Cause or effect?
I find hard that people land on busy highways?
You are still betting a lot on luck than skills (probably a US exception with huge highways than runways elsewhere?)
This thread reminds me of the time I was flying from Iqaluit to Reykjavik direct. I had intended to be solo, but had picked up a stranded young English lady and was bringing her home.
I found that, with its aft CoG, due to the large Turtle Pac, the aircraft became longitudinally unstable at the high altitude we needed to cross Greenland safely, and the autopilot would not work in ALT hold.
So, when Little John time arrived I had to teach her how to hold the aircraft level. But holding a longitudinally unstable aircraft steady in pitch is not an ideal first flying lesson and she wasn’t doing well.
However, I found a good way to motivate her.
“Catherine”, I explained, “for the next minute, I am going to be needing three hands, and you will be providing one of them. It’s your choice.”
She suddenly got a lot better.
I am still trying to work out where her second hand was deployed
Flying home late one summer evening, I realised I wouldn’t be able to make it, so diverted into a grass airfield . A very fast approach, then stop on the first runway exit. No time to shut down the engine, so brakes on, jump out, chock under the wheel, and release. Unfortunately I didn’t correct for the slipstream from the idling propeller, and was gradually aware of a warm and then very wet leg
Timothy wrote:
She suddenly got a lot better.
At what….
I had to divert for a passenger having a no 1 emergency recently. Steepest decent I’ve ever done, probably maxed out the VSI at some point.
All in clear blue sky though, I had the runway in sight from FL100. And it was to my alternate, which I picked as a good place to visit anyway, so we stayed there and did not proceed to the initially planned destination.
I think I could hear the controller giggling when I told her what kind of emergency we were facing.
There is a medicine, called Desmopressin (DDAVP), which enhances the concentration of urine, by reducing the amount of water the kidneys are secreting. It is usually prescribed for children who have problems with bedwetting, adults who have problems with nighttime urination (nocturia) and of course people with Diabetes insipidus (“water diabetes”), who lack the natural form of this synthetic hormone, Vasopressin.
Taking it for a long flight would constitute “off-label” use and is contraindicated for people with low blood sodium or significant kidney problems, but it might work in avoiding having to pee for hours.
How fast does it work i.e. how long before the flight would you take it?