How to stay awake?
 

hi there....

Anyone who has any good personal tricks for those really early mornings after a really long night to stay awake??:zzz:

Safe flight!!

If you snooze, you lose (or die)
 

After a decade of night freight I can tell you this:
1. Learn to pace your day and nap consistently. Eat well. Exercise well.
2. Avoid a dependence on caffeine or chemicals. The crash afterwards is more dangerous than the fatigue. I can recall a single-pilot flight where I was blacking out in fits after attempting to stretch my day with caffeine. I was into the sun all morning. I barely got it on the ground and then blacked out for 45".
This is no joke. Never again.
3. Good food. Carry enough for each day. A crew-car run to Mickey D is not good food.
4. Learn to power-nap. This is an acquired skill. I need 30" or so, but I am good for 3-4 hours.
4. Learn the magic words: "Too fatigued to fly." Those words on a recorded line will protect you.

If you are new to the sadistic world of night freight and sleep deprivation, be careful until you know your limits. Be safe!

Apples. There's something in bloody apples that keep me well
awake a couple of hours. Did try a few other fruits but they all
didn't have the same effect.

Coffee only works so far - the first few hours ok but after that
it doesn't do any good except to keep you awake to go for the
odd piss down the back. I stick to pure water after about the
first 4 hours.

I wolf down two apples cut into quarters after my 20 minute
enroute power nap. From then I'm good to go till I reach the
layover pub or home.

Discipline and planning are the only long term solution to avoid attention difficulties during any night pattern type operation. Adjust and time your rest / body cycle so you are tired and are able to achieve deep pattern sleep before your duty. Its not easy, you are fighting evolution and some scientific studies indicate that fighting the body clock is toxic and can increase your risk of cancer. Many EU based operations now include an "employer protection clause" against such suits. Sleep tight tonight.

The wifes snoring.

Curry.

Stay hydrated. Drink a lot of water. Keeps your circulation going.

Schedule enough daytime rest ahead and after long night flights. Just lay down and relax if you can't sleep. 8 hrs of uninterrupted sleep is what the USAF requires before any shift. No alc, no drugs. Maybe some candy bars.

Good food like mentioned above will make quite a difference.

I've just started flying night freight and I've aked almost everyone I've met for tips.

Basically, everyone is different and has their own strategy. One thing that is clear though, is that it requires a lot of self disipline both before and after work. You really have to plan your rest and never be tempted, for instance on the first night, to try and make it through. I did that on some of my first observer trips and was fighting a losing battle by 6 am. I really don't remember much about the ride back to the hotel!

Once I'm down route I find it works best for me to sleep once straight after work and then again for a few hours immediately prior to check-in. Our pick up is often around 20.30 local and so it is hard to get to sleep at 5pm but just lying in bed and reading a book helps me store a few reserves for the night.

Luckily, my employer provides sleeping bunks for the pause between flights. Again, some people never use them as they prefer to stay awake, but I find the two hours or so that I can grab there enourmously helpful.

One last point, if you are a commuter. It is so tempting to jump into your car after a night's work and we've all been there, an hour down the motorway and suddenly it hits you. If you are lucky, you can feel it coming and pull over but I increasingly that as I get older, the tiredness comes on much more suddenly and you can have blacked out before you realise what has happened. I try to force myself to get a few hours before I set off home but this is easier said than done!

KT

Nothing substitutes for proper sleep, but interestingly there has been some scientific research that shows that smelling peppermint can increase alertness. So bring some Altoids with you!

I just use some David Guetta and Rihanna with the earphones at max to get me through it. LOL.

An old Captain once told me this, how he slept for entire sectors.................

Give the f/o a kiss on the cheek while squeezing his knee at the pre flight check. The logic of this action, he'll be too nervous to fall asleep :E

Daz

David Guetta OK, but Rihanna, pleeeeze! ;)

Of course this could backfire badly and the F/O might respond in a manner you hadn't expected. :ooh: Then it'll be you too terrified to sleep. Who knows you may even get someone offering to tuck you into your crew bunk as a result......

Ah, but either way the required alertnes state is then assured....

About those apples, did you peel them? Apple skin contains pectin, and needs more chewing.... somebody might do a study on the stimulating effects of eating apples...

Coffee before a long flight in a glider is a definite no no. I realise that keeping awake all night on a boring flight with the plane flying itself is a real problem. My longest glider flight in the UK was 8 hours and 59 minutes, so long enough to get a bit weary...but never boring.

I have found that bananas are the perfect pickmeup on a long flight in a glider....keeps me alert. And I keep the cockpit tidy by tossing the banana skin out the direct vision panel....which led to a discussion in the club bar,
Question: what is the terminal velocity of a banana skin?
Answer: depends whether or not it is deployed....

A bottle of 5-hour Energy.

In my small experience the most powerful thing to keeps me alerted and "alive" its any Cola (Excluding the publicity, of course)...Pepsi-Cola, Coca-Cola, etc.
Besides the Opposite-Fact it contains lots of gas, but i think it deserves a try...Happy Ladings, JF :ok:

Hi , thanks for all the good and yes other ideas/suggestions :ok:

Have been doing a little bit of research both on the net and with my doctor.

Apparantly apples do actual have some positive effect on you where coffee will have a negative effect.

So I will be going for power napping, water, apples and dark chocolate.

Thanks for all your inputs guys.

Safe flight!!

WAKE UP!
 

Instead of apples, dark chocolate and liters of caffeine drinks (how do you get these through security anyways?) you better do something practical about fatigue:

Wake up EU! | Dead Tired

p.s. what do caffeine drinks, chocolate and a lack of sleep do your overall health in the long run?

p.p.s. what is this topic doing in "freight dogs" anyways? Fatigue is everywhere in aviation, not just for the freight dogs.

LLuCCiFeR it is in here because I am flying night freight and would like to get some advise from guys who's been doing for some time and could give input on how they cope with the very early morning hours. Not to debat the rules which non of us are happy with!!!

How do I get them in? put them in my bag!! The water is on board the aircraft. Dont know how it gets there.:E

I have sign up on this one

http://flightdutytimes.eu/wpcf7_contact_form/petition/

Which unforunately is out....??:hmm:

But I will look on your page.

Anyway safe flight and don't fall asleep;)