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ON THE SAFE SIDE
From the Temple Aero Modeler's Newsletter, Temple, Texas
Summer Safety Steps
by Don Mondrik
Summer is here! Some key points to keep in mind as our days get hotter: stay hydrated, take frequent breaks, and keep some shade handy.
Heat can create extra stress on your body, so it’s important to pay attention to that inner voice. Don’t y’all hear that voice sometimes? Seriously though; know your limits. Some of us can’t plow through the days like we used to.
We might remember having done strenuous work during the summer months, but do you remember how old you were then? Sad but true, age can make a difference on how well your body can tolerate the hot days ahead.
The summer months will afford more flying days, but they’ll also be hot. Sunscreen is another agent to protect your skin from the damaging effects of long exposure to Sol, our sun. I’m sure that at some point during our lives we have all experienced a sunburn or two, which probably led to “I ain’t gonna do that again.”
You have better protection from the sun’s effects available these days than you did in the past, so take advantage of sunscreens and wear a hat to protect your head. A wide-brim hat will offer more protection than the plain old baseball cap most of us wear. The straw hats, like you see on the golf course, are a good choice too. They allow air to circulate to keep your head cool, similar to a cowl on an airplane. The sun can cause skin cancer, a topic I would just as soon avoid.
In addition to protecting yourself from the ravages of the sun, add insect repellant to your list of stuff you’ll wish you had in your flight box. Mosquitoes are a real nuisance, but they can also carry some nasty parasites in addition to disease. The mosquito problem is really noticeable at the end of a day of flying. As the sun starts to get low on the horizon, the little bloodsuckers seem to come alive.
The ingredient I have heard the most about in insect repellants is DEET. I know that like everything else, people tend to get the products with the highest DEET content.
While the stuff works fairly well, keep in mind that you are spraying a chemical on your body on purpose. If you’re serious about not donating blood to perpetuate the mosquito population, you’ll be spraying a chemical on your hands and rubbing it on your face, neck, hair, shirt, shorts, legs, and just about anything else you can reach. Go easy on the DEET—I don’t know what it is or how it works, but I would be willing to bet that it doesn’t taste good and it really could cause red, bloodshot eyes. Take some time, read the label and buy small quantities just in case you don’t like it or it has some other undesirable effects.
How about wasps? It’s wasp season too, you know. People usually get into a wasp nest because they were unseen, hidden under something, and so on. Wasp spray would be a good idea for the club to keep in the storage shed just in case.
Is anyone in your club allergic to bees and/or wasps? Perhaps keep a bee sting kit handy, again just in case. Q
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