Coffee

[uwochris]

Hey guys,

I've been doing some research for a report I have due on pilot fatigue. It seems some sources say to stay away from coffee and avoid it like it's the devil. Other people seem to believe that 1 cup or so a day will do no harm.

Just curious.... are there any regular coffee drinkers here? Do you try to avoid the stuff prior to flying? Would you recommend staying away from the stuff, or is it allright to be drinking 1 cup or so daily?

Thanks.

 

[Mookie]

I use a multiplier when factoring coffee intake.

For every 6 oz cup of "Cafe Brasilia", I drink at least 16 oz of h2o. Had a kidney stone once....pain in the arse ;-), so I'm a little psycho about hydration.

mookie

 

[jenga]

Nothin' like a cup o' coffee to jump start your brain when your pager wakes you up at 0230 and you now have to get ready and get to the airport w/in 30 min.

IMO, in the middle of the night, I think it is more safe to gulp one down to get your mental juices flowing, than to not. Without chuggin' some coffee after being rudely awakened, I move like a three-toed sloth, when I need to move quick like a cheetah.

I love coffee. Yet, I generally try to keep it under 2 cups/day. Any more than that and I turn into "...the great Cornholio!"

I have read studies that stated under 3 cups will not benefit, nor harm you. Some studies have stated that one cup/day is beneficial. Most studies say that more than 2-3/day can have negative effects.

I'm sure there are some freight dogs(coffee hounds) out there who'd like to comment.

 

[jenga]

uwochris,

One thing's for sure: your avatar has had WAY too much coffee.

 

[TgrPlt]

I have at least a cup of coffee every morning. It doesn't matter if I'm flying that day or not. Although when your show time is at 0400 the coffee is in significantly higher demand. On an evening sortie, I'll make sure to have a thermos with me to give me a little jolt if need it. However, I always carry two bottles of water with me to prevent dehydration.

 

[supsup]

I used to be a freight conductor for UPRR. On a night run I would drink an entire thermos. It did a great job keeping me awake for 12 to 14 hours, but made it extremely difficult to get to sleep on the other end. Now i hardly touch the stuff. I mainly just "do the dew."

supsup

 

[LR25]

7-8 legs aday, 14 hour duty day, there a lot of coffee cunsumption, day or night, but I think thats what happens when you are a reformed freight dog.

Here a tip if you fly into CLT alot, keep the Maxwell house coffee cup you get from the concession stand, you get free refills allday and night.

 

[Vik]

I don't fly for a living, but I like the taste of coffee. I drink decaf and drink it once in awhile.

Anything in excess is bad for you.

Aside from those of you that are paged at 2am to fly at 3am, the rest of you on a schedule should be able to get up and go to work without needing coffee. If you do need coffee after 6-8hrs of scheduled sleep, you aren't eating right or getting good quality sleep.

If your body has gotten used to it, slowly taper it off, switch from caf to decaf for half your cups, etc.

I was hooked on coffee in college. I only got about 3hrs of sleep / night, so coffee was required because M-F I was pulling all nighters. It took me 3 months to get off the stuff and even if I got one cup less than what I normally drank, I would get horrible headaches.

Bad memories, must forget. =)

 

[350DRIVER]

2:00AM wake up- 5:00AM departure- 1hr commute to the airport- 14 hour duty day ahead= PLENTY of coffee..... I am only a coffee drinker in the AM. I don't think that it does any harm other than getting the brain in gear.! !

3 5 0

Signature at LGA has g o o d coffee.)-

 

[Seair]

I've been doing some research for a report I have due on pilot fatigue. It seems some sources say to stay away from coffee and avoid it like it's the devil. Other people seem to believe that 1 cup or so a day will do no harm.

That's weird...

I studied biology in school and there was this topic which was covered in the syllabus too on drugs.

Coffee contains caffeine and caffine is a stimulant drug. It stimulate the central nervous system thus, that is what keeps you "wide" awake. Too bad to some who don't feel the effect as they are added in to coffee and tea in small amounts. Caffeine may be prescribed to overcome fatigue and drowsiness or to counter depression.

However, an overdose may be harmful as caffine may be bad for the heart or kidneys. Thus, given the potentially harmful effects of caffine, serveral companies have marketed substitues for coffee. The most popular of these is Postum. It is a nutrious breverage of wheat, molasses and wheat bran that was sold in Charles Post in 1893. sorry for advertising if u consider this to be so... Nowdays, coffee and colas are DECAFFEINATED.

So what's the point of avoiding it if you want to drink it? And what's the point of drinking it to keep you awake? Some claim that they had managed to keep themselves awake by drinking coffee seem to me that it was some phycological effect. They just believe in coffee so much that they "hypnotise" themselves.

Hope this little info here helps
All the best for your report
Cheers

(s) Seair

 

[rjcap]

I worship coffee. My favorite flight bag sticker is, " NO COFFEE NO FLYEE."

On a more serious note. If you ever notice the Europeans drink tons of espresso which is coffee shots. that stuff will blow a hole in the back of your head. I don't believe the europeans are dropping dead like americans are. Primarily life style and the pathetic diets that the US has wrapped itself in.

While caffeine (sp?) is a stimulant you will find it in almost all soft drinks, chocolate etc. It will put you on an up and down cycle but the key is to not consume large doses of caff in the late afternoon if you want to go to sleep at a normal hour.

regarding kidney stones, my understanding was ice tea was a primary culprit. Nevertheless drink tons of H2O.

later

 

[bobbysamd]

I agree especially with the above post. For example, the Italians, who, seemingly, chug espresso, eat lots of pasta, olive oil and vegetables, etc., and drink wine. Wine has been demonstrated to be good for the blood. And, it has been documented that Italians have far fewer heart attacks than Americans with their fat and beef artery-clogging diets.

I generally drink one cup of coffee in the morning. But, the rest of the day when I'm working I drink several Diet Pepsis. Maybe Chris' study should focus more on caffeine usage instead of strictly coffee, because caffeine is found is so many other foods, including soda, chocolate, tea, etc.

 

[rumpletumbler]

I drink a pot in the morning 12 cup Farberware perculator and a pot at night. It's not really 12 cups though as they must measure the cups used by fairies or something. Quit once from this same intake of my habit and had a three day really bad headache and that was the end of it. I'm back on schedule now and need to stop again. I'm sort of like Bad Bob in Blazing Saddles just pick it up off the fire and kill the whole pot. I like it hot and in great quantity.

RT

 

[CatcherintheSky]

Austrailian Study

There is a study out that compares fatigue from high duty times and the loss of mental acuity from the consumption of alcohol. I need to double check but I believe that a 16 to 18hr duty day brings your mental skills down to the same level as someone with .04 blood alcohol level. After 20hrs it is up to .08...

The suggestions from the researchers were the use of naps and the calculated use of caffine (ie. COFFEE). That glorious beverage, the elixcir of life, anyway, it said that these were the best rememdies to counteract fatigue and maintain mental sharpness.

Good luck on your study

 

[TurboS7]

I use coffee to keep going on long haul trips. I also drink a liter of water right along with it. Drink coffee, drink water, piss, drink coffee, drink water, piss. The little creamers that are all diffrent type of flavors work great to keep it from being boring.Drink coffee, position report, LRN chart plot, piss, drink water, drink coffee,postition report, LRN chart plot, piss, check pilot O2, must stop the pissing. Bladder bust time, land. I do not recommend this but I just can't kick the habit.

 

[rptrain]

Here's what NASA has to say about it:

-----
Caffeine, a stimulant, can be consumed strategically to acutely increase alertness. It is best not to continually have caffeine before, during, and after a flight. Instead, choose the periods when caffeine can be used to combat a specific period of sleepiness (such as 3_5 A.M. or 3_5 P.M.). Avoid using it when you are already alert, such as just after a nap.

Though affected by several variables (e.g., body size, previous food intake), caffeine will usually take 15_30 minutes to take effect and then last for up to 3_4 hours. Therefore, continually consuming caffeine throughout the day could interfere with subsequent sleep. Stop caffeine consumption far enough in advance of a planned bedtime so that it will no longer be active.
-----

 

[contactapp]

I don't drink any coffee at all. For some reason, it has no effect on me. I just try to get 8 hour of sleep and I'm fine in the morning. The way you guys talk about it it sounds like it's heroin or something and your proud of your addiction. I know it's tough for some of you but I think it's better to get a good nights rest. Everyone knows that any kind of drug taken regularly makes you dependent on it and will always do more harm than good. If you want to do a drug that has positive effects then drink alcohol. It makes ugly girls cute

 

[TurboS7]

How about the sced of my last trip.
Get called at 1600 for a 0400 show in the morning.
Get up at 0130 eat breakfast. Leave house to drive to work at 0230. Arrive at 0315. Take off at 0600 for Santa Maria, Azores. Arrive at 1300 dusk at Santa Maria. refuel. Take off at 1400 which is very dark by now at Santa Maria fly to HER(Crete) arrive at 2000(EST) it is 0200 local. 12 hours on the ground, and return the same route all night arriving at 0300 in the morning at Miami. That really gets your internal clock all messed up. Who needs coffee--------na.

 

[dmspilot00]

comments

Chocolate has about as much caffeine as a cup of decaf coffee. It's the sugar that makes you hyper, of course.

Usually only cola-based soft drinks have caffeine, with the exception of Mountain Dew and its competitors. Root beer usually doesn't have caffeine, but Barq's does.

Don't ever let a drink with nutrasweet/aspartame get warm. There was a post on here a few weeks ago about drinking warm diet pepsi, but I didn't get a chance to respond to that. When a beverage with aspartame gets warm, there is a chemical reaction that results in the creation of substances that are proven toxic.

I gave up pop/soda for Lent a few years ago, and drank only water. Since then if I ever drink soda/pop, it makes me sick.

Caffeine should be a short-term, last-ditch solution only. It just isn't a good idea to consume it regularly.

 

[IAHERJ]

AHHHH Coffee!!!

I drink it every leg of a trip it seems. Here is my coffee schedule for my 4 day trip comming up tomorrow.

5:30 wakeup and get dressed and drive to local airport as to arrive by 6:30. Order coffee at the coffee shop then board commute flight (25 minute hop to IAH) to work. Go have another coffee while I wait for report time.

1145 depart for my first of a wopping 5 legs on the ERJ tomorrow. Coffee on at least 3 of them along with my bottle of water. If the F/A does not make coffee in the afternoon, then I make it myself or ask for it (usually they will make it and laugh at me for wanting it at 3 P.M.

2035 Coffee once again for the 1 hour 52 minute flight to San Louis Pottussi (sp?) SLP in Mexico where I'll spend the next 33 hours or two nights. Then on Wednesday it's up early for a 0700 push out of SLP back to IAH only to endure immigration and customs and a repo of the plane back over to the B terminal before another 3 legs of flying.

You get the picture I know! Coffee all the time and a few beers in Mexico and you've got a great 4 day trip.