I am eagerly watching the “Stepping up” thread https://euroga.org/forums/aircraft/17227-stepping-up-but-where-to … and yes of course, one wants something FIKI, more payload, faster, better looking, higher ceiling, cool avionics … but other than that, I am firmly resolved that if I ever make the “step up”, it will be towards an aircraft with more stowage!
Right now I am drowning in mess, hardly being able to find a good place for all the stuff I need to take along when touring in the Piper. Maybe I just fly with too much gadgets? Could well be the case, because every year I seem to be adding something new. And that’s sure a bad symptom.
How do you guys cope? I am specifically starting this thread in hope of learning of some tricks or products someone might have already invented or researched a long time ago. Or maybe after a few posts I shall be talked out of taking most of this stuff on board?
My inventory and solutions for managing it follow.
One shoebox fits under my seat. Contains spare glasses (… as well as sunglasses), pulse oximeter, two cannulas, control lock (… usually in this box, as it is not needed in the hangar), a minimal headlamp, one spare battery set for my ANR headset, the oxygen generator 12V charger. The bulkiest (doubly zipped) thing is the toolbox. The black folded strip is a velcro strap for attaching the iPad to my knee, that one actually always goes out when flying.
The box is packed full, nothing more would fit. Maybe it’s too much tools? But reading the Tools thread https://www.euroga.org/forums/maintenance-avionics/7459-which-tools-toolkit-should-every-small-ga-airplane-owner-have-for-maintenance I tend to think I am on the minimalist side of things? Or?
Fortunately the POH somehow can be wedged between the box and side wall.
Same sized shoebox fits under wife’s seat. Urinal bags and hard candies to facilitate flying in turbulence. The big orange bag contains a diaper. Okay – this one is surely a folly but wife wants it onboard, period. Let me add she never ever used it, not least the fancy German pee bags. True I did use the men’s one once!
And these two boxes are roughly all the serious cockpit stowage capacity I have! Say I am planning a 5h flight and would like to bring some snacks and water on board. The plane has exactly TWO pockets in the cockpit. The pilot’s one barely can hold my checklist binder and a spare pen! The wife’s one holds a small roll of toilet paper in lieu of paper towels/paper tissues to manage spills and potential running noses. Yes, maybe she can still fit a small bag of crisps there. But if we want sandwiches? Just one each – four sandwiches total! It then must be a bag unnervingly resting between her seat and her pedals. Not only messy, but also outright dangerous.
To make matters worse, this space has now been taken by oxygen generators. I just bought a second one! Of course they will be tipped all the time and it’s not good for them, but where to place them otherwise?
Then comes the life vest. Having already a kneepad and an iPad on me, I am not eager to wear it for 5 hours straight when it only serves a 45 minute Adriatic crossing. Wedged between me and the sidewall. Only works because I am relatively thin.
At least my bottle of water has its place in that aftermarket cup holder, but please don’t tell my mech (he hasn’t noticed!). Don’t worry, I will replace it with the original ashtray before the next flight, because it’s of course outright illegal and actually only intended for cockpit replicas.
Seat pockets on the back side of the seats. One permanently hosts the active CO sensor (again, a daft place, but where to put it?? but it actually serves its purpose there, but let me tell that story another day). Maybe that’s where the sandwiches would go? But what to do with the children’s mobiles then, when they want a nap?
The baggage compartment looks a bit better, but also features a wholly packed shoe box. Windscreen spray. One (!) rag. Paper towels (for dipping oil). Preflight gloves. One quart of oil (just one!). One IKEA ziplock to serve as trash bag for oil wetted paper towels. Minimalist chocks. Mooring kit. Spare tube.
The mooring kit could’t be smaller, I think …
Fortunately there’s the hat shelf for my outdoor parking sunshades…
It all really barely fits and thus it costs me a lot of time and effort to maintain the order. What are The Collective’s solutions? Does The Collective see a lot of pointless junk here? I reckon maybe the tube and the diaper are follies, but other than that? Am I so deep into gadgeteering that I completely stopped to notice?
I remember the Bonanza was not much better in this regard. True it had a glovebox, but it had a LOT less space under the seats. The club’s C172 I have flown a lot was even worse. Made in 2004 and not a single cup holder, I could hardly believe it!
I bring a lot of stuff with me in my little RV-8. My only suggestion would be to use soft-sided containers so that they can take up a bit less space.
There are several modes:
The one time I chose to leave my tools behind on a trip, my tailwheel decided to stop locking, so I don’t do that any more!
I started to reduce the stuff I carry along more and more.
I already had several situations where something needed to be fixed. Everytime did I not have the correct tooling, e.g. wrench, onboard. Which led to me asking around at the aerodrome where I was. And everytime did I get the tool. So I reduced my tools to a slim screwdriver that got all the bits in the handgrip and two spark plugs (which I could actually reduce to one). Carrying spares seems much more logical than tools.
I also don’t take along oil any more. I fill up the engine and that’s it (and this is for 15 hours trips).
I reduced it as far as reasonably possible, because the plane’s typically actually quite stuffed when we go, but every kilo counts..
My list of always-on-board-items:
- Oxygen cannula (pilot only, if high altitude is not planned)
- the screwdriver and one spark plug
- a small torch (actually for night flying)
- a small bag with a dip stick and some cleaning cloth (would carry also a bottle of oil and some stuff, which I don’t put anymore)
- chocks (3d printed at home, quite small and really really lightweight)
- high-vis vests 4x
- travel john (which is actually just an empty bottle)
The MX stuff is stowed under the seats of the second row (there is an extra room below these seats, as some form of downmold, because it’s the space for the feet of the crowd sitting in the third row 
) and the personal stuff is stowed below the pilot seat. That’s it.
Surely you don’t need all this stuff in the cockpit? I have basic tools etc in the plane but they live in a box in the baggage compartment. If I’m by myself, it’s easy – my flight bag with all this stuff sits on the pax seat. If I’m with someone, my flight bag goes on the back seat where it can still be reached from the front. I rarely (never) fly with a full plane, if I did it would have to go between the rear pax.
I don;’ know what kind of life vests you are using – I wear mine for over-water flights and I don’t find it a problem at all.
Can’t you change over to an electronic POH? That’s another kilo or more.
Someone told me a rule that you can count every additional kilo that you carry along with about 1 litre of additional fuel consumption for your trip. When I look at the massive decrease of climb rate that carrying weight brings along, I tend to agree to that estimation, although I never calculated anything.
That’s a noticeably shorter list, Udo. I noted you drop all the “ground support” items, save for chocks – no towing bar, no mooring kit, no sun shading or a cover…
I do need some oil, since my engine eats 0,15 – 0,2/h. But I admit it’s an interesting observation regarding the tools. So far I never had the tools or spares that were actually needed in distress. I waited almost a week for a spare tube on Corsica. And had to ask around to buy duct tape in Mali Losinj to tape a faulty cowling latch.
Electronic POH also noted. Although I am also sometimes having my share of trouble with iPad thermal management
use soft-sided containers
Would you elaborate – what sorts of containers do you use?
I don;’ know what kind of life vests you are using – I wear mine for over-water flights and I don’t find it a problem at all.
Well, crossing the Adriatic to Italy or the Baltic sea to Sweden … 45 min, 1h, 1.5h … okay. But wear them for the whole duration of a 4h summer flight, of which not even a quarter is over water…? It’s yet another thing making me sweaty :(
Either wear the lifejackets or leave them at home. You’ll feel worse drowning with them left in the aircraft than if they were left at home. :-(
Maoraigh wrote:
Either wear the lifejackets or leave them at home. You’ll feel worse drowning with them left in the aircraft than if they were left at home.
Certainly, just not all the way, if I may … :)
@Mateusz wrote:
Would you elaborate – what sorts of containers do you use?
I use various kinds of containers – everything from normal plastic shopping bags, blue Ikea bags for my camping gear, simple tool bags like this:
And sport small sport bags like this (girl for scale):
girl for scale
