Flying long days has proven to be a killer in more ways than one. Many have argued that this is the primary reason behind duty day and flight hour restrictions for commercial pilots flying part 124 and 135. Fatigue has been shown to cause pilot performance to degrade rapidly.

Recently, a COPA member detailed a recent Florida to California trip he and his wife took in one day, during daylight hours in Cirrus SR22. Total flight time during this trip was 11.21 hours with a total elapsed time of only 13:08 hours. Amazing endurance when you think about it.

In order to prepare and keep himself alert during this flight he took the following precautions:

• Hydrate heavily (to the point your urine is clear and not colored) for days before the trip
• Stop consuming coffee, sugar and mixed foods (milk and meat, cheese and chicken, etc) for days before the flight as well
• During the flight, consume only fresh fruit and vegetables (as much as you can eat) along with grains and beans. Stay away from soft drinks, coffee, sugar, power bars, milk or meat.
• During the flight, every hour review "Plan, Plane, Me and You" to verify all aspects of the flight are safe to continue
• Perform Isometric exercises once an hour
• Use O2 for the second half of the flight even though it was at 8500 (or 8000 for the IFR arrival into Santa Barbara)
• Remain engaged in the flight by performing mental and "whiz wheel" calculations on fuel burn and arrival/enroute estimates, making Pireps, evaluating WX, etc.

Good tips to keep in mind on longer flights...