Just to share my personal experience of a young VFR traveler :
I try to fly longer trips and especially multi-day trips. And i realize that a unexpected factor limits my ambition : mental fatigue.
After a simple flight, I don’t feel tired, but from the second day of a trip, I feel more and more sleepy during the stops.
During the flights, adrenalin keeps me awake and that lasts long, but when I land, I tend to feel more and more tired (mentally of course).
Once I flew twice a day during a week, with many diversions, difficult weather etc … From day 3 I started to suffer from fatigue but I didn’t really feel it. I thought I was fine.
Fortunately my dad was flying with me, he felt my state well before me and offered to take the controls during cruise. And I was getting dumb not wanting to give him.
I only gave him the controls during cruise (I was always PIC) from day 5 IIRC, when I realized I was having the exact behaviour I always have when I am very tired.
Needless to say that from day 3 or 4, our stops were very simple : hotel→dinner→bed. I had no will to explore the area which I wanted to discover before the trip.
Of course it gets much better when flying with other pilots, trips get much more pleasant. When others take care of the ground stuff (transport, lodging …), it is great too.
So my point is : do you know your personal limits in terms of flight time/conditions, and do you plan your trips accordingly ?
Some of the trip reports here make me dream but I think I would not be able to do some because it would be just too much flying (and organising on the ground).
Does it get better with experience ? Do you remember being limited in your first trips by the fatigue of a flying travel ?
It should get better with experience. Maybe simple things like getting an ANR headset might already help. 30-40 hours of (hand)flying (with BIG crosscountry flights) within a week are not uncommon flying gliders in a competition or when on holiday.
Also, good preparation is the key to be able to enjoy the flights and the places you visit. That goes for the flying part but also for the activities on the ground, accommodation etc…
Regarding the organising on the ground: this forum and others are great for exactly this! You can save time and avoid disappointments learning from others. You will also find good resources in most of these reports to prepare for your trips.
After 6 hours in the air, I tend to get tired. Surely done a lot more than that, but not sure it’s the safest if you have a challenging approach at the end. However, only once have I been so tired that I felt I could barely keep me eyes open. That was not a good feeling, but thankfully it came and went.
Plan non-flying days in your trip. Two full days / 3 nights should be enough to get good rest. If you have to fly on several consecutive days, don’t make it six hours each day, but rather three. Although I prefer two 3hr flights one day and then get a full day rest, as you avoid the hotel transfer overhead.
Another tip would be to use oxygen even if you’re within legal limits, for example FL100.
I get quite tired by flying too. The things which make the biggest difference are
In fact, I have a Lightspeed Sierra and I never felt a big difference between ANR on and ANR off, which tells you about its quality. I’ll try to fly 100% with ANR and will report if it makes a difference.
I really don’t like planning the ground stuff beforehand, I hate having any kind of time pressure. I always book via AccorHotels because I can cancel until 6pm.
Non flying days are definitely a plus. I’ll try to concentrate the flying on some days and the fun on others. But you know, it’s hard not to get distracted by other places to see when you plan a trip.
Unfortunately, my budget doesn’t allow me to fly a plane with AP, or I would have to reduce drastically my hours, which I don’t want. We had a steep increase in fuel price these last months, and rental costs increased accordingly.
Are you sure your headset is working? I have a set of Lightspeed Zulu’s (which I have had since 2010). The difference is night and day, it is absolutely clear when the ANR is working. The percieved sound level goes from a ‘10’ to about a ‘1’. Perhaps you can borrow another Bose/Lightspeed headset from someone to compare and check that yours is ok.
Amongst all of the other factors, I would be significantly more worn down if I never turned my ANR on; in fact I would probably find it unpleasant and would not be as inclined to go flying!
@Jujupilote you have on the same airfield you fly a nice little air club that have 2 DA40 and one with autopilot for 154€/h block block.
I think it’s a little less expensive that Hispano Suiza.
Romain
Thank you all.
I will try an A20, but I am not sure it is a worthy investment to fly 50hrs/year. Let’s wait until mine dies (which should not take very long:))
It seems to disappear with experience :
I’ve never done more than 3 days flying, so others are better qualified, but:
Edit
Reading your post again you’re probably more qualified too :)
