Warmer Weather Flying

As we move into spring and into summer, here are some items to think about when flying, especially as a flight instructor:

1. Stay hydrated!

   1. Don't just chug water an hour before your flight. Hydrate throughout the day and several days leading up to a flight in the heat. Alternate between water and electrolyte supplemented drinks. Keeping your salt content up is important as you start to sweat in those cockpits without air conditioning.

2. Performance is worse!

   1. We all know about density altitude and how a hot, humid, and high elevation can surely worsen the performance of the aircraft. That also effects you!

   2. Schedule time off during the day as a flight instructor. Instead of opting to fly back to back, schedule a ground during the middle of the day, during the hottest temperatures.

   3. Aircraft performance is going to look a lot different. Hotter oil temperatures may occur. Cool your aircraft by increasing airspeed through lowering the angle of attack on climb.

   4. Runways or airports you are used to flying into may not be possible on super hot days where increased takeoff and landing performance may be cutting it too close to the runway length.

3. When its hot outside, limit priming the engine on start

4. Lean mixture on taxi

5. Bring sunglasses, hats, and sunscreen