Pilot snacks? What do you eat in the cockpit?

calberto

calberto

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Calberto
On a hot summer day after a couple hours of flying and dealing with turbulence I get a little de-energized and a lot less alert.

Water helps, but I'm looking for a healthy snack that gives me some energy, fills me up a little, and is easy to eat in the cockpit.

What do you guys eat in the cockpit?
 
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Short flights, nothing; long flights, I often have beef jerky and dried fruits... apples, mangos, pineapples.

Advice from prior trip: don't overdo it on the mangos, too early in the flight. They have an... effect.
 
I usually make a couple of nice sandwiches (ham & cheese on a bagel scores highest with me). Avoid using croissants, designer bread with nuts and stuff glued to the crust, that sort of thing - too many flakes and bits all over the airplane.

Most things that work as good road food in a car will work in an airplane. Oreos are the ultimate road/air junk food packaging imo.

And although this would not be available as in-flight service, I have a vague recollection of attending one of Jim Weir's presentations at OSH in the mid-1990s (?) where he demonstrated the apparatus required to cook chicken soup on the exhaust manifold enroute thus delivering a hot lunch on arrival at destination airport.
 
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Crew meals consist of fruit trays, sushi and salads. Water or juice to wash it down.
 
I eat whatever I have around to take, washed down with the best bottled water from the mini fridge in the hangar. If it's not really hot on the ground, and I've not been parked outside for a while, the leftover bottle will chill nicely at altitude, so I finish those first. Snacks: sandwiches, burgers, chips. For a burst of energy on descent, nothing beats a Halloween-treat-sized candy bar--lots of energy, delivered quickly, helps concentration and performance, and not too many calories.
 
Jerky, nuts, coconut water, if I'm planning things out.

Whatever the Podunk FBO vending machine has otherwise.

Post flight today, it was half a rack of lamb.
 
Can never go wrong with a good old fashioned PB&J sandwich.

They are actually a great balanced quick meal/snack with the sugars, carbs and protein all in one solid handful of goodness!

I did a three day trip and we had a cooler with PB&J fixins, apples, grapes, bananas and cheese sticks and we never went hungry between meals or zonked out in flight
 
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Anything I can't choke on is good. Wait, that includes just about everything.
Mostly water til I am down.
Had a choking episode on the ground once and it is not fun. Not an airway choke, an esophageal choke.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Anything I can't choke on is good. Wait, that includes just about everything.
Mostly water til I am down.
Had a choking episode on the ground once and it is not fun. Not an airway choke, an esophageal choke.
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you need some smoothies in a cooler :D
 
I have a cooler that sits behind my passenger seat so I can reach it with my right hand. It is full of water and beef jerky.
 
I don't know about healthy. But, Ive always liked coffee from the thermos and Ritz crackers with peanut butter! That, and plenty of ice water, as cold as I can keep it. This means that "piddle packs" are a must!
 
I'll usually pick up a Greek gyro any time that I'll have a Chicago turn. A couple of slices of last night's leftover pizza keep pretty well if you know what you're doing. A foot long sub sandwich is a good go to meal as well.
 
Gatorade and Propel (Propel Electrolyte Water - Pure unflavored water, with Gatorade level electrolytes and 0 calories per bottle). For munchies we'll take snack bars or power bars. On long trips we will pack a small bag with P&J's or something light.
 
I like plain almonds, mozzarella cheese sticks (they taste even better after they get to be cabin temp), and Dr. Kracker flatbread crackers.
 
Little Debbies Oatmeal Creampies. If it's not turbulent, toss them up on the glare shield and let the sun heat them nice and warm. Yum! Not all that healthy, but tasty.
 
Nature Valley Oats N Honey
Oreos
Beef Jerky

Water or Soda - though I don't start drinking until an about 60 - 75 minutes before landing.
 
EdFred said:
Water or Soda - though I don't start drinking until an about 60 - 75 minutes before landing.
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Made me think of the Beech 18 scene in It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ...

Tyler Fitzgerald (Jim Backus): You know what I need? I need a drink. There's some ice and stuff back there. Why don't you make us all some old fashioneds?

Ding Bell (Mickey Rooney): "Old Fashions"? Do you think you oughta drink while you're flying?

Tyler Fitzgerald: Well stop kidding, will ya, and make us some drinks! You just press the button back there marked "booze". It's the only way to fly!​

:D
 
You fly with me, you get 1 bag of peanuts, a ginger ale.
Let'sgoflying! said:
Anything I can't choke on is good. Wait, that includes just about everything.
Mostly water til I am down.
Had a choking episode on the ground once and it is not fun. Not an airway choke, an esophageal choke.
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What is the difference?
 
Snack mix and cliff bars. Water or Gatorade to wash it all down. I'm a weekend warrior for the most part and don't tend to fly long legs, however.

At work we get fed a lot, and on the legs where there aren't meals the FAs tend to push food on us. We can also grab snacks from the first class stock if hungry in a pinch. There are almost too many options - it's tough saying no to free food, but the alternative is to gain a bunch of weight, so I try to show a little restraint.
 
If I'm hungry, whatever is available from the snack basket. I'll admit to being terrible at pre-planning my food. Others I fly with seem to do better.
 
Gatorade in the wide mouth bottle so I can use the empty later. I chew gum to keep my mouth from going dry but do all my eating on the ground.

I have a small cooler in the plane that has frozen bottled water and Gatorade and sometimes a container of chicken salad to eat on the ground. The frozen bottles means no melted ice, they are reusable and are my emergency water supply.
 
A habit left over from my old airplane, which had a brand new interior when I got it. No one eats anything save perhaps some candied ginger in the airplane. No one drinks anything more translucent than distilled water.
 
Sac Arrow said:
I don't eat in the plane. Or the car either, for that matter.
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What is the longest you have ever been in your plane? I don't think this would be very comfortable on very long flights. I have done several 4-hour flights and one 6:45 flight (in a 182). I just carry beef jerky which doesn't cause a mess. Of course ATC usually calls as soon as I pop a piece into my mouth.
 
DesertNomad said:
What is the longest you have ever been in your plane. I don't think this would be very comfortable on very long flights. I have done several 4-hour flights and one 6:45 flight (in a 182)
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If the flight is that long we grad something during the fuel stop.
 
DesertNomad said:
What is the longest you have ever been in your plane? I don't think this would be very comfortable on very long flights. I have done several 4-hour flights and one 6:45 flight (in a 182). I just carry beef jerky which doesn't cause a mess. Of course ATC usually calls as soon as I pop a piece into my mouth.
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A little over 5 hours. But I only eat two meals a day, so it's really not a big deal.

Look, lunch is around noon, dinner is around six, and I don't eat again until noon the next day. If I can't plan a 4 hour flight around that eating schedule without having food in the plane, I have a problem.
 
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