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Flying longer trips with a female without a comfort stop / in-flight toilet options

I see a lot on this forum were folks tend to fly long legs of 4 hrs or more (with a female on board) without comfort stops.
I wondered, without getting to personel how they manage it, my wife is ok for a couple of hours but then we have to stop for a comfort break, with SIDS, STARS climbs and descents it just adds so much more time to the trip. Any info on what people have found to work for them.

95%+ of women hate small GA aircraft, it’s a men’s hobby sadly…

Clearly the answer depends on how well you know the female passenger. But then would you be doing a long trip somewhere, with a female passenger who you are, shall we say, less than sure of? To put it a bit crudely, there is nothing she hasn’t seen before (I would hope!).

When I have done long trips with Justine (my GF) there was never a problem, but then there was never anybody else in the plane, so she climbs into the back seat and uses this thing

which works perfectly well. It is easier if she wears a skirt

The drawback of this bottle thing is that it costs too much to be chucked away, so it needs to be taken to the hotel / home and washed out and be allowed to dry out.

I vaguely know one other woman pilot who uses/used the silica gel packs.

In fact she quite likes sitting in the back on long trips anyway. There is more room to move about and even sleep. On the TB20, the back seat is thicker and very comfy.

Myself, I just pee into juice bottles (the M&S 0.33L ones are the best) and don’t care who is watching. It’s not a problem; passengers just look the other way I even had to do it on my IRT…

Landing just to go to the toilet is a huge hassle. I don’t like landing unless it is absolutely unavoidable e.g. fuel, customs, or one is going somewhere nice and then one stays at least 1 night. If one lands to use the toilet, many trips become almost impractical because you spend so much time messing about that the whole day is wasted just getting somewhere. Internationally, a flight plan is usually needed for every leg, and one cannot file these in advance unless one allows loads of leeway (1-2hrs) for time on the ground. Also the descent+climb profile is probably another 5-8 USG wasted, and that is on a fairly economical aircraft.

95%+ of women hate small GA aircraft, it’s a men’s hobby sadly…

Only if it a clapped out shagged old heap, or you have gone for the wrong woman (which most men seem to manage, for some reason)

That said, Justine has gradually built up her anxiety level (not due to any technical / objective reason) and won’t fly with me anymore (other than trivial short trips), so I have to find a solution for long trips in the future But it wasn’t anything to do with the toilet stuff.

Last Edited by Peter at 18 Aug 14:15
Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

The device shown by Peter works well but it is advisable to do a “dry run” at home first (or even a wet one). Avoids discussions and mishaps later, as i have been told.

95%+ of women hate small GA aircraft, it’s a men’s hobby sadly…

Depends on how you “sell” it to them. If the said GA plane is only used for 100$ burger runs or worse for get togethers with equally flying mad folks and hours of talk about plane stuff, it’s even understandable. But if the incentive is going to places you could not realistically go to on a day trip or for a weekend without a small GA plane, this can compensate some woman’s reluctance.

Sadly, many males seem to imagine that being able to say “I’m a pilot” may open doors with certain women. Well, initially it may perk some interest until they see the plane flown is not an airliner and costs money rather than the “pilot” thing meaning jet set travel and (equally imagined) high salaries.

Only if it a clapped out shagged old heap, or you have gone for the wrong woman (which most men seem to manage, for some reason)

I’d reckon the second bit being the one which is more frequent.

Those of us who are lucky enough to have a partner who actually likes flying and who looks at the family plane with a sense of pride can really call themselfs lucky. I am very glad to be one of them.

LSZH(work) LSZF (GA base), Switzerland

“Any info on what people have found to work for them”

A PC-12 with enclosed potty.

I introduced Mrs Beechbaby to the concept of the Lady J adaptor. She suggested she would use it, then pour the contents over my head, whilst I was wearing my new Lightspeed Zulu.

I land, saves hastle, saves moans. I just plan the trips that way now.

On the rare occasions when they actually fly with me, (Mrs Beechbaby has convinced herself that each trip will now end in a horrible death), I max the trip at three hours. Seems to appease all.

Fly safe. I want this thing to land l...
EGPF Glasgow

95%+ of women hate small GA aircraft, it’s a men’s hobby sadly…

I’d qualify this even further & label light GA flying as a pilots hobby.

The majority of people, men & women, basically feel various levels of uneasiness when stepping into one of our flimsy flying contraptions.

You’d need a mid-size bizjet with a stand-up cabin and a real toilet before the majority of people would feel completely comfortable with GA flying.

Mooney Driver is right on the money, though – it helps immensely if you can demonstrate a tangible payoff with flying GA, like cutting down your leisure travel time drastically, having convenient access to a remotely located secondary home, the promise of nice shopping or dining at the destination etc.

Last Edited by Hodja at 18 Aug 16:30

convenient access to a remotely located secondary home, the promise of nice shopping or dining at the destination

Items 2 and 3 should be easy

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

But what’s even more amazing is you buy a brand new jet or turboprop for $4 Million or even more – and it doesn’t come with a loo. Most of them can’t even install them as an option! It’s mind boggling how they can have missed the most valued upgrade known to man and especially females. The PC-12 can do it, but it doesn’t come standard. Don’t think the Mustang can, don’t think the TBM900 can. Don’t think the Phenom 100 can.

I find that genuinely shocking. They need to revisit marketing 1-0-1.

Last Edited by AdamFrisch at 18 Aug 16:50

The Phenom 100 does indeed come with a reasonable loo – enclosed too. But from a passenger viewpoint the main cabin in all these VLJ’s & turboprops still feel small & cramped.

Incidentally, using the old Gatorade “toilet” from the pilot seat in a DA42 is a bit of a delicate maneuver due to the centre stick – advantage: Cirrus!

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