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avoid missing a radio call, forgetting a checklist item, or waking up in a cornfield? Here’s a list that is so easy a caveman could do it:
• Get 7-8 hours of sleep every day
• Limit alcohol
• Avoid a large meal
• Stay hydrated
• Use a noise-canceling headset
• Bring along a pax, or better still, another pilot
• Turn on the overhead lights
• Tell the other pilot/person you are sleepy
• Park the plane by 10 p.m.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
Even if we do all the right things, physical and mental demons may lurk in the sleep-inducing realm of fatigue. Apnea and hypopnea can be defined as total and partial airway obstructions. When you stop breathing while asleep, your brain sends a wake-up call after about 10
seconds. Time zone changes and alcohol can delay that wake-up call by 30 seconds or longer. This can result in significant fatigue and long-term health issues. Why did the Feds get all wound up over sleep apnea a few years ago? Because OSA can result in strokes, depression, ar- rhythmia, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, obesity and impotence. That last one shouldn’t affect our flying much, but it’s nice to know that the Feds are concerned about our performance. OSA can be diagnosed through a sleep study, and corrective actions include: los- ing weight, adjusting sleeping posture or environment, using dental appliances or a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine, and surgical remedies. Notice that neither alcohol nor sleep-inducing pharmaceuticals are on the list of treatments.
Body Clock
Summer means pancake breakfasts, poker runs, golf fly-ins, camping with the plane, and the airshow season--- along with the accompanying carnival-like food. It brings longer days; we may start flying at sunrise and not put the airplane to bed for another 10-15 hours. A disruption to our normal sleep cycle is inevitable. This means a tired, sunburned and dehydrated pilot, with a tummy full of marginal food, at the controls of a high-performance T &T airplane making the decisions. Circadian rhythm is a physiological cycle. It’s the involuntary result of our
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24 • TWIN & TURBINE / June 2023