crossed.
You'll know you've had too much caffeine when the airplane does its own steep turns, lazy eights and chandelles when you touch the controls.
4/ "Break up the monotony of your situation whenever you can. A quick conversation will help rejuvenate your mind."
"Hello, flight service. Have you heard the one about…"
5/ "Sleep better at night. Adults who have poor nighttime sleep are more likely to have a depressed mood, attention and memory problems and excessive daytime sleepiness."
I'm there.

WHEN YOU WANT TO SLEEP
Here are some tips on how to grab a good night's sleep so you don't have to nap in the air. These are also taken from the internet, with some comments added from my own research.
1/ "Stick to rituals that help you relax each night before bed. This can include such things as a warm bath and a light snack."
I prefer to skip the bath and go straight to the snack. Pancakes soaked in maple syrup and covered with icing sugar are my favourite but don't overdue it, a stomachache will keep you awake.
2/ "Enjoy a quiet time before bed."
I recommend taking a ground school course. If you have already, take it again. Repeated exposure to meteorology and air regulations enhances your ability to fall asleep. Trust me, I had trouble staying awake teaching them.
3/ "Prepare your bedroom for sleeping. Keep it dark, a little cool and quiet. Close the curtains or wear a mask."
Good advice. Wear earplugs too because you're going to snore after those snacks.
4/ "Limit liquid intake before bed so you don't have to go to the bathroom in the night."
Or wear a diaper.
5/ "Avoid utilizing the bedroom for activities other than sleep."
Yeah, right. That one wasn't my idea.