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Originally Posted by 40 Deluxe

Gary, did any of your planes have air conditioning? Those long ferry flights must have been like an oven in the cockpit!

Did the cropdusters have aircon and heating?

I can well remember the cold winters where I’d sit in the cockpit and freeze when the sky was overcast. If the sky was clear it wouldn’t be so bad. I would wear plenty of woollen clothing including pure wool long johns and singlets with sleeves. I gave away leather footwear because when they became wet with dew I’d have cold feet all day. I bought rubber boots and cut the legs off just above the ankles. Physical movement was small thus no value in keeping warm. I’d get out and run whilst the aeroplane was been reloaded which was about every 15 or 20 minutes. I just wish there were puffer jackets in those days. They are the feather doonah type. They would have changed my comfort level from miserable to tolerable. There was one thing okay with winter flying and that is there is only 11 daylight hours so we had time to relax and sleep and night.Perhaps another good factor is the wind is mostly calm.

Now about aircon. No I didn’t have that comfort until late in the 1990’s. We spread fertilizer into rice in the heat of the summer. In additionto the air temp the radial engines increased heat by 3 degrees Celsius. That was hot work. I can remember returning home at the end of the day and jumping in the irrigation channel to cool off. I’d submerge my head for long periods because much heat is lost through the head. After 20 minutes I’d emerge and still be hot. Well there may be one good thing about working in extreme heat. You’d be working, too busy to be feeling sorry for yourself and uncomfortable. Being idle I find is more tiresome.

My eldest son Dennis was at boarding school in Melbourne where the school priest had once been the military priest. He asked the boys who would care to go to the Airforce base for a look sea. Of course Dennis was keen. They saw the training aeroplanes and cadets dressing and preparing for flight. Then they started removing all their special flying clothing and Dennis asked what was going on. He was told the temp had now exceeded 100, too hot to fly. He said his dad managed to fly all day in those temps. He was told he had no future with the military, to wear his thongs and a Cessna 150 would be his limit. Today he is a senior captain with an airline you all would know.

I remember in ’96, flying in the steamy palm plantations inMalaysia. The aeroplanes (Australian operation) were fitted with fans. I thought this was Christmas. In the late 90’s aircons were fitted to new aeroplanes and retro to older working aeroplanes. The first models shot coldair up ones legs which became chilled and one would have to turn it off. It must have bothered other pilots too for later it became ducted and better distributed.
Would you have bought a motor car without heating and aircon? I bet you wouldn’t. Right?

Deluxe mentioned aircon on long flights. I think I’ll continue the answer tomorrow.