AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - December 2021 - 98

RUDDER & WRENCH
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Not all flight bags are created
equal, and the weight difference
from one to another can be
astounding.
preflight planning, and the worst-case
wardrobe scenario would be a late night in
a humid climate resulting in wet undies in
the morning. I can think of nothing worse
than flying in damp underwear and wet
socks, and these quick-driers weigh next
to nothing. Way less than the headset bag.
Lightening up luggage
Not all flight bags are created equal, and
the weight difference from one to another
can be astounding. Sadly, the better made
a bag is, the heavier it is. And all the really
cool bags tip the scale uncomfortably,
even empty.
I've tried several different bags
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over the years, but have settled in on a
the-heck-with-what-it-looks-like, it weighspractically-nothing
nylon gym bag from
one of the big-box stores. It's the lightest
I can get without walking into a hotel
with my belonging in a plastic trash sack,
not that I didn't consider it. To save
weight further, the gym bag is the only
bag in the airplane. I split its space 50-50
with my co-pilot.
Lightening up toiletries
In this department, it's more about what
not to pack, rather than what to pack.
Most travelers carry supplies that are
available for free in virtually every hotel.
There's no need to pack shampoo or conditioner.
No need to pack soap. No need
to pack hand lotion. No need to pack a
razor. No need to pack a hair drier. Heck,
there's actually no need to pack toothpaste,
a toothbrush, or a comb (although
I do-with the toothpaste limited to the
itty-bitty travel size).
The only unusual extra in my mesh
toiletry bag is a small bottle of liquid
laundry soap. Trust me on this, hand
soap and shampoo are poor choices when
washing clothes in a sink.
98
AOPA PILOT / December 2021
Time to compromise?
All of that said, some heavy items I find I
still need. For instance, I pack a tow bar.
I had thought I wouldn't need a tow bar
when traveling, but I was wrong. Let's just
leave it at that. Of course, for traveling, I use
a lightweight, collapsible model. Likewise,
I carry a nice-but somewhat heavy-set
of self-cinching tiedown straps. Although
they weight more than three decent pieces
of rope, it's a necessary sacrifice for me as
I've never mastered tying those stupid double
locking half hitch knots. Even watching
YouTube videos on the ramp on my phone,
I can never seem to get them right.
Of course, as humans, I understand
that we benefit from trading weight for
comfort, however you personally define
comfort. For me-bizarrely-it came down
to drinkware. Following a really hot,
bumpy, and stressful flight, I was trying
to unwind in my hotel room with a glass
of wine. Except it wasn't a glass. It was a
thin-walled clear plastic cup that the hotel
provided. I cracked: A Dixie cup of wine?
This isn't cutting it.
In my quest for ultra-light travel, I had
gone a bridge too far.
I knew that packing a glass was asking
for trouble, so I found a lightweight metal
wine " glass " featuring a heavy polycarbonate
stem which unscrews from the stainless
metal main cup, then snaps into the top to
protect the stem en route. It holds a proper
adult serving, and empty weighs 3.9 ounces.
Granted, that's the equivalent of a hair over
five ounces of 100LL, but it gives me a measure
of creature comfort. Sometimes ya'
gotta make a sacrifice.
Speaking of comfort, I also confess
to being a coffee snob, and hotel coffee
is Russian roulette. The solution? I carry
a few packets of powdered instant coffee
from the green mermaid people. But
those, at least, weigh so little that I can
pack them guilt-free.
And while I can't stand to drink good
wine out of a plastic cup, it doesn't bother
me one bit to drink good coffee out of the
lousy paper cups from the hotel lobby.
William E. Dubois is an aviation writer,
world speed record holder, and twotime
National Champion air racer. He is
accredited as a master ground instructor
by NAFI and Master Instructors.
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AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - December 2021

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