Bathroom Onboard? (Poll)

[201er]

I've never seen this one discussed here. I wonder what your onboard bathroom situation is. Mooney is a fast xcountry machine, most can go 6 hours and some can even go much longer than that. Doubt most of our bladders have the endurance of our marvelous birds so what do you do about that?

 

If you always pee on the ground, do you plan your legs and stick to that plan? Or do you plan on the go based on if you gotta go to the bathroom or not? Will you fly past your enroute stop if you don't have to go?

 

If you go on the go, do you use a commercially available product or just a bottle? If you guys can take this topic seriously, I'll post reviews of some options as I've had a lot of experience with this with at least 10 5+ hour nonstop flights with the max being 9 hours followed close with 8.5 and 8 hour flights in my M20J 201ER.

[FloridaMan]

I had a girl with me pee in the back of the plane. She went before we left. IFR departure BKN at 700; OVC at 1000. An hour in she really had to go; it was only a 2.5 hour flight and I did not want to divert and shoot an IFR approach to minimums, stop and let her out, file and take off again. Those pee bags work, but take a minute to gel up. 

[Hank]

I find that if I'm not out spinning, bathroom access is rarely an issue.

Seriously, legs are rarely over 3 hours unless winds are bad. But then, my wife and I both grew up with career military fathers, and long road trips were the norm. Now we make those same trips oh-so-much faster. I also hit the head at fuel stops. I would never pee in a bottle or Travel John when not solo.

[larryb]

Travel John. Available on amazon.

[WardHolbrook]

My work airplane has two lavs - forward and aft. To quote the old Western Airlines commercial... "The Only Way To Fly!"

[Bennett]

"Rest Stop" brand works well A reason to keep a paper sectional around is to give a female passenger some small degree of privacy.

[Marauder]

Wow Mike! You are certainly covering all of the topics. Next thing you will want to know if we are members of the Mile High Club! I used to fly with Little John's until I realized that I was actually a Big John. Have done the Travel John's, even the Depends a few times -- when flying by myself on business. In mixed company, I try to plan rest stops but still do carry the contingency plans (Travel Johns).

[Jamie]

It's not #1 I'm worried about... it's an unanticpated, involuntary #2. Those can happen too fast to make landing an option, or getting out an option once you do. Having read an account of one such incident that was both incredibly funny and fairly scary I added a trash bag and a change of clothes to my "stuff to take flying".

[dcrogers11]

^{I learned on my very first solo cross country, as a student pilot, that drinking a 16 oz Coke during my first stop would require an unscheduled landing at a crop duster's private grass strip one hour later.  Flying my C150 into a 25 knot headwind, I was not covering a lot of country, so my options were pretty limited and making the next scheduled airport, without a pitstop, just wasn't going to happen.  That said, I learned my lesson and have always try to limit sodas or tea to a minimum and take a bottle of water in the plane to hydrate with well into the flight.  I've not given the #2 aspect a lot of thought, but now gives me one more thing to worry about as I reach my golden years.}     

 

^Don

[Bob_Belville]

I have not had to get out the commercial bags I have in the plane now. Years ago in 9249M I usually had a big thermos of coffee and an empty Preston antifreeze jug. Reusable and no concern about capacity.  

[bnicolette]

Wow Mike! You are certainly covering all of the topics. Next thing you will want to know if we are members of the Mile High Club! I used to fly with Little John's until I realized that I was actually a Big John. Have done the Travel John's, even the Depends a few times -- when flying by myself on business. In mixed company, I try to plan rest stops but still do carry the contingency plans (Travel Johns).

 

I'm sorry Chris..........but Depends??  Come on!!! LOL

[jlunseth]

The first Travel John I got had a pinhole leak in the bottom.  You have to be sure to find one on which the cap really seals, most of them do not, the bottle has to rest on the floor with the flat spot down or you will get a leak.

[Bill_Carter]

Now that's funny Phil!

[aaronk25]

Why is it just when you get relaxed enough to take a leak ATC calls you with a "amendment to your routing" and the smooth flight turns into moderate turbulence......like clock work.

I don't bug atc when there in the can!

[201er]

Why is it just when you get relaxed enough to take a leak ATC calls you with a "amendment to your routing" and the smooth flight turns into moderate turbulence......like clock work.

I don't bug atc when there in the can!

So true. This is why on a long cross country I'll opt to go preemptively about an hour from destination to ensure that I have no distraction and can focus on the approach. Also helps on the ground not having to jump out and run inside first then when you pull into an FBO. I'm sure they get some good laughs out of those.

[KSMooniac]

I've tried the gel packs but unfortunately found the capacity to be too small for this professional iced tea drinker! I now use 1 gallon ziplocs with a couple diapers thrown in...works great, no clean-up needed since they are disposable. Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk 2

[201er]

1 gallon hefty ziplock bags with the sliding zip are the way to go. Brown paper bag or black plastic bag are good for hiding your special bag when you deplane. Paper towels and hand wipes on standby. Don't use the regular ziplock bags cause they may not seal all the way, the sliding zip work much better but be sure to close them all the way. Another advantage is you can reuse them for another 1-2 times that flight (ask how I know). Don't throw the bag out the window (ask how I know). Partial dehydration helps but be careful not to let it get dangerous.

[Marauder]

I'm sorry Chris..........but Depends??  Come on!!! LOL

 

Hey! You started life wearing diapers and you certainly are going to finish life with diapers on! So why not enjoy them throughout your life?

 

Like I said -- I tried them a few times. It was after I tried the Little John, only to find out I was a BIG John and that warm feeling I felt wasn't heated seats.

[Bob_Belville]

r I tried the Little John, only to find out I was a BIG John and that warm feeling I felt wasn't heated seats.

I never overfilled my 1 gallon Prestone jug.   

[fantom]

Tupperware, with big mouth, of course:

 

[BigTex]

Just install a relief tube Venturi and horn and then you'll have unlimited capacity.

[Marauder]

Just install a relief tube Venturi and horn and then you'll have unlimited capacity.

 

That reminds me of a funny story. A friend of mine had an Uncle who flew B24s in WWII. After his Uncle passed, he had a wish that his ashes were spread over Lake Erie. My buddy knew nothing about how to accomplish this and took his Uncle's ashes over Lake Erie in a Cessna 172 and released them out the window.

 

I asked him how it went and he said "My Uncle will always be with me". Not to mention his 172. Apparently companies that do this use some sort of venturi to release them.

[KSMooniac]

[Bennett]

Strangest PIREP I ever posted: Marauder is right. I keep a package of Men's Depend briefs in my hangar that I only use on long flights. I've tried the jell packs - the older Rest Stops are better than the new ones as they had a moulded plastic receptacle that was anatomically correct, but I still had some spillage using them, and the Little John was prone to leakage. These briefs look very much like conventional men's briefs, with a bit of a Cod Piece in the front, that with pants on, is unnoticeable. I keep a set or two of my regular briefs in my flight bag, so if i used them, the depends, (seldom), when I get to my destination, I simply head for the restroom and throw away the Depend brief and change into a regular brief. I never have had a spill or any leakage when relieving myself in flight, and so far as I can tell, there is no odor emanating from them. The hell with macho here, as sitting in spilled urine is no fun, and hard on the leather upholstery

[201er]

The hell with macho here, as sitting in spilled urine is no fun, and hard on the

leather upholstery

No, that was me. With the hard-on on the leather upholstery in the mhc.