Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/142883
Thermals were popping, and I had eaten too many sausages and pancakes. Soon a large open field with no crops beckoned me down for a rest. get double points if it was an off-field landing, or if it was during an FAI-sanctioned competition or a record attempt. While most pilots have experienced motion sickness at some time in their life, the good news for students and newcomers to realize is that, in fact, very few active pilots have problems with motion sickness. Almost everyone can unlearn the reaction through continued exposure to the triggering environment. You just need to fly more. Don't let fears of motion sickness keep you from pursuing flight training. There are techniques, medications, and devices that can provide a fix until you adapt. Even if you never have problems, consider your passengers, spouse, children, and your flying friends. If you can help them cope with motion sickness, it will significantly improve their flight experience—and yours! several hours of flight and some serious grass flattening before I was properly recalibrated. My interest in the subject comes from those personal experiences and a recent revelation by a longtime friend and pilot who quietly mentioned that he has battled airsickness for more than two decades. He can't remember how many times he has felt queasy in the air, but he keeps flying anyway because he loves it so much. Fortunately there is help available for him and others who suffer. Among the more than 500 forums at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2012 was the presentation "Motion Sickness – Is There a Fix?" by Dr. Brent Blue, a family practice and emergency medicine physician and senior aviation medical examiner from Jackson, Wyoming. Many of the details in this column come out of his talk. Drugs May Help, but Not for The Pilot There is no medicine for motion sickness that is approved by the FAA for use by the pilot in command (PIC) because all of them cause drowsiness. They are sedating. Student pilots can use them (for instance when taking aerobatic instruction), provided another pilot is in the aircraft as PIC. Passengers can take Motion sickness is a failure of our built-in inertial navigation system. When the signals from our inner ear don't match up with what our body and our eyes tell us about our motion, the brain rebels. One theory is that it may be a natural defense mechanism. Confusing brain signals could be due to eating something poisonous, so the stomach rejects what was recently eaten. The big problem with motion sickness is that once it starts, there is little you can do to stop it. The medications available are intended to prevent the onset and control the nausea, but they must be taken in advance. Too Many Sausages I joined the Flat on the Grass Club early in my flying experiences. A return flight in an ultralight from my first fly-in pancake breakfast took place fairly late in the morning. Thermals were popping, and I had eaten too many sausages and pancakes. Soon a large open field with no crops beckoned me down for a rest. Many years later when I started flying trikes, I discovered that all the familiar "seat-of-the-pants" sensations learned flying fixed-wing airplanes were now a source of confusion to my internal navigation system. It took A scopolamine transdermal patch looks like a small round Band-Aid and lasts for three days, but it causes drowsiness and blurred vision. EAA Experimenter 35