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Old 8th Jun 2007, 13:24
  #20 (permalink)  
ShyTorque

Avoid imitations
 
Join Date: Nov 2000
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An important point is that once you are acclimatised it's not such a big problem; It's certainly a different ball game when you aren't.

I took it that the original question reflected this problem, presumably for inexperienced pilots perhaps meeting the conditions for possibly the first time.
As part of a deployable military oufit in the late 70s and 80s, we used to go from three months at 95 -100F and 95-100% humidity in Central America to well below freezing in the Central European winter, so we had quite a lot of acclimatisation to do.

I personally always find a hot climate takes longer to get used to. Sometimes in the Far East, the S-76's "Windscreen Hot" (overheat) captions were on as soon as we switched on the aircraft battery; it's been a while since I worked out there but I think they come on at +50C.

Yes, even "soft" pilots acclimatise, but everyone is different. We routinely wore Nomex flying suits, roll-neck long sleeved shirts, long socks, boots, gloves, helmets and underarm deodorant.. On the less hot days we used to wear a Nomex jacket too.

To acclimatise more quickly, my advice is to stay out of over-airconditioned rooms, if possible. Just try to stay in the shade with a breeze going. Keep hydrated by steadily sipping water, not gulping it down - an over-full bladder only adds to the discomfort. I used to run about 15-20 miles a week in my far east days, so I certainly got used to the climate. Air-con is nice to sleep in, but it's also noisy. I preferred to sleep under a ceiling fan (she was nice, that See Ling Fan).

Last edited by ShyTorque; 8th Jun 2007 at 15:23. Reason: grammar
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