The Epidemic and Cockpit Safety

[FredK]

As with most of us here I have been spending extra time on the cockpit hobby given the extra time on my hands.  That has included work on improvements and maintenance and also more actual flying time than usual. Flying on VATSIM has really been enjoyable since the airways are more crowded than ever with everyone at home.

But it does get lonely in the cockpit.  I have a bunch of local pilot friends (real world) that I occasionally invite over, but of course I have been reluctant to do that of late. So I am starting to think about how to approach that.  Social distancing is impossible of course, but use of masks and hand sanitizer could be workable.  I may test how well ATC communications will work with a mask on in that regard.

All this also raises some big questions about WorldFlight this year.

All thoughts on this appreciated.  Is anybody out there flying with two in the cockpit?

Fred K

[bernard S]

Fred   my cents...  if they showing no symptoms   then go for it ...this virus stuff  not going away quickly .. whats point of two pilot operation if you can not play with your friends

[RayS]

I'd be cautious of the "Showing no symptoms" angle...

You can be an asymptomatic carrier for 2 or more weeks and not even know it. It's pretty much how we got into this mess. I do wonder though how the airlines are doing it on the flight deck...

Personally, I'm being overly-cautious. I'm just a few years away from retirement and dammit I want to ENJOY my retirement since I've worked for it my entire life. I certainly don't want to die because some idiot decided to have a bat barbecue.

We live with, and accept certain risks every day. We can also mitigate those risks. It's why I don't travel to the inner city of Chicago at night.

It sucks not being able to get together but I'm holding out for a while longer because this is going to get much worse, particularly in the US. In all the various charts and data feeds I look at every day, The US is the only country in the world that has not shown any signs of flattening the curve. We are still on a trajectory going up at a near-constant 45-degree angle. This is going to be bad.

It's almost as if the US is doing absolutely nothing (except ignoring the problem), hoping it all goes away when it gets warm outside. (It won't, as is demonstrated by the infection rate in Florida, Hawaii and other areas nearer the equator.

At least until we start seeing a decrease in deaths (Maybe a drug or something can mitigate those numbers) Or we see a vaccine on the horizon.

Until then...

[navymustang]

Do like Publix and Home Depot - put a Plexiglas sheet right down the middle over the pedestal. But don't forget the cutout on the bottom to pass notes and such.   

[Garys]

Nah, not worth it. The only way this pandemic is going to go away anytime soon is if people stick to the self distancing rules which is the complete opposite of what your asking.

[Trevor Hale]

I have to agree with Gary.  Fred, It sucks, but at least you have your health right now. My concern would be if I was you the What if scenario.  What if my friend got it on his way to my house or at my house because I was asymptomatic.  And He died, would I be able to live with myself. 

I personally never worry about myself, But always ask my self if I could live with myself if I gave it to someone else and they died.

At this point, I don't foresee the border even being open to be able to do worldflight. But time will tell.

Trev

[Joe Lavery]

You're absolutely right Trevor,

Here in the UK we now have the highest per capita death rate in Europe. over 32,000 at the latest count. Only surpassed by the US, who as Ray said are still increasing. It seems the attitude of some people both home and abroad seems to be, "ignore it and it will go away". Sadly it won't.

My wife and I have been in self isolation for 7 weeks now, not going any further than the rear garden. My daughter and son-in-law have been getting our shopping for us, and the local chemist has delivered the medication we require once a month.
We are both fit and well but over seventy, so are regarded here as in the high risk category. We would like to continue a while longer enjoying our retirement, and hope to still see parts of the world we have yet to visit; and possibly friends we have never met.
Consequently we will wait and hope for the development of a vaccine before venturing too far from the safety of our home.

However we did go to one on our local shops today for a few essential items, we left it till late in the day and wore masks, keeping the required distance from the few people we saw. Yet the danger of contracting this virus from someone not exhibiting any symptoms is quite real.
Naturally this lockdown (at least how some view it in the UK) in inconvenient, but the alternative could be somewhat more so! Personally I don't envisage much change in our life until science has defeated this awful illness.

I sincerely hope all members and their extended families are still enjoying our hobby for many years to come.

Stay safe everyone.
Joe.     

[N4208T]

Guys,

I definitely do NOT want to start or contribute to a Corona or political discussion but for what it is worth, I am a physician and the amount of disinformation and opinion we are all hearing and being exposed to in this pandemic is not only disgusting, it is somewhat frightening.  I always taught my residents that when you do not know the answer to something, say so and tell the patient you do your best to find out for them.  Most of the "answers" and even a lot of the data you are seeing is opinion, not fact, and a lot based on models (which keep changing).  And I build medical predictive models for a living so I actually know a little bit about the subject.

All I am saying is take EVERYTHING you hear and see on TV and the news with a large grain of salt, a hefty dose skepticism and maybe a large beer.  Most of the answers are not known.  A lot of the stats from different sources do not agree with one another (including case rates and death rates) and some of the advice that we are all following does not follow science or even common sense regarding how viruses spread and populations respond and develop immunity.

Yes, be careful.  Hang in there.  This will pass even if we do not know when but remember that a lot of folks have vested interests in slanting things one way or another.  And there is also data out there showing that this virus is not all that different than a bad flu that we all deal with every year.

Stay safe and keep flying.

Steve

[Trevor Hale]

Steve,

You definitely know what your talking about and I appreciate your candar...  This is in fact what we were all told in the beginning.  For some reason things have changed and likely blown way out of porportion.  I do agree there is a major tilt from the media, for some nefarious reasons I am sure.  I'll take your words of wisdom as a physician over any media outlet any day.

Still, I would rather err on the side of caution, I won't even go visit my in-laws (LOL This time it works in my favor ) due to the fact my Father-In law has numerous underlying health issues, pneumonia would most certainly tax his immune system. (kidney issues and previous Stroke). 

Again, not worried about me, but more the others that I may pass it on to.

Thank you for taking the time to post that.

[Garys]

Steve, Whether or not this is just like a normal flu, been blown way out of proportion etc etc is irrelevant. As individuals we can make one of two choices. We can follow the advice about social distancing and watch the numbers decline and the governments open up society to some level of normality or we can continue to socialize and drag this thing out for who knows how long. Disinformation or not, if everyone just plays there part then this will be over and done with and the media can move on to its its next big breaking news story. 

[bernard S]

news!!!!! major story    i still have that unidentified screw lol

[FredK]

I think....maybe enough said here.  We do not want to inadvertently drift into the political arena with this.  Best to stay in a safe zone with the really important things in life like how to wire a switch or illuminate an led etc. The virtual friendships here are too golden to risk losing.

So let's close this thread out.

Fred K

[Trevor Hale]

news!!!!! major story    i still have that unidentified screw lol

Thats funny,  was going to comment on this in the other thread, but couldn't resist..  Well Played.