auto360 Posted June 5, 2007 Report Share Posted June 5, 2007 To the guys flying GOM. How do you fit in lunch. Do you hit the vending machines? Can you carry a cooler with food in it with you while flying and eat at one of the oil rigs? What about bathroom stops. Have you ever landed at, say, an unmanned oil rig to take a leak over the side? I mean there comes a point when you gotta go you gotta go. How does that all worl. Funny stories. Thanks for the replys. Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wally Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 To the guys flying GOM. How do you fit in lunch. Do you hit the vending machines? Can you carry a cooler with food in it with you while flying and eat at one of the oil rigs? What about bathroom stops. Have you ever landed at, say, an unmanned oil rig to take a leak over the side? I mean there comes a point when you gotta go you gotta go. How does that all worl. Funny stories. Thanks for the replys. MattIf the crew eats, you eat. Sometimes it's before or after them, and you may have to remind them, but my experience is that they're glad to feed you. Often they'll send dinner home with you, as well, and one can usually feed two normal people... Getting the time to eat during the day is harder. Coolers often get unloaded in the mayhem of operations.On the beach at lunch? Hope you brought something. The bases are usually in the middle of nowhere, and the vending machines, if any, pretty basic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomer Pylot Posted June 6, 2007 Report Share Posted June 6, 2007 No funny stories that I know of. You may get lunch in a styrofoam go-plate, or a paper bag, or get to shut down and eat in the galley, or eat something on the beach. On the beach varies from whatever you packed in to good restaurants, and offshore from peanut butter and crackers to restaurant-quality food. It depends on the job and sometimes on the day. Seafood on Friday is standard, if there is a cook. As for the other, you have to develop a 3-hour bladder and go when you can, before or after the flight. One thing I've learned over the years is to never turn down a chance to take fuel or take a leak. Never. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auto360 Posted June 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 No funny stories that I know of. You may get lunch in a styrofoam go-plate, or a paper bag, or get to shut down and eat in the galley, or eat something on the beach. On the beach varies from whatever you packed in to good restaurants, and offshore from peanut butter and crackers to restaurant-quality food. It depends on the job and sometimes on the day. Seafood on Friday is standard, if there is a cook. As for the other, you have to develop a 3-hour bladder and go when you can, before or after the flight. One thing I've learned over the years is to never turn down a chance to take fuel or take a leak. Never. Good stuff. But when you say "on the beach", what do you mean. Not literally landing on a beach...right? I know when I was a trainer in truck driving had to keep hammering into my students head that you need to go to the bathroom when we are stopped, not 10 minutes after we get back on the road. Plus need to stop before going into big cities during rush hour. Its all about planning ahead. If I end up in the GOM I just thought I pack a small soft sided cooler with some water and sangwiches or snacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gomer Pylot Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 There are no beaches as such in Lousy-anna. There are mud flats between the water and the marsh, that's it. On the beach means on semi-dry land, at the base, wherever that may be. You can pack the cooler, but on most jobs it's a waste of time. You can't reach it while flying a 206. When you shut down you can get something, usually. I have been on jobs that stayed on unmanned platforms all day, every day, though, and what you took with you was what you had for the day, including food and water. You'll find out the details when you get on the job, so don't try to do too much prior planning, because it will all be changed before 9AM anyway. I once flew a job that went all over the GOM, to drilling rigs, and I started out calling up the evening before to find out what I was going to do the next day, so I could plan fuel stops, etc, but I never once, in more than 2 years, flew what I was told in advance. I soon quit trying to plan ahead, and just did everything off the cuff. That's the only way it could be done, and it's very, very common. If you can't fly a 200NM trip with 2 minutes notice, then you need to look elsewhere, because that's what happens every day. Eat, fuel, and pee every chance you get, because you never know when the next chance will come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auto360 Posted June 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 There are no beaches as such in Lousy-anna. There are mud flats between the water and the marsh, that's it. On the beach means on semi-dry land, at the base, wherever that may be. You can pack the cooler, but on most jobs it's a waste of time. You can't reach it while flying a 206. When you shut down you can get something, usually. I have been on jobs that stayed on unmanned platforms all day, every day, though, and what you took with you was what you had for the day, including food and water. You'll find out the details when you get on the job, so don't try to do too much prior planning, because it will all be changed before 9AM anyway. I once flew a job that went all over the GOM, to drilling rigs, and I started out calling up the evening before to find out what I was going to do the next day, so I could plan fuel stops, etc, but I never once, in more than 2 years, flew what I was told in advance. I soon quit trying to plan ahead, and just did everything off the cuff. That's the only way it could be done, and it's very, very common. If you can't fly a 200NM trip with 2 minutes notice, then you need to look elsewhere, because that's what happens every day. Eat, fuel, and pee every chance you get, because you never know when the next chance will come. Ahhh, sounds like I should fit right in. That happened ALL the time when I was "truckin". You plan out your whole day; food, fuel, breaks etc then next thing you know dispatch calls and you have to scrap all your plans and make new ones. I learned a long time ago that thats the way its gonna be so I simply accepted it. Sometimes the change of plans were good, sometimes they weren't. I still always planned ahead but I had to be prepared to make changes. Fuel stops were always 1st priority and with helicopters it will be even more so. I should transition ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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