Red Eye Tips
#31
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2019
Posts: 1,318
What works for me:
My body clock is on East Coast theatre. When I get into my West Coast layover that’ll be followed by a red eye home, I try to stay up as long as possible. I mean really late. Go out, have a drink. Play on the phone, listen to a podcast/music, whatever it takes to stay up. Fall asleep around 2-3 am pacific time. Sleep in until at least noon if possible. (3 pm EST). I’ll be landing at home at 6-7am the following day so that’s about 16 hours of wake time. No problemo. Got to keep experimenting to find what works for you. Good luck, I know how much it sucks to show up tired for a red eye. Reminds me of that Charles Lindbergh passage.
My body clock is on East Coast theatre. When I get into my West Coast layover that’ll be followed by a red eye home, I try to stay up as long as possible. I mean really late. Go out, have a drink. Play on the phone, listen to a podcast/music, whatever it takes to stay up. Fall asleep around 2-3 am pacific time. Sleep in until at least noon if possible. (3 pm EST). I’ll be landing at home at 6-7am the following day so that’s about 16 hours of wake time. No problemo. Got to keep experimenting to find what works for you. Good luck, I know how much it sucks to show up tired for a red eye. Reminds me of that Charles Lindbergh passage.
Last edited by El Peso; 06-27-2021 at 02:01 PM.
#32
#33
My redeye pro tips would be the 5 S's (I can't take credit, these were passed down to me). These have served me well doing multiple redeye's per month for years now:
S schedule shifting (stay up late, wake up early)
S segmented sleeping (multiple 4-5 hour sleep opportunities vs one long one)
S kip the caffeine day of (at least until show time)
S un exposure (stimulates natural melatonin production)
S leep opportunity (prepare and plan for good nap - 4-5 hours. But don't get worked up if you find sleep elusive.)
The final thing I'll add is a good workout, whatever that means to you. I always sleep better when I've had a good workout or been very active that day.
S schedule shifting (stay up late, wake up early)
S segmented sleeping (multiple 4-5 hour sleep opportunities vs one long one)
S kip the caffeine day of (at least until show time)
S un exposure (stimulates natural melatonin production)
S leep opportunity (prepare and plan for good nap - 4-5 hours. But don't get worked up if you find sleep elusive.)
The final thing I'll add is a good workout, whatever that means to you. I always sleep better when I've had a good workout or been very active that day.
#34
My redeye pro tips would be the 5 S's (I can't take credit, these were passed down to me). These have served me well doing multiple redeye's per month for years now:
S schedule shifting (stay up late, wake up early)
S segmented sleeping (multiple 4-5 hour sleep opportunities vs one long one)
S kip the caffeine day of (at least until show time)
S un exposure (stimulates natural melatonin production)
S leep opportunity (prepare and plan for good nap - 4-5 hours. But don't get worked up if you find sleep elusive.)
The final thing I'll add is a good workout, whatever that means to you. I always sleep better when I've had a good workout or been very active that day.
S schedule shifting (stay up late, wake up early)
S segmented sleeping (multiple 4-5 hour sleep opportunities vs one long one)
S kip the caffeine day of (at least until show time)
S un exposure (stimulates natural melatonin production)
S leep opportunity (prepare and plan for good nap - 4-5 hours. But don't get worked up if you find sleep elusive.)
The final thing I'll add is a good workout, whatever that means to you. I always sleep better when I've had a good workout or been very active that day.
#36
, totally unsafe for one pilot out of 2 to nap, leaving a single pilot flying and one capable of flying pretty quickly…but yeah single pilot the whole flight, that’s fine”
I don’t think it will ever be safe to fly single pilot red eyes.
#37
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2015
Posts: 182
I recently tried a new method as far as napping before a RE. The evening before, I limit my sleep to 4-5 hours, even though my body obviously wants 8 hours. Once awake, I limit caffeine intake to maybe half a cup of coffee, or avoid it altogether. Then around 1500, I go down for that nap, and usually I am so dog tired by that point, I don’t have a problem getting in 5-6 hours of sleep. YMMV.
#38
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Dec 2005
Position: 7ER B...whatever that means.
Posts: 3,965
I recently tried a new method as far as napping before a RE. The evening before, I limit my sleep to 4-5 hours, even though my body obviously wants 8 hours. Once awake, I limit caffeine intake to maybe half a cup of coffee, or avoid it altogether. Then around 1500, I go down for that nap, and usually I am so dog tired by that point, I don’t have a problem getting in 5-6 hours of sleep. YMMV.
#39
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Feb 2019
Position: baller, shot caller
Posts: 942
What works for me:
My body clock is on East Coast theatre. When I get into my West Coast layover that’ll be followed by a red eye home, I try to stay up as long as possible. I mean really late. Go out, have a drink. Play on the phone, listen to a podcast/music, whatever it takes to stay up. Fall asleep around 2-3 am pacific time. Sleep in until at least noon if possible. (3 pm EST). I’ll be landing at home at 6-7am the following day so that’s about 16 hours of wake time. No problemo. Got to keep experimenting to find what works for you. Good luck, I know how much it sucks to show up tired for a red eye. Reminds me of that Charles Lindbergh passage.
My body clock is on East Coast theatre. When I get into my West Coast layover that’ll be followed by a red eye home, I try to stay up as long as possible. I mean really late. Go out, have a drink. Play on the phone, listen to a podcast/music, whatever it takes to stay up. Fall asleep around 2-3 am pacific time. Sleep in until at least noon if possible. (3 pm EST). I’ll be landing at home at 6-7am the following day so that’s about 16 hours of wake time. No problemo. Got to keep experimenting to find what works for you. Good luck, I know how much it sucks to show up tired for a red eye. Reminds me of that Charles Lindbergh passage.
Same. I am east coast based and most of our redeyes are out of LAS. Usually the night before I get to the hotel in LAS around 10pm pacific (1am domicile time). Since the hotel is right off the strip I'll get changed and go out, eat a small meal, and between that and the strip I'm wide awake. I'll stay out half the night and sleep half of the next day, with a nap right before I head back to the airport. 60% of the time it works every time.
#40
I recently tried a new method as far as napping before a RE. The evening before, I limit my sleep to 4-5 hours, even though my body obviously wants 8 hours. Once awake, I limit caffeine intake to maybe half a cup of coffee, or avoid it altogether. Then around 1500, I go down for that nap, and usually I am so dog tired by that point, I don’t have a problem getting in 5-6 hours of sleep. YMMV.
I do mostly avoid back-to-back redeyes, or mid-trip redeyes... so as long as I go into day one well rested and healthy I have a lot of momentum through the wee hours.
That's a QOL hit. Maybe worse.
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