So tired I could have been, so boring it seems to be, I never was near to get asleep when pedaling on my bicycle
Why?
Getting asleep during departure, approach or taxiing not more. The danger for pilots seems to be in cruise at these hours where many are used to sleep. Sleep inertia affecting some persons is probably similar to mental viscosity (a big danger in piloting) after such a sleep or after a legal rest during long-range flights.
I managed the risk to be tired during the flight and of jetlag by two methods :
1. Previews rest works for me, despite the fact that many people are saying that you cannot rest before to be tired. Lying on the bed, relax, low light, let the phone and the door ring bell, let nobody trouble that time, no book. Zéro cofee. No alarm. Perhaps you get asleep or not but you rest previewsly.
2. Changing your internal clock is possible too : The rest must be at the same hours during three days if possible that the new schedule, and eating, specialy
salted meals at the new schedule "normal" hours for breakfast, lunch, dinner.
Regular night flights needed for me to help temperature regulation when I came back : After puting my car on a legal place despite all the places are occupied during the finishing night... in the village of Roissy-en-France where I was living some years as freightdog in LFPG, I went to the Baker's behind door where he was working before to open the shop, buyed two warm delicious sugar cakes, and did a royal breakfast with cheese, fish (I needed salted food) and self made cacao wiith full milk and melting chocolate! Mmmmm! I served me all that very awake in a silver pot, on the french dressed table ( Embroidered tablecloth,etc.) .. Sometimes I was singing... forgetting my friend was deep sleeping in the next room... After that I took a long bath in low warm water (35-36°c) in perfumed water, and then I was ready to go to bed. I am a little sleepper (5h) but there I needed 7 hours. It is not a socialised life. You no more see your friends and family enough, progressively the skin gets whiter and whiter like aspirin and near transparent like these animals living in the deepth of oceans! The day you come back after the ligt of the fog the bright sun blinds you. You survive if you are able to see life as a play. (Visit the freightdogs pprune forum
)
Why are the cars so dangerous to tired drivers and inoccuupants? Why don't we have enough trains during the night , going to airports ? In many new countries you find cheap taxis.
DANGER OF BEEING TIRED, DRUNK , DRUGED, MEDIC USER IS FIRST A SOCIETY CHOICE WHICH DOES NOT WORRIES ABOUT MEN, WOMEN AT WAR OR WORKING HARD IN PEACE
TIME WITH CRISIS. IT IS NOT AN NDIVIDUAL CHOICE.
Who worried about Machinbird's safety flying his F-4 , and micronaps during alert5 in his cockpit in the war zone?
All the pilots know that error is paid with life, not with blame, and we chosed that. The best protection is to know how YOUR body is working with fatigue and sleep.