What do you bring on long flights?

[DC_Brasil]

I was watching a video on YouTube and a pilot was going through his preparation for a long trip and that made me wonder. As a new owner of an M20J, I'd love to hear some of your ideas of what you absolutely will bring with you in the plane if you're going on a long cross country trip with the family.

What is in your lists?

[hubcap]

Wife, water, snacks, backpack, Travel John. My wife brings along her Kindle to read.

[Sue Bon]

Granola bars, water, oxygen boost, batteries.

[haymak3r]

Question for people who bring food. I too bring some snacks/water. But, I find that once I am in the air, and in cruise, I rarely even feel like eating or drinking anything. Not sure why, but am curious if others experience this too?

[Will.iam]

1 minute ago, haymak3r said:

Question for people who bring food. I too bring some snacks/water. But, I find that once I am in the air, and in cruise, I rarely even feel like eating or drinking anything. Not sure why, but am curious if others experience this too?

You are not flying long enough. Push up the hours in the air and you will get thirsty and even hungry. 

[Schllc]

9 minutes ago, haymak3r said:

Question for people who bring food. I too bring some snacks/water. But, I find that once I am in the air, and in cruise, I rarely even feel like eating or drinking anything. Not sure why, but am curious if others experience this too?

If I am by myself I am seldom hungry.  If I have people with me and they dont bring food I am not hungry.  It someone opens something and iI'm bored, I find myself getting hungry!

I am sure it is more boredom than anything else.

[Hank]

I always have a bottle of water. Saturday's 4-hour flight will also have coffee and a snack to prep my mind for busy airspace. I'll land around lunch, then eat. 

[Skates97]

6 hours ago, hubcap said:

Wife, water, snacks, backpack, Travel John. My wife brings along her Kindle to read.

Travel Johns are great and much easier than a bottle...

My wife typically sleeps. 

[haymak3r]

51 minutes ago, Will.iam said:

You are not flying long enough. Push up the hours in the air and you will get thirsty and even hungry. 

5.5 hours isn't long enough? I try not to go that long, usually 2.5-3. 

[hammdo]

4 is the max for me, I try to keep it 3-3.5. I need a break by then…

-Don

[haymak3r]

same. 5.5 was sort of a test. The plane definitely has a longer duration than I do hahaha.

[Hank]

I've tested my C at 4:45 twice, both times landing with 1:15-1:20 fuel remaining. But my biggest need was to stand up, stretch and walk around.

[Ragsf15e]

I cross the Cascades and Nevada’s Great Basin a lot, so I take at least a gallon of water, light sleeping bag, and a pretty thorough survival kit.  Basically Im planning on spending at least one night out if I am forced down somewhere remote.

We carry more water for drinking during flights as it’s easy to get dehydrated.  Between water and oxygen (and travel johns), my wife and I feel so much better after long flights now (3:45-4:45).  For my kids (8 yo) we have plane friendly snacks, treats (like some licorice), water (sealed sippy cups), and kindles which plug directly into their headsets.  At home they don’t get much (any?) screen time, so they really enjoy watching a movie or a few shows on long cross country.  They were great on a 600nm non stop this summer.

Edited October 17, 2024 by Ragsf15e

[GeeBee]

Hydration is so important and realistically you need to pee at least every 4 hours. So you should have something to pee into if you are going over 4 hours. 

When I was flying the line on transoceanic trips, I cut my inflight medical emergencies down to nothing by getting the flight attendants to offer water and lots of it every hour. Once I started with that, it was amazing the difference in passenger well being by proper hydration. Proper hydration means of course you have to pee and a healthy human can't go more that 3-4 hours without urinating.

Second to this is oxygen saturation. Yeah you can fly at 10K, but 10K for four hours without oxygen boost is really hard on the body as constant low level hypoxia takes a toll on you well being and alertness. Even in pressurized aircraft, if the cabin was at 8K I would take a few minutes on O2 often before top of descent. I makes a real difference!

Proper hydration and watching your oxygen saturation makes for a much better and safer flight.

[N201MKTurbo]

Bottle of water, small can of Pringles and a credit card.

[N201MKTurbo]

Too many bottles of water will reduce your range….

[PeteMc]

There's two ways to look at what and why you're taking things with you.  I do think you need to keep your blood sugar up and you don't want to get dehydrated.  So I take Kind Bars and some thing simple to eat like M&Ms  Chips, etc. can leave you with lots of crumbs, so pick wisely.  I don't drink any water at the beginning of the flight, but will start sipping about an hour before landing and stop about 20+ minutes out.  (You can do the math and figure out why. )

But depending where you fly, there may be a much more important reason to have food & water onboard.  Even if you make a perfect Off-Field Landing, it may be a day or so before anyone finds or gets to you.  So you'll want something with you to keep your energy up and to stay hydrated.  Things like Kind Bars are simple and may not sustain you for weeks, but will for hours or a day or two (at worst). 

Oh, and as for the Travel Johns, etc.  YES, have them...  But we typically don't plan a flight more than 4 hours (unless it's the end of day and you're only talking a few extra minutes).  Gives you a chance to get out of the plane and walk around, take a Bio Break and leave again.  Sure, even if you only stop for a few minutes, the landing, being there and then the climb back up will loose you time.  But you'll feel better at the end of the day.  

 

[dkkim73]

2 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

At home they don’t get much (any?) screen time, so they really enjoy watching a movie or a few shows on long cross country.  They were great on a 600nm non stop this summer.

That's really smart. Both limiting screen time (IMO) and making the trip a treat. We used to do some audiobooks or shared songs/stories to make it special on road trips. No reason not to on flights. 

[Ricky_231]

Water, snacks (kind bars, chips), a waterproof/weatherproof jacket, spare tire+tube (to be fair that's always in the plane), oil, basic tools.

Wife typically downloads movies/series on her ipad.

Regardless of flight time: knife (on you, not in your bag), garmin inreach, flashlights (plural), power bank, backup radio, batteries.

[Ragsf15e]

1 hour ago, dkkim73 said:

That's really smart. Both limiting screen time (IMO) and making the trip a treat. We used to do some audiobooks or shared songs/stories to make it special on road trips. No reason not to on flights. 

It works well and they enjoy the trips, so no complaints from me.  However sometimes I wish they’d look outside more and enjoy the flying.  I still remember crossing the Rockies as a 10 yo with my dad in a ragged out 172 while we listened to John Denver on the adf through the speaker and tried to guess exactly where we were on the (very) outdated sectional.  Getting kids interested in the bigger picture is hard, but GA seems like it should still be amazing to them!

[Hank]

1 hour ago, Ricky_231 said:

. . . oil, basic tools.

Regardless of flight time: knife (on you, not in your bag), garmin inreach, flashlights (plural), power bank, backup radio, batteries.

Oil and tools live in the plane, along with spare headsets. Swiss Army knife goes everywhere with me except the shower and airlines; a multitool is in the tool kit, another knife in the pocket on front of the seat. Handheld radio with headset plug is in arm's reach, flashlights too. This all lives in the plane, so it goes on every flight.

Long flights are more about my comfort, and will vary with length and load. My upcoming flight is basically along the gulf coast, so I'm not into much survival gear, just the rest of my morning coffee, some water and snacks to stay alert when I hit Bravo airspace at the end. Just not enough liquids to worry about needing a travel john . . . I'd much rather just stop somewhere pleasant and new.

[ArtVandelay]

Water, snacks (kind bars, chips), a waterproof/weatherproof jacket, spare tire+tube (to be fair that's always in the plane), oil, basic tools.
Wife typically downloads movies/series on her ipad.
Regardless of flight time: knife (on you, not in your bag), garmin inreach, flashlights (plural), power bank, backup radio, batteries.

The spare tire+tube is for the nose or mains?

[BravoWhiskey]

In flight 1 bottle water and some sort of trail mix pack, ox boost bottle, travel John.  Then the Just-in-Case bag… tool kit, extra water bottle, first aid kit, and depending on area and weather, some sort of clothing/jacket.

[Ricky_231]

3 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

The spare tire+tube is for the nose or mains?

Mains. I feel like it's more likely I'll blow a main gear tire than a nose tire.

[McMooney]

McDonalds, water, gatorade, coffee, Gatorade Bottle, tablets with movies/games, oxygen( seriously this is a big plus  even flying at 7/8k )

tneres alwasy tools, oil, airplane stuff