Urination while flying

There must be a better way. I see plastic hoses from cockpit and down to be attached inside gear door. The idea is to lower gear and the urine should mist off aft and down. Well, it goes up into the wheel well and causes a mess. Rusts fittings, wheels, hinges. And the bottom of the fuselage and tail wheel get 'washed' too.

I can see the benefit of getting it out of the a/c as soon as possible - if it can't be done without wetting the a/c then keeping it onboard is the only option (obviously). Full plastic bags are prone to burst and or get lost (near rudder pedals etc) but one great but expensive solution are the specialist bags (with fluid absorbing crystals) someone mentioned here sometime ago - alternatively make your own from disposable nappies. Other ideas I have seen include a bag behind the backrest (Kestral19 - short pilot) The bag looked sturdy and was below the 'feeder' level as well as having a tap. In most cockpit this isn't going to be a solution due to lack of space.

An option for getting it clear of the a/c for dumping would be to run a tub back to behind the tailwheel/skid - there should be enough veturi effect to drain the system in flight. A tap at the pilots end would be nice to seal things just in case

The Pegasus has a tube which ends in a hole in the belly (and a plug to block it for normal flight) A small plastic funnel and a long plastic tube can easily be inserted in to the top the tube. Easy and very convenient. I think several other gliders have a similar system.

ROTFL! Great way with words, Wally!

Has anyone done any experimentation using an electric pump in an overboard or onboard system.

With a pump one could find locations for sealed onboard storage that didn't have to be below the pilot. This would make onboard storage much more viable given the limited space in general.

If the pump did a good job on a two phase process (liquid & gas) a tight seal to the pilot might not be very critical. However, the pump would need to be limited in the amount of suction it could develop or the result might be uncomfortable.

Systems that were still going directly overboard would probably get less liquid on the fuse if it was pumped overboard with some velocity.

My initial pondering of this had me thinking of the 12V electric fueling pump used in R/C aircraft, but I don't think it would keep up with the flow rate. A small centrifugal pump with an electric R/C car sized motor might do the trick, but does such a pump exist?

There's a 'Platypus' article on just this subject that's worth the price of the book.

Raphael Warshaw 1LK

was written:

James - thanks I'd forgotten what these were called - but now I can't find the website do you have idea?

I tried this. Centrifugal pumps don't prime very well. Gear pumps used for RC refueling do prime well and seem to pump an adequate volume to keep up with the flow. Not sure about their service life when used with urine though.

Basil Fairston UK

Hooking up an electric pump is overkill and way too complicated. Gravity and the natural suction effect of wind blowing past the end of the pipe are all you need.

Sometimes the gymnastics are not safe, as peeing everywhere and loosing belts and clothing can be quite distracting when you should be looking outside scanning for traffic.

A catherter system hooked up before flying can be used without dangerous distraction.