General Yeager and I planned to eat lunch and then go fly. We did a couple errands after lunch since we were early – plane was booked. When we got to the airport, it was 108 degrees. Wow! Hot!
The diamond has a bubble canopy that bakes you and it had been closed for a half hour just sitting in the sun. The owners suggested that if I was just doing touch & go’s – meaning not getting to any altitude where it would be cooler, we may not like being baked.
I considered this. I have flown when it was hot, but certainly not anywhere near as hot as now. And during those, I limited it to 3 touch & gos. The heat causes dehydration and slowing of reactions. Even though I had water and was hydrating myself.
So I came back out to the truck and told General Yeager I wanted to postpone a couple days.
I think he had looked at the bubble canopy, closed, cooking the seats. He said: Good!. Then added: You can’t fight a war like this.
Can you imagine during World War II: Oh, I don’t think I want to stop the enemy today – it’s too hot.
I thanked General Yeager again for all that he has done, so I now personally have (among other things) the choice to not fly when it’s so hot.
c. GCYI