In-Flight bathroom

[JayMatt]

So this last trip I took I came up with an idea to use the bathroom while flying. My wife was the cause of my inspiration and I feel like my invention would make life a whole lot easier on people that don't want to land every hour for a restroom break. My question is, is there a demand for making a "pilot port-a-potty"? Something that makes it easier for women or guys to use the restroom while flying?  Sporty's has the little John urinal thing but I could see how that would be not so great for women.

Anyone else looking for a better option? 

[Schllc]

The challenge for the ladies, is they have to remove the pants, and get over the stage fright thing to do the deed. We use adult diapers in an emergency. They are t great but they don’t make a mess. But the last time my daughter had a real need she couldn’t get herself to pee at all in the plane. She even got to the point of severe pain and crying, and couldn’t go so we had to land anyway. Not sure if a more comfortable device would have worked with the cramped quarters. 
A wide mouth plastic jugs seems to be the favored option for the guys. 
There aren’t that many people in the market but I’m sure if you came up with a better option I’m sure my girls would be happy. 
Don’t think it’s a get rich venture but have at it!

[tls pilot]

17 minutes ago, JayMatt said:

So this last trip I took I came up with an idea to use the bathroom while flying. My wife was the cause of my inspiration and I feel like my invention would make life a whole lot easier on people that don't want to land every hour for a restroom break. My question is, is there a demand for making a "pilot port-a-potty"? Something that makes it easier for women or guys to use the restroom while flying?  Sporty's has the little John urinal thing but I could see how that would be not so great for women.

Anyone else looking for a better option? 

see

 

[JayMatt]

28 minutes ago, Schllc said:

The challenge for the ladies, is they have to remove the pants, and get over the stage fright thing to do the deed. We use adult diapers in an emergency. They are t great but they don’t make a mess. But the last time my daughter had a real need she couldn’t get herself to pee at all in the plane. She even got to the point of severe pain and crying, and couldn’t go so we had to land anyway. Not sure if a more comfortable device would have worked with the cramped quarters. 
A wide mouth plastic jugs seems to be the favored option for the guys. 
There aren’t that many people in the market but I’m sure if you came up with a better option I’m sure my girls would be happy. 
Don’t think it’s a get rich venture but have at it!

I pitched it to my wife and she wants me to make one, thinks it will work really well. I think I will give it a shot. I just didn't know if it was worth all the effort for a patent and all that or just make it and sell a few if people want it. I don't expect a large return or anything like that but it would be nice to get the credit for something invented that made lives a bit more comfortable while flying. 

[EricJ]

13 minutes ago, JayMatt said:

I pitched it to my wife and she wants me to make one, thinks it will work really well. I think I will give it a shot. I just didn't know if it was worth all the effort for a patent and all that or just make it and sell a few if people want it. I don't expect a large return or anything like that but it would be nice to get the credit for something invented that made lives a bit more comfortable while flying. 

Patents cost roughly $20k, probably more these days.   You'll need to sell an awful lot of them to make it worthwhile.   If you ever need to prosecute it due to somebody infringing, it gets even more expensive, and if you're not prepared to defend it from infringement it probably isn't worthwhile to get in the first place.

Usually they're just really expensive wall art.

[201er]

I'm pretty sure they have you beat... fierce competition and so many colors to choose from. A highly lucrative market.

 

 

[GeeBee]

Should we be looking at these pictures

[Joe Linnebur]

Well, I’ll never be able to unsee that. 

[Immelman]

My wife tried, and tried, and tried to go once on a trip CA to Moab. Was trying to leave early, beat the convection, that kind of day. A pit stop was a bad idea. Of course the Mooney has longer legs than its occupants.

It was a challenging attempt but she just could not get in a comfortable position to 'let go'. I'm not sure if a 'device' would have helped. I recall having some of those combination pee/barf bags with an adjustable mouth and gelling subtance for her to try to use, but it just didn't work out. And there were only two of us on board (well, and our dog in the back seat), no shame...

Really our craft are quite small when you get down to it.

Edited October 27, 2022 by Immelman

[201er]

4 minutes ago, Immelman said:

It was a challenging attempt but she just could not get in a comfortable position to 'let go'.

Practice makes perfect 

[philiplane]

Got a nice flushing potty here...need a lower profile version for the Mooney though. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by philiplane

[jaylw314]

FWIW, it's technically easier for women to do it while seated or squatting over a bottle or device, the plumbing is a straight shot downwards.  For men, the plumbing goes down then up then needs to go back down, making it a bit more challenging getting things in the right place...

TL;DR -- keep paper towels handy!

Edited October 27, 2022 by jaylw314

[PeteMc]

We tend to not fly more than 3-4 hour legs.  So we've not had the inflight "necessity" so far.  Also multiple trips to the bathroom before TO whether you think you need to or not.  And inflight, we hold off on drinking water until we're about 45-30 min. from landing, then drink water to hydrate.

But as an FYI...   We do have onboard a box of the "Travel John Resealable Disposable Urinal Bags" just in case.  In all the years flying my wife has not had to use one... However...  In various discussions with other female flyers, she's been told the best way is to actually turn around and kneel on the seat facing the tail.  Then use the Travel John and all will be good. 

For guys...   Push the seat all the way back and then scoot up on the very edge of the seat.

On a side note...  John Deakin and maybe George Braly had gotten into a discussion YEARS ago about the issue.  Apparently if you're flying in the teens or FLs in an unpressured aircraft and eat potato chips and drink Coke, you will not have an issue.  Something about the combination of the two AND HIGHER ALTITUDES has an affect.  Not sure if it's only for guys or not, but apparently it works.  

 

[bcg]

21 hours ago, EricJ said:

Patents cost roughly $20k, probably more these days.   You'll need to sell an awful lot of them to make it worthwhile.   If you ever need to prosecute it due to somebody infringing, it gets even more expensive, and if you're not prepared to defend it from infringement it probably isn't worthwhile to get in the first place.

Usually they're just really expensive wall art.

There are some flat rate attorneys that will do it for closer to $5k.  I've had good results with Devin and his team at https://milleripl.com/

[ilovecornfields]

For only $524 you can get one of these:

https://www.purewickathome.com

[N201MKTurbo]

43 minutes ago, ilovecornfields said:

For only $524 you can get one of these:

https://www.purewickathome.com

Too bad they don't have a 12 or 24V version.

[EricJ]

4 hours ago, bcg said:

There are some flat rate attorneys that will do it for closer to $5k.  I've had good results with Devin and his team at https://milleripl.com/

If you just want a patent for marketing purposes then there's no reason to spend much, but if you want to be able to assert it, the quality matters.  As our attorneys used to say, "It's not a patent until a judge says it's a patent," the ability to stand up at trial and be difficult to work around may be reflected by the quality of the patent itself.

[Will.iam]

On 10/27/2022 at 10:16 PM, PeteMc said:

We tend to not fly more than 3-4 hour legs.  So we've not had the inflight "necessity" so far.  Also multiple trips to the bathroom before TO whether you think you need to or not.  And inflight, we hold off on drinking water until we're about 45-30 min. from landing, then drink water to hydrate.

But as an FYI...   We do have onboard a box of the "Travel John Resealable Disposable Urinal Bags" just in case.  In all the years flying my wife has not had to use one... However...  In various discussions with other female flyers, she's been told the best way is to actually turn around and kneel on the seat facing the tail.  Then use the Travel John and all will be good. 

For guys...   Push the seat all the way back and then scoot up on the very edge of the seat.

On a side note...  John Deakin and maybe George Braly had gotten into a discussion YEARS ago about the issue.  Apparently if you're flying in the teens or FLs in an unpressured aircraft and eat potato chips and drink Coke, you will not have an issue.  Something about the combination of the two AND HIGHER ALTITUDES has an affect.  Not sure if it's only for guys or not, but apparently it works.  

 

On long jet flights the cabin is at 8k which is not as high as unpressurized altitude but still has an effect. I find potato chips work as it’s got a high salt content which helps with water retention but carbonated drinks like coke does the opposite for me. Even just club soda that’s just carbonated water will send me to the toilet far faster than just plain water or uncarbonated drinks. Ymmv.   

[Culver LFA]

On 10/27/2022 at 4:41 PM, philiplane said:

Got a nice flushing potty here...need a lower profile version for the Mooney though. 

We have one in the airplane, it’s a folding travel potty thing (it’s like a small toilet seat with a folding base). I think my wife found it on Amazon but I’ll have to ask her, hopefully I can post a link. The thing gets packed on the hat shelf and she says just having it in the airplane calms her nerves enough that it is normally not needed. Traveling with 2 girls I plan stops around 2.5hrs for relief/stretch breaks, but even with that planning sometimes the folding potty gets utilized. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by Culver LFA

[carusoam]

Proper MS etiquette…

If we are going to discuss versions of the pee tube, travel John and Jane…. Et al…

It is great to invite @Gagarin to the discussion… he may just stop in….  

Go José!

Best regards,

-a-

 

[tiben50984]

Good

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[jlunseth]

On 10/28/2022 at 7:24 AM, bcg said:

There are some flat rate attorneys that will do it for closer to $5k.  I've had good results with Devin and his team at https://milleripl.com/

They prepare the application for around 5k, but once the app is submitted there is no telling how much work will be involved in getting the patent through the USPTO. it is not common for an application to simply be allowed on the first try. The 20k number is about right. 

Had a friend with the pilot relief tube in a Malibu. He was told not to use it because of corrosion on the downstream control surfaces.

Before I bought my Mooney I bought one of the Sporty’s bottles. I brought it home and told the kids, “I don’t have the airplane yet, but I have the restroom.” But I subsequently went through two or three before I found one that seals. One of them had a pinhole in the bottom, one the cap would not seal and it had to sit upright or else. Gotta get one that won’t hurt the aircraft.

Edited November 8, 2022 by jlunseth

[Pinecone]

You are reinventing the wheel.

There are the small portable chemical toilets used by millions of boats.  There are are the ones that are a 5 gallon bucket with a lid and bags.  Add to that the several ones similar to the Jill's Jon idea.  And the piddle pack, gel in a bag version.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/thetford-porta-potti-campa-potti-xg?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Cabelas|Shopping|Smart|Camping|General|NAud|TopPerf|NMT&gclid=CjwKCAiA9qKbBhAzEiwAS4yeDQvcMTFGU3Q2Bv5r2BbhZWc7KtloSe1T6-lExGW3JOMOtcvVvmyOJxoCmEgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/reliance-luggable-loo-camping-toilet-seat-and-bucket

https://www.amazon.com/ADENG-Unisex-Urinal-Camping-Outdoor/dp/B07TVN6GCC/ref=sr_1_57?crid=15PYQOFG8FKZB&keywords=urinal&qid=1667835044&sprefix=urinal%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-57

 

[Bike_rider]

This has been a very important topic since we bought our plane in '98.  Our best solution is a stainless steel bed pan.  Bring a blanket or large towel for modesty reasons and the lady(ies) can cover themselves and sit on top of the bed pan.  We also line the pan with a plastic sealable bag with an absorbing and scented bag.  Once they are finished, seal the bag and place it in storage for disposal.  We've tried a lot of other alternatives and this has worked the best for us and, heavens forbid, if you have to do the unspeakable, you are prepared for that as well.  Murphy's law will hit you with "digestive challenges" when they are the most inconvenient. 

[Culver LFA]

This is what my wife and daughter have for the airplane: https://www.oxo.com/oxo-tot-2-in-1-go-potty.html#gray-gray