Mask or no mask?

Mask or no mask?

  • Mask on all the time even solo

    Votes: 1 1.3%

  • Mask on only with PAX

    Votes: 4 5.3%

  • Mask on only with PAX not in family (or inner circle)

    Votes: 20 26.7%

  • Mask on only with students (CFI)

    Votes: 2 2.7%

  • No masks

    Votes: 48 64.0%
  • Total voters
    75
M

MacFlier

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Apr 5, 2018
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MacFlier
I thought I'd see how people are flying in these weird times.

NOTE: Please refrain from political statements or view points. I'm just interested in whether or not you use a face mask and the circumstances (PAX, no PAX, etc)
 
No mask I’m flying solo for the present.
 
I selected "only with students (CFI)" - not exactly accurate in my case, but it was the closest option.

I'm an instrument student and the school has a policy that masks must be worn. Even though I'm using my plane, it's their instructors, their rules. So, I wear a mask when I'm receiving instruction. Other than that - meh.

I'll wear masks when I'm out in public. Maybe it's hubris - but when I'm flying family or friends, I'll skip the mask.
 
Nathan Miller said:
I selected "only with students (CFI)" - not exactly accurate in my case, but it was the closest option.

I'm an instrument student and the school has a policy that masks must be worn. Even though I'm using my plane, it's their instructors, their rules. So, I wear a mask when I'm receiving instruction. Other than that - meh.

I'll wear masks when I'm out in public. Maybe it's hubris - but when I'm flying family or friends, I'll skip the mask.
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Pretty much my case, except the plane is a rental. Masks only when with my CFII or people not in my family/inner circle.
 
Wouldn’t masks interfere with your headset mic and generally be a distraction? I’d also be worried about it making one more susceptible to hypoxia at higher altitudes.

Either way no I’m not wearing a mask in flight. Not in a little 2-6 seat GA aircraft where the passengers are likely people I live with or 1 maybe 1-2 other people. The chances of exposure are negligible at worst.
 
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I fly with family and friends that I spend time with regularly. No mask therefore.
 
Working on my instrument. Cfii and I discussed it and agreed that in the cabin of the archer, there's no way we're aren't sharing germs, mask or not, so why bother? I'm under 40 and me & my family are healthy, so our risk is very low. I'm careful not to get close to my parents or anyone else for that matter. We're in a rural area, so the virus isn't widespread here anyway.

If it was more widespread here, or I had higher risk factors, I would not train rather than try to deal with a mask in flight.
 
Mask if flying with an instructor for FR or IPC. (Required by health dept. and a good idea to reduce, but not eliminate risk.) I'm not flying with anyone else except my spouse for now. I will re-assess that as things progress. A GA cockpit is a pretty confined space, but fortunately it's not amenable to a large group. A cloth mask is not a huge hardship, even if it is marginally effective. I suppose I could always fly with the canopy open. No way anythings stays in the cockpit for long with the canopy cracked. It's a negative pressure room with the canopy open.
 
Nathan Miller said:
TLDR - can you give us the BLUF? :frown2:
(For the uninitiated - Too Long, Didn't Read; Bottom Line, Up Front)
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First sentence of the second paragraph pretty much sums it up.

"We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection."​

How are we supposed to know what the correct action should be when the experts can't even agree?
 
donjohnston said:
First sentence of the second paragraph pretty much sums it up.
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Thanks. I saw all that text and my eyes just glazed over :rolleyes:

In this information age, there is a plethora of information that can support any position one chooses. Confirmation Bias is strong in this society. Especially when you have people like me who are barely literate :eek:

Speaking of confirmation bias, allow me to introduce a (by now, I'm sure, well circulated) an analogy:

Covid19Analogy.jpeg
 
No mask while flying...single-seat airplane.
selfie_goggles.jpg

Time for the yearly condition inspection next week. I'll wear a mask when helping for that, since my A&P is recovering from cancer and his immune system is compromised.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Also, a plus for wearing a mask is that, if your PAX feels indisposed and decides to projective-vomit while you showcase steep turns, the mask may contain most of the goo that would end up on your expensive set of avionics... :p
 
MacFlier said:
Also, a plus for wearing a mask is that, if your PAX feels indisposed and decides to projective-vomit while you showcase steep turns, the mask may contain most of the goo that would end up on your expensive set of avionics... :p
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I can see it now - "The mask is rubber, you're glue. Whatever comes out of their mouth bounces off the mask and sticks to you."

Maybe not as catchy of a phrase....
 
I generally mask up in public places, but not at home, in the car, or in the plane. However, I masked up a couple of weeks ago when I was flying practice approaches for currency with a safety pilot. We were in the plane on a warm day for about 2.5 hours. My safety pilot didn't bring a mask and I was okay with that. I lasted about 10 minutes and ditched the mask. It was too hot.
 
I would be curious to hear the viewpoint of anyone who used a mask solo. I assume this was a rental situation and you didn't want to get spittle and sneezix on the instruments or something?

I puzzle at solo drivers that I see wearing masks also. I feel way out of the loop on why that makes sense. I see the drivers with masks very often. (5% of drivers around here maybe?)

(I'm in the majority of "no masks" myself, have flown numerous times with CFIs, non-family non-pilots, and family/friends during this)
 
schmookeeg said:
I would be curious to hear the viewpoint of anyone who used a mask solo.
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Literally - just one on here wears a mask while flying solo, according to the latest vote count. Speak up or forever hold your pee.

I puzzle at solo drivers that I see wearing masks also. I feel way out of the loop on why that makes sense. I see the drivers with masks very often. (5% of drivers around here maybe?)
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Same, until my brother pointed out that if he's making a lot of quick hops, taking his mask on and off frequently and in a short amount of time would heighten his exposure to whatever is lurking on the blue side of his mask...
 
Yep, I've kept mine on in the car when running multiple local errands, to avoid futzing with it over and over likely touching both the mask and my face multiple times in the process. It's not because I see any benefit to having it on in the car.
 
tiger said:
Yep, I've kept mine on in the car when running multiple local errands, to avoid futzing with it over and over likely touching both the mask and my face multiple times in the process. It's not because I see any benefit to having it on in the car.
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Thanks. You guys apparently have better masks than I do. The N95 I keep in the car is hot as the dickens and intolerable to me after 10 minutes or so. My wife made me something she calls "a shower curtain for your face", mounted on the frame from a pair of safety glasses, and molded to my face with an underwire (total covid theatre likely, but it keeps the peace :D) -- but even that gets too warm after about 30mn. I really hate elastic loops on my ears.

Maybe I need to eat less spicy food or something. Or discover a "very breathable, yet very opaque" material which will satisfy the appearance without the intent of a mask. :D
 
schmookeeg said:
Maybe I need to eat less spicy food or something. Or discover a "very breathable, yet very opaque" material which will satisfy the appearance without the intent of a mask. :D
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I have worn one of these while biking:

https://buffusa.com/coolnet-uv

It can be folded to double / triple up easily, but if worn "single ply" it absolutely meets your definition (appearing to meet the requirements while being very breathable - I won't comment on the advisability of that!). :D
 
Instructor’s employer requires masks so we wear one while I’m IFR training. One day it was cold and my foggles foggled. I used a hood that day then it warmed back up.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Instructor’s employer requires masks so we wear one while I’m IFR training. One day it was cold and my foggles foggled. I used a hood that day then it warmed back up.
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Crap! I love foggles and can't stand the hood. I guess I should buy a hood to have in the plane for such an occasion. All of the instructors at this school are currently undergoing recurrency training and my instructor expects to have his knocked out next week.

Then again, fogging up the foggles .. ironic. Too much of a good thing, eh? :D
 
So, I donned my foggles and mask at the same time, boom. Instant 0/0.

So, I tried out some anti-fogging spray I used to use on my motorcycle helmet. And things are ... looking good :rolleyes: No hood required for me. Woot!

20200529_182136r.jpg (click for full size if interested)
 
There have been multiple articles/studies/findings indicating that a "non medical grade" mask offers little protection to the virus laden aerosols that are the problem.

So if a "cotton mask" doesn't stop relatively low pressure aerosols from passing through from the outside into your mouth when you breathe in, how can is stop the relatively high pressure aerosols coming from your mouth from going through the mask when you breathe out?

While the "Peeing through your pants" allegory seems to make sense at first glance, a mask may likely not provide any more protection than blue jeans do against barking spiders....
 
schmookeeg said:
I puzzle at solo drivers that I see wearing masks also. I feel way out of the loop on why that makes sense. I see the drivers with masks very often. (5% of drivers around here maybe?)
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In discussions about this someone said they forgot and realized later while driving that they still had it on.

I usually just shake my head in sadness for humanity when I see that. That people are so fearful that they wear a mask when alone in their own car.

I get why people wore them early on. There were lots of recommendations on masks. Now we know more about when they are more effective and needed and when they do not do more than show one's concern.



Wayne
 
wayne said:
In discussions about this someone said they forgot and realized later while driving that they still had it on.

I usually just shake my head in sadness for humanity when I see that.
Wayne
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I'm guessing that you contemplate suicide when you see someone driving with their turn signal on?
 
donjohnston said:
First sentence of the second paragraph pretty much sums it up.

"We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection."​

How are we supposed to know what the correct action should be when the experts can't even agree?
Click to expand...

I noticed a significant qualifier in the sentence right after that one:

"Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes)."​

The WHO came out with somewhat similar advice in a video in March that said you don't need to wear a mask unless you have respiratory symptoms or are taking care of an infected person. However, that advice may be obsolete in light of later evidence. The CDC has said recent studies indicated that "a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms ('asymptomatic') and that even those who eventually develop symptoms ('pre-symptomatic') can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms."

https://www.foxnews.com/world/who-guidance-healthy-people-wear-masks-around-coronavirus-patients

Another problem is that unless people happen to be sneezing or coughing while they are nearby, you may not have any way of knowing whether they have symptoms or not.

Of course, I'm not a doctor, so :dunno:.
 
Palmpilot said:
Another problem is that unless people happen to be sneezing or coughing while they are nearby, you may not have any way of knowing whether they have symptoms.

Of course, I'm not a doctor, so :dunno:.
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I have rather harsh seasonal allergies. I start my daily dose of claritin in February and I can usually finish up in June. Even with medication, I find myself occasionally sneezing throughout the pollen season. Does that mean I've had Covid-19 for the past 3 months?
 
cowman said:
Wouldn’t masks interfere with your headset mic and generally be a distraction?
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I have tried flying (rental planes) with a couple of types of mask, and ATC didn't have any trouble understanding me as long as I spoke up. Also, the sidetone in my headset sounded clear enough.

I didn't find it particularly distracting.

I’d also be worried about it making one more susceptible to hypoxia at higher altitudes.
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I'm no expert but I doubt that a mask is going to significantly change the air density inside it.
 
Nathan Miller said:
I have rather harsh seasonal allergies. I start my daily dose of claritin in February and I can usually finish up in June. Even with medication, I find myself occasionally sneezing throughout the pollen season. Does that mean I've had Covid-19 for the past 3 months?
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Beats me.
 
donjohnston said:
I'm guessing that you contemplate suicide when you see someone driving with their turn signal on?
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Nope, usually just a comment about them going around the world to the left/right. ;)



Wayne
 
Palmpilot said:
Beats me.
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I know. After all, you admitted you weren't a doctor :)

It's the other 99% that jump 10 feet, grab their kids while screaming and running towards the door everytime I react to pollen. I know we need to protect our health, but this is getting old :(
 
Pants don’t keep me from tasting other people’s farts. Not sure why people think a mask is effective.


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