Eating While Flying?

[Sunfish]

I'm sure eating while flying as pilot has to be a safety hazard for all sorts of reasons. However I cannot find anything in the regs that prohibits it and the medical staff enjoin pilots, among other things, to be fed.

So what does a peckish pilot do?

[Chilli Monster]

Easy - you eat!

Two and a bit hours to the south of France. Forty-five minutes to refuel, meet the passengers and get them on board. Two and a bit hours for the return leg.

The buttie box is the most important item on the aircraft ;)

[Skylark4]

Strongly suggest that you do not eat when flying solo. Uncontrollable choking on a label stuck to an apple, (presumably to identify it as an apple) can spoil your day. Drinking water is to be reccommended though as the effects of dehydration are invidious and dangerous.

Mike W

[redsnail]

It depends on how long your flight is if it's going to be a health hazard not to eat.
Never had a problem with eating and flying. Sure, best not to be having a snack on short final but in cruise, no problem. Naturally, if you're in a hot climate don't take food that'll spoil quickly or carry a cooler bag (that's what I did).

Thirst is more of a problem. Take water on all your flights.

[Genghis the Engineer]

Pick food that doesn't generate crumbs, and use a drinks container that can be re-sealed with one hand.

G

[NinjaBill]

Cans of diet coke are a really poor idea above around FL50. The lower pressure causes them to go everywhere when you open them, crisps are also not the best idea. They go everywhere, and make loads of crumbs.

Anything resealable is much better, especially 'sports caps' on water bottles. Fairy cakes are always good, but dont stand up to aerobatics very well, as they squash to easily, and become all deformed as they bounce around your lunch box.

[Taildragger]

|As Reddo said....water is the go. If you are flying across great tracts of the Gaffa, and go down, water assumes an enormous significance. You can live without eating, but water is important, amongst other goodies in the survival bag.
a plastic sheet to generate water through condensation is good too. All this stuff about knives to kill crocs pales into insignificance when faced with thirst. (If no crocs, read as kangaroos) Definitely I would leave the sarnies behind and take along a lot of water. Just remember which juice bottle you have used for other purposes.

[Tinstaafl]

To answer Sunfish's original question: "What does a peckish pilot do?"

A peckish pilot eats! And does so at an appropriately low workload time eg cruise and stops eating to attend to tasks that fall due.

Sunfish, your original statement makes a presumption & then you proceed as if it's a fact.

Let's reverse the situation: A pilot has a long flight time day eg 5 or 6 hrs airborne, that involves minimal time on the ground & without access to a fast food shop. Do you think that a hungry pilot with possibly low blood sugar having to make an instrument approach to minimums is safer than one who, during a cruise segment eats a sandwich while watching out the windscreen & monitoring the instruments?

It's not hard to eat & fly. You eat &/or drink while driving don't you? No different while flying. It's arguably easier since you don't have to ensure separation from opposing traffic closing at 200kph with only 10' separation and can choose the quiet(er) moments. Even easier if the a/c has any form of autopilot...

[Biggles_in_Oz]

This peckish PPL takes along those muesli/fruit bars., ie., the ones that are manufactured already stale so that they can't get any worst after sitting on the back seat of the A/C for 2 months in 30'C heat. :)

And why does ATC always want to talk to me when I'm busily chewing aforesaid snack. ?

Packets of crisps are a no-no for me, especially after an incident where a packet burst with a very loud pop during a climb though 7000'.
(it took a while to get my heartrate back to normal after that event.)

[Whirlybird]

And why does ATC always want to talk to me when I'm busily chewing aforesaid snack.

Biggles, You said it before I could!

Yep, muesli bars and drinks in bottles with sports caps work just fine...at least until you have to unexpectedly talk on the radio. And low blood sugar or dehydration and flying are not a good combination!

I'm talking f/w here, before anyone asks; if in a helicopter, unless it's a fancy expensive one with reliable friction/trim and autopilot/SAS, forget sustenance, or land in a field first. Unless you've learned how to grow a third hand. :eek: :confused:

[AerBabe]

I always take water - either in a bottle with a sports cap, or the bottle I use when walking, which has a hose with a valve on the end, so you can drink totally hands free. If it's a hot day, I take a 50:50 mix of fruit juice and water.

As for food, picnicky things are ideal. Cold sausages or other meats, boiled eggs, bite-size pieces of fruit etc etc.

And why does ATC always want to talk to me

Conversely, why do pilots always call me up when I've just taken a huge bite of sandwich? :ugh:

[BeauMan]

Ninjabill - LMAO here, might have to report you to the RSPCFC though (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Fairy Cakes). :ok:

Some good bits of advice on here, I always tend to land after an hour's local chugging feeling very dehydrated, thought it was just me though. Extra line being written onto my checklist as I type this; ensure water bottle is on board and securely tucked into map pocket. ;)

[SlipSlider]

Tinstaafl

Quote: "You eat &/or drink while driving don't you?"

No I do not! I've always thought it was unlawful to do so, and possibly quite dangerous; that's what laybys and motorway services are for...

But, I haven't spotted either of these in the air yet, so at an appropriate quiet time in the cruise I do take a gulp of water from a sports bottle or a chomp on a choccy bar.

Slip

ps how DO you post quotes in parrallel bars?

[Kolibear]

The first, an most important rule to remember is.....don't forget to move the mike first!

Its kind of awkward to push a bottle of water into your mouth, only to start sucking the mic sock. Any if you have a passenger, you don't want them to enjoy any amplfied eating sounds either.

Hands up everyone who has forgotten Rule 1 :O

[MikeeB]

Fairy cakes are always good, but dont stand up to aerobatics very well, as they squash to easily, and become all deformed as they bounce around your lunch box.

Ahhh, it was you, I sat on one of your left overs last time I flew. You should try a bit of flapjack, now that's where it's at. You need to remember to adjust your CofG measurements during flight, depending where you store the lunchbox.

Remember the Bero advert with the ducks.........

[Whipping Boy's SATCO]

I take my wife and she feeds me grapes.................

[chopperpilot47]

There I was eating an egg sandwich on a ferry flight between Greenland and Iceland when - what is that hard piece? Oh yeah that would be the microphone then!

Regards,

[Wide-Body]

Sorry guys, can not believe some of the crap replies. "May choke etc etc". Eat at a not flight critical stage, is not a problem. Every airline pilot in the world eats. We have many fantastic people on this forum, but oh those mouse turd dissectors P!$$ me off

Regards

Wide

[eharding]

Mmmm.....I see a niche in the market here - taxy-through food to go...that'll be 2 Waltham burgers and large fries, and a couple of bags of biltong for later. Anybody know the CAA's position on after-market cup-holders for a Yak?

Seriously - in the PA28s I generally have a bottle of water and a snack bar in the flight bag close to hand.

[justinmg]

Occasionally when I have been looking at my map, I look up, and we are on a new heading or in a slightly unusual attitude. Eating is fine as I look outside.
So now I don`t look at the map........ but my weight continues to go up.

Stay safe, eat more.

J

[MikeeB]

What if you eat your map and look at the food? Do you still go off heading then?

[NinjaBill]

If you eat to many high fibre snacks, you might find that you need to 'go' fairly quicky. I dont think you can get a turd version or a pi$$ bag. Stick to low fibre high sugar snacks, like fairy cakes and youll be ok. I find the ones with the little wings stuck into butterscotch icing are the best by far.

[Tinstaafl]

Sunfish, so you've never chewed gum, or had a sip of water, or been passed a morsel by a passenger etc etc etc?

[Biggles_in_Oz]

Well, I've discovered at least two niche products from this thread !

1) Edible microphones
no more worries about food rule #1 !

and

2) 'Standby' announcement
A PTT button with a precanned "station calling (callsign).., standby" message for those awkward moments.

ahhhh. what more could one want in cruise ?

[englishal]

No Pilots must not eat while at the controls, its stupid, dangerous and outlawed by the ANO - unless in Class G airspace, in sight of the surface, day VFR only....

Ask a silly question and get a silly answer ;)

Myself, I've been known to munch on the remains of a "Giant Burger" from one of the Casino's in Laughlin NV, though it did start to get a bit rank after a few hours of sitting in the sun.

[ShyTorque]

Curry can be a problem. The engineers don't like poppadum crumbs in the avionics and that last little bit of rice is difficult to pick up on the ILS without taking both hands off the controls.

I personally find roast turkey difficult, as it is't easy to get sufficient elbow room in most cockpits to carve the bird.

Peas and sprouts tend to roll off the plate in severe turbulence. Sweetcorn is better, as it will stay put at all but the highest yaw rates. Roast potatoes are best cut in half for the same reason.

Goujons of plaice are a good snack as they can be eaten without trouble during missed approaches, whilst retuning navaids etc. Do be careful with the tartare sauce as it can badly stain the letdown plates, especially Jeppesens, making them almost unreadable. Please use napkins for this purpose.

Pilots should take SMALL bites of food only. Too large a mouthful may require some food to be spat out before replying to ATC. This is very noticeable when a BA pilot speaks, he will often say "THE" as he spits out a piece of poached salmon or similar before announcing his callsign. Very unseemly in my opinion - this sort of thing should be prevented by suitable advice in the operations manual.

Finally, from my own personal experience, please take heed of the following Health and Safety Warning!

Ensure you have moved on from the consomme course before attempting aerobatics. ;)

[Julian]

Apparently EASA have decided that talking whilst flying (even hands free) is dangerous as well so from now on before you answer ATC when they call you will be required to pull over to a safe part of the sky and of course shut down the engine.....:rolleyes:

[FullWings]

I find things like a CamelBak full of your favourite refreshment work well. If you are clever with the tube & mouthpiece you can drink without letting go of anything!

I also find sandwiches made with lots of mayonnaise are best as it stops the contents spreading around the cockpit.

As a glider pilot as well, I have to think about getting rid of fluid too but that's another story. ;)

[MikeeB]

Have you tried one of those Muller yogurts, you know, the ones where you have to fold the carton in two, which tips the bread crumbs into the yogurt.

That can be quite fiddly, especially on finals, while trying to apply full flap on a PA28.

[Kolibear]

Chopsticks are great, because they leave one hand free to deal with the flaps, throttle, stick etc and if you sideslip a little, you can roll those last last few peas onto them.

I can see a whole new market springing up for cup holders, fold-away tray and cockpit-tidies.

[airborne_artist]

Swordfish aircrew would peel and split an orange, and then wrap it in brown paper to be stowed in a handy pocket/etc, I read in an old book I bought.

Done it myself since (the orange bit, not flown the Stringbag) and found it very easy to eat one handed, and extremely refreshing!

[Paul_Sengupta]

I was going to mention a few points myself that have already been mentioned...the bag of crisps thing has frightened more than a few pilots over time. Not as much as a Fouger Magister pilot I was talking to whose shaving foam exploded in the non pressurised bit on the shelf behind the back cockpit...

The microphone issue is a good one...I've hit the microphone with the bottle/can several times. All too easy to forget it's there!

Chewing gum...I've recommended to several people that gum not be chewed while flying, in case of sudden turbulence or suchlike.

Sugar? I once bought a box full of doughnuts down in Key West to eat as breakfast/lunch on my flight back to Winter Haven. I managed about half. The rest took me another 2 days.

Paul

[ChrisVJ]

This is partly a cultural thing. Before we moved here from UK I never ate or drank in the car and didn't even consider it in GA context. However now I am, I'm afraid, pretty well N amercanised. I wear runners, well cheap imitations all the time and my family can't get to the other end of the vilage without taking a couple of cups of cofffee ad some malodourous snack with them.

When I was a kid we were driving back from Whitstable one late evening in my ranfather's new Sunbeam Talbot. Uncharacteristically we stopped to buy fish and chips in Rochester , the main road used to go right down the hill through the main street. The car smelt of food and vinegar for months and it became a standing joke in my family. I don't think I ate anything more that a boiled sweet in a car until I moved here 40 years later.

My cockpit is so noisy I had to turn the mic gain all the way to the bump stop just to cut out as much noise as possible, (there is no adjustment on the actual radio input) I spent a whole month looking for the source of a particular squeaking that seemingly was tied to an engine fluctuation until I worked out it was my chewing gum and the echo from my mouth opening when I chewed. I know I close my mouth when I chew in company, apparently I am a bit slck jawed when I'm by myself! (Or maybe just gormless.)

[DFC]

Here is a report from a court case in Ireland which has relevance;

Drink of Coca Cola caused crash



Galway driver David Colleran (27) made the national news when he appeared in court on a charge of careless driving in the city late last year. Mr Colleran told the court that he suffered a "vaso-vagal attack", brought on by drinking Coca Cola. This, he said, caused him to lose consciousness for a brief period, with the result that his SUV crossed the road into two oncoming cars. A medical report linked the pain experienced by Mr Colleran to the gas in the Coca Cola. Judge Mary Fahy acknowledged that fizzy drinks have been known to cause some people to feel faint, but convicted the accused of careless driving and fined him €250.

I eat when I'm hungry and drink when I'm dry and if the moonshine don't kill me I'll live til I die.

regards,

DFC

[Tinstaafl]

Except that the a/c isn't going to swerve all over the sky if you swallow something the wrong way & have to cough for a bit. Nor does it have oncoming traffic separated by only a few metres.

[DFC]

Tinstaafl,

Read the report again. The guy lost consciousness. Do you seriously think that an incapacitated pilot is not a problem?........This had nothing to do with something going down the wrong way, this was a person who had such pain that they lost consciousness (so the reports said).

What the report fails to say is how long the effects and pain lasted.

Regards,

DFC

[Tinstaafl]

Hmm.....mother's advice to chew my food properly, not to gulp & take small mouthfulls seems germaine.

[fastjet2k]

If you're flying with a passenger/co-pilot I find it nice to be thoughtful - Having a curry the night before can prove hazardous to flight-deck relations, could lead to a breakdown in CRM and/or possible resultant legal action against the ruby shop that dispensed the offending meal for 'Failure to display clear warnings of dangers to flight crew if consumed less than 18 hours before flight'.

That being said, back in the days when I was enjoying my initial training for my PPL in San Diego, my instructor came out for the flight with a portion of fries and a carne asada burrito. The winds aloft were pretty strong on that flight.......:mad: :\ :ooh:

[UL730]

Remember once on a longish late evening flight back from Rotterdam to eastern seaboard UK – tea consisted of a mean shank of ham on the bone. Dropped the dam thing down amongst the rudder pedals during some turbulence. You cannot believe what lives down amongst the rudder pedals. After a very awkward retrieval - one was removing bits of washers, pen tops, grit and sh(one)t –from ones dentition - for days afterwards.

Moral: always have a peek outside and avoid dark grey ominous stuff before masticating.

:uhoh:

[Boing_737]

Its worth noting that quite a few RAF pilots do this for a living.....

(did a detachment to a Nimrod squadron while on UAS - bag of over ready chips+bread = happy crew)