We came back from Telefomin as planned on Friday afternoon with mission accomplished. I completed checking Mathias Glass into the airstrips he was unfamiliar with and which are most important for him to be able to go to. By and large the weather was very cooperative with only a couple of late starts due to morning fog.
I have thoroughly enjoyed having a block of continuous flying, the first one in a long time. It took me several days to feel really back in the groove, but it was good when I got there.
Meanwhile ‘stuff’ continued to happen that demanded my attention and I was busy on several evenings sorting out various issues and having Skype conversations with others on the Operations Team. Come this week there will have to be a major effort at catching up on other outstanding business.
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The main problem encountered at Telefomin was the duvet, duna, continental quilt or whatever you want to call them. In an aircraft we have various limits and ratings that can’t be exceeded and we know what performance will be under specified conditions. Maximum take-off weight, engine temperature limits, speed limits and so on are examples.
Duvets need a similar rating that goes further than the vague TOG value. If, as the one we were using, it is made of artificial fibre, then it should also carry a government health warning for the danger of overheating or dehydration caused by excessive perspiration. Has self-combustion ever occurred in a duvet? Or is it prevented by the profuse sweating?
With blankets life is much easier. If you’re too hot, remove a layer. If you’re too cold, add one. With a duvet, if you’re too hot, throw it off and freeze. If you’re too cold, there’s usually nothing else around unless you can find a blanket (then why not use that in the first place). If you do find a blanket, soon after, you’re too hot and bathed in perspiration.
I suggest that performance charts are designed for duvets based on the material they’re constructed from, the temperature range they’re rated for taking into account variables such as the body mass index of the user and whether you’re sleeping solo or with your spouse. It might mean that you have to have six different duvets, but at least you’d be comfortable.
Alternatively, use sheets and blankets.
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Our return to Hagen was a return to hard labour. We’d ordered another load of tea compost to put around the garden and that arrived in the middle of Saturday morning. I didn’t count the number of barrow loads in my quarter of the total load but it must have been 8-10, so probably about half a tonne in all.
Knowing it was coming we set about some urgent weeding and clearing of the flower beds before breakfast and while it was still cool, which was well over due. The garden hasn’t looked so tidy for a long time. Now with the black, almost peat like, compost on top it looks really nice and if everything grows as well as it did the last time we mulched the beds, then it won’t be long before we’re tying up the plants to keep everything tidy.
Tomorrow back to more of normality with some flying interspersed with meetings, email and so on and so forth.
Have a good week.
