What’s in Your Side Pocket?

In the cross-country mentor programs that I do, a very frequent question or topic that comes up is, “what things do you keep in the glider for contests or cross country flying?”   Aside from the obvious items such as food, fluids for drinking, urine elimination items, and an oxygen system (if needed where you fly), there are many things in my glider that I have found to be helpful to have on board with me. Exactly where the things are stored in the glider depends on when I am likely to use them.  For things I will need in-flight  I use soft zippered containers that fit at my side with easy access during flight.  A few things go in the side pocket - but I have trouble reaching the bottom rear of the side pocket with a parachute on.   I sometimes use a soft leather shaving kit bag to hold lightweight items on the shelf behind the headrest - connected to a lanyard tied loosely to a point near my microphone (so I can pull the bag forward with the lanyard to get at the stuff).  But, it’s important to put only soft items behind your head!  Most of the things that I don't expect to need in-flight go behind the seatback. 

Things that I keep in reach during flight: I fly with a 408MHz Personal Locator Beacon in a small case clipped to my parachute harness straps. The small cases are available at Lowes or Home Depot and are designed to clip on a work belt. They can be used to hold a cell phone, a Spot unit, an InReach, or whatever else you prefer for emergency communication. It should be arranged so you can activate it from the cockpit, and it goes with you on a bailout.  Also reachable in flight are spare instrument panel fuses, spare batteries for the O2 system, a quantity of freezer bags for urine elimination, a spare external catheter (if you use them), a small notebook and pen,  compact and leak-proof backup food (energy bars or gel packs), a couple of alcohol lens cleaner packs, some aspirin or actinomycin pills, anti-diarrheal pills, antacid pills, lip balm,  sunscreen stick, a small package of facial tissue, a spare clean soft rag ( for spills and cleaning instruments), and your regular eyeglasses (if you fly with sunglasses) or vice versa.  You may need to remove the sunglasses later in the day or at cloud base or put them on if landing into a setting sun.  In the springtime when it gets cold at high altitudes or at the end of the day I have a light jacket that I can unzip, open up, and pull onto my arms and chest to keep warm.

Things that I keep in the glider but don’t expect to use in flight: There are many small items that are helpful to have in the glider and which may help avoid a trip back to the trailer if they are needed on the launch line. These include white tape, red tape (to be removed before flight), small children’s round nose scissors (will cut tape but not poke holes in things), large coins (for ballast inlet caps) a tire valve extender, a spare power pack for cell phone recharging, and a Swiss army knife or Leatherman type tool and about 10” of yarn for a new yaw string. I also keep a spare thin cloth folding bucket hat in the glider. Over the years I have become known at contests for having a collapsible sun umbrella that quickly folds down to a small size and is easily stowed away before launch (photo below).  People tease me about it - and then ask where they can get one!

It’s a Coolibar 42” Sodalis Travel Umbrella - folds to about the size of a 16 oz soda can.

The Landout Kit:  I also carry a number of items needed in the event of a landing away or an off-airport landing. Most important is a spare Tost-type tow ring with a snap-on hook or carabiner which I always keep in the glider.  In a farm land-out, the farmer may be willing to use a tractor or 4X4 to tow you out of the field - but it’s not possible to get a rope or tow strap securely into a Tost release - so you need a  real ring (the farmer will usually have a rope or strap). It’s also a useful thing to have if you visit an operation that only tows Schweizer gliders as they might not have a Tost ring.   I also keep in the glider a spare of every tool that I need to disassemble the glider, a flashlight with spare batteries (I prefer the head strap type), a small supply of insect repellant (hiking stores have these), a butane lighter, and about $30 cash in $5 and $10 bills ( for kids who might help you, etc.).  Many of the items discussed above (for example the Leatherman tool,  pen, notebook, etc.) will also be helpful in the event of a land-out.  If you take regular medication keep some in the glider.  Some European gliders have a mandatory first aid kit as standard ( if you have one you should know what is in it) and some pilots fly with survival-type gear like a space blanket, fishing hooks, chemical illumination sticks, snakebite kits, etc. A lot of that depends on your personal preference or worries and the terrain you will be flying over.

I used to carry a few dog biscuits for the airport dogs (and to bribe any guard dog I met on a farm land-out) but the canine parade following me on my way to the grid made me stop that.  

Stay safe. Have fun.  Get better.

Banner photo by Holger Weitzel, aufwind-luftbilder.de

 Roy Bourgeois is a well-known US and South African glider pilot who served many years as the Chief Pilot for the Greater Boston Soaring Club and now lives and flies in Arizona. He has held several US national records, competed in many US and Canadian Nationals, and has flown over 300,000 XC kilometers in his 4400 hours of gliding. He can be reached at royb@bw.legal