Fess Up... Who's Fallen Asleep Flying Single-Pilot?

[User546]

In a continuation to last weeks thread about "How do you keep yourself awake?" how many of you Freight Dawgs out there have fell asleep while flying single-pilot? And what was the first thing to go thru your head when you came to?

 

[tsky]

I know you guys will think that I am full of crap, but I actually fell asleep with my eyes open once.

 

[typhoonpilot]

I know a guy who fell asleep flying night freight. Not sure what the first thing that went though his head was, probably the instrument panel. He's six feet under now.

TP

 

[User546]

I know you guys will think that I am full of crap, but I actually fell asleep with my eyes open once.

Then how did you know you woke up?

 

[Flechas]

I fell asleep flying a C-172 from New Smyrna Beach, FL to Atalnta, I had the autopilot on and was kind of tired, was only for about ten minutes, but has never happened again.

 

[LittleLearBoy]

I worked with a guy flying an MU-2 took a 20 minute nap! Do not remember what kind of trouble he got in. Me, I 'read' Playboy to keep me a up...

 

[LAXSaabdude]

I was ferrying a Bonanza many years ago. Took off westbound out of Denver early in the morning, climbed to 10.5, put the autopilot on, and listened to the engine dronnnnnniiinnnnnggg......

I was feeling drowsy, when suddenly, I couldn't hear the engine anymore!

I immediately snapped awake again, everything was running normally, and I continued the rest of the way to Oregon without incident.

I learned something interesting that day, though. Apparently, the brain shuts itself down in stages. On that particular occasion, my brain decided to shut down the hearing portion of my brain before it actually shut down my awareness. So basically, I couldn't hear anymore (for about 1 second), but I was still awake enough to realize it! Very strange.

LAXSaabdude.

 

[flytheblue]

When I cant hear the engines anymore, that usually wakes me up. Im surprised that I dont have whiplash already from all the nodding I do on those reeeeallly long flights when the radio is quiet and the props are synced up nicely.

What comes to mind after waking up...."Are we there yet?"

 

[Feeder Dude]

I've done it before, just for a few seconds. The first thing to go threw my mind is User997's mormon girl.

 

[Fuzzy_is_Hungry]

I know you guys will think that I am full of crap, but I actually fell asleep with my eyes open once.

I had a friend in high school who slept like that all the time. Sort of creepy.

 

[tsky]

It only happened to me that one time-it was pretty creepy!

 

[Lead Sled]

How many of you have fell asleep while flying single-pilot?

I've come close once or twice and it's frightening when it happens. I've learned my lesson however, and even though I fly airplanes that require a crew I always ask center for a wakeup call about 30 minutes out, just to be on the safe side.

'Sled

 

[414Flyer]

I think I was in that zone between being awake and asleeep for much of my first morning leg. I would be in a state of lucid dreaming, just listening for my N number from center.

And yes I would have that occurance where I thought the engines would stutter, when it was just me nodding off

 

[Tina Fey's Scar]

I learned something interesting that day, though. Apparently, the brain shuts itself down in stages. On that particular occasion, my brain decided to shut down the hearing portion of my brain before it actually shut down my awareness. So basically, I couldn't hear anymore (for about 1 second), but I was still awake enough to realize it! Very strange.

LAXSaabdude.

That's the way it works. Hearing is the first thing to shut off when falling asleep. I find this to be most noticable when drifting off in the car (as a passenger!) when the road noise suddenly disappears.

Google it if you don't believe me!

 

[HMR]

I used to fly a BE20 single pilot in the middle of the night. I can honestly say I never fell asleep but I have been so tired that I've landed, taxied to the ramp, shut it down and passed out before I could open the cabin door. I'd saw logs for a few hours until dispatch would call wondering where the plane was.

 

[BortaS]

Going down to MIA in a lear 35 it was my turn to take a nap. When I woke up 45 minutes later I saw the captain hanging in his straps drooling in his lap. I had visions of being over Cuba with MIGs on the wings. The other thing that scared me is you were never quite too sure if the POS autopilot would stay on. Thankfuly JAX was passing by and no harm was done.

I can tell you one thing. Some of the hardest sleeps I ever had were in the back of that old lear. After a few months most people could sleep through storms, landings and about anything else. I learned more about flying and staying alive in the one year of hauling checks than I have in the 9 years since.

 

[Freight Dog]

I learned more about flying and staying alive in the one year of hauling checks than I have in the 9 years since.

AMEN BROTHER!!

I'd take catnaps flying checks. I'd crank up the volume if the Center freq was quiet so when the call "Freight Trash 121, contact Oakland Center on 132.8" came, it was loud enough to wake the dead.

 

[cforst513]

not flying related, but i have fallen asleep driving more than i care to remember. driving up route 71 i fell asleep in the right lane, drifted across the center lane, and woke up by the sound of those rumble strips in the left lane. granted, it was 4:30 am and i was on my way to work, but still! another time i was driving home from dayton eeeearly one morning for the fifth time in 2 days and fell asleep. when i woke up i was staring right at the rear tires of a big rig. i coulda reached out and touched them.

 

[speedbird1974]

I asked the copilot if it was ok to close my eyes for a minute. He said he felt fine and to go ahead. Some minutes later I wake up because my ears were popping! I looked at the fo and he was sleeping and the airplane was on a descent. That is what happen when you start the day at 22:00 and it's 13:00 and you still not home yet. I guess the fact that my airplane was unpressurized, probably saved my life.

 

[Coolhans]

Taking a "nap" with an autopilot-airplane is easy; has anyone ever taken cat naps while flying single pilot with no autopilot?!

Also, I heard a story that quite a while back a Frontier crew overflew DEN (they were westbound, coming from somewhere) because they both fell asleep.
Don't know if that story is true, though.

 

[T-REX]

AMEN BROTHER!!

I'd take catnaps flying checks. I'd crank up the volume if the Center freq was quiet so when the call "Freight Trash 121, contact Oakland Center on 132.8" came, it was loud enough to wake the dead.

EXACTLY!! Crank up the volume and put your leg against the elevator trim (if you may be in icing) and nap away.

A fun prank we use to always play on a co-worker that always fell asleep was to test the engine fire warnings over company freq. (which we used to monitor in the #2 radio)....ahhh the good ol' days.

 

[fokkers&beer]

Yeah, I've done it. One night in a Beech, no autopilot (it had probably been removed in the 70's), over Terre Haught. The last thing I remember was the DME was 20 to the east. The next thing I know I have a headache, and I am 10 to the west. Thank god it was in a Beech, they are so stable.

 

[BeachBummer]

Play Boy, Hustler, Club, and a handful of windshield wipes.... That'll getcha from CVG to CLE and BNA and back in a C210.

 

[Trout]

Play Boy, Hustler, Club, and a handful of windshield wipes.... That'll getcha from CVG to CLE and BNA and back in a C210.

A fellow member of the 'solo' Mile High Club.

 

[Glacialfury1906]

I tell you what, there were many a nights when I almost lost it. Some days are better than others, but even after a year of doing it, I never seemed to get completely used to the late nights. I dosed off inadvertantly numerous times for very brief intervals. Thankfully I was always okay when it mattered (to save my @ss when I iced up.....). As freightdawgs know, being sleepy up there by yourself at 4am is a very unsettling feeling.......

 

[urflyingme?!]

...not as unsettling as knowing the 'solo' mile high club had a meeting in that very seat the night before!

Once I turned off the radios and stared into space for 25 minutes without realizing what I'd done.. But I wasn't technically asleep.

 

[jaybird]

I have never attempted this nor do I advise it. But if your really tired, and you fly an aircraft with fuel tanks that can be switched, put one engine on the lowest tank and when it starts to sputter you'll definatly wake up.

 

[uscpilot]

AMEN BROTHER!!

I'd take catnaps flying checks. I'd crank up the volume if the Center freq was quiet so when the call "Freight Trash 121, contact Oakland Center on 132.8" came, it was loud enough to wake the dead.

Yes that does work for IFR. However I remember those times I was coming back to DAL from HOU and I didnt want to get that lousy routing over College Station so I would go VFR, and they would turn me loose pretty quick. I would try to stay awake with my game boy, or a good book, but just in case I would tune the ATIS in the #2 and crank up the volume, that way I got my wake up call 40 nm out.
Also if I was getting tired would sit up with the seat layed back, so I had to support my on weight. That way if I fell asleep I would fall forward or back, theoretically waking me up.
usc

 

[staledog]

man, a couple years ago i used to haul night frieght in a baron. going to chicago dupage (DPA) i fell asleep somewhere south of springfield, IL. woke up about 140 miles later and for a second didn't know what huge city was right underneath me. of course it was chicago and i was almost over o'hare at 5000 ft.... mind you this aircraft had only a heading bug as an autopilot and no altitude hold whatsoever. i could not believe i was still at EXACTLY five thousand feet on the altimeter. after quickly crapping my pants, i called chicago approach and made some comment about "missing the frequency change"....i guess they bought it (or at least acted like they did) and i made the turn to land at dupage which was now about 5 miles off to my left side. they had to know what was really going on. but thank god i woke up when i did because another 5 or 10 minutes and i would have been over the middle of lake michigan. I NEVER FELL ASLEEP AGAIN.

 

[hawkerjet]

I fell asleep on a MKE to STP leg at 0330am in a 402. minny woke me up before i got to gopher.