Ed_Wischmeyer
Well Known Member
Yesterday morning I went up in the RV-9A with an instructor buddy, first flight since spinal surgery 10 weeks ago. The flight went well but I don't think that I'm recovered enough to fly solo yet.
Because I'd not flown since the surgery, and not yet having completed the advertised 12 week recovery, I took things slow and used the checklist carefully. Things came back quickly, but they had to come back -- my skills and knowledge of the relatively complex G3X Touch / GTN650 instrument panel were not at my fingertips, as they mostly were before surgery.
Winds were out of the west at 7 knots, but at 3,000 feet, they were forecast out of the west at 29 knots, and surface winds were forecast to pick up substantially shortly after our landing. We took off on runway 19 with a not bad at all crosswind, and I had no trouble flying the plane nicely on the assigned heading and desired altitude. However, as I was fussing with the avionics, I was not paying attention to where we were, a minor loss of situational awareness.
With that strong wind coming from across all of Georgia, my allergies were probably acting up. My standard allergy symptoms are that I get slightly woozy and sometimes a little queasy, as if coming down with the flu. (That afternoon, the last symptom finally showed up, a runny nose). I couldn't tell whether the general malaise was allergies or a lingering surgical hangover.
At altitude, the air was smooth and I did a steep 360 degree turn (45 degrees of bank) and then a stall. No problems, although I felt slightly dizzy after the turn. Then it was back to Savannah, and I had the autopilot fly the LPV approach to Runway 28. I got anxious when it seemed the autopilot wasn't going to capture the glideslope but eventually it did. However, when we got into the chop at about 500 feet, the autopilot was rocking the control stick fore and aft and I took over manually. While I kept the plane on centerline, marveling at the avionics (too many distracting cues on the screen and I didn't remember how to get rid of them), but I did a lousy job of tracking the glideslope. We had a lot of wind, 17 knots at 500 feet, and that made it seem like the speed was okay, even though I was a little fast. At 100 feet, the wind was down to 10 knots, and the touchdown with flaps 20 was gentle, on the centerline, but long.
On the next landing, tower asked us to land on the crosswind runway. Knowing that the winds right above the ground were only 10 knots, I accepted but also asked for a long landing. That was approved, and I had a good workout with winds changing with altitude, crosswinds, gusts, speed control, a no-flap landing because of the crosswind and all that. The landing was just fine, although I didn't keep the plane exactly on the centerline after touchdown because of the crosswind.
The original plan had been to make three landings, but whether due to allergies, surgery, or stress, two was enough. I was tired. After lunch with a buddy on the way home, I took a nap, out like a light.
All told? Not bad, considering. However, my performance standards don't make allowances for surgeries and allergies... and three spinal surgeries in the last 3 1/2 years is a pretty good excuse. I think I should give up spinal surgeries for Lent. Maybe for good.
Because I'd not flown since the surgery, and not yet having completed the advertised 12 week recovery, I took things slow and used the checklist carefully. Things came back quickly, but they had to come back -- my skills and knowledge of the relatively complex G3X Touch / GTN650 instrument panel were not at my fingertips, as they mostly were before surgery.
Winds were out of the west at 7 knots, but at 3,000 feet, they were forecast out of the west at 29 knots, and surface winds were forecast to pick up substantially shortly after our landing. We took off on runway 19 with a not bad at all crosswind, and I had no trouble flying the plane nicely on the assigned heading and desired altitude. However, as I was fussing with the avionics, I was not paying attention to where we were, a minor loss of situational awareness.
With that strong wind coming from across all of Georgia, my allergies were probably acting up. My standard allergy symptoms are that I get slightly woozy and sometimes a little queasy, as if coming down with the flu. (That afternoon, the last symptom finally showed up, a runny nose). I couldn't tell whether the general malaise was allergies or a lingering surgical hangover.
At altitude, the air was smooth and I did a steep 360 degree turn (45 degrees of bank) and then a stall. No problems, although I felt slightly dizzy after the turn. Then it was back to Savannah, and I had the autopilot fly the LPV approach to Runway 28. I got anxious when it seemed the autopilot wasn't going to capture the glideslope but eventually it did. However, when we got into the chop at about 500 feet, the autopilot was rocking the control stick fore and aft and I took over manually. While I kept the plane on centerline, marveling at the avionics (too many distracting cues on the screen and I didn't remember how to get rid of them), but I did a lousy job of tracking the glideslope. We had a lot of wind, 17 knots at 500 feet, and that made it seem like the speed was okay, even though I was a little fast. At 100 feet, the wind was down to 10 knots, and the touchdown with flaps 20 was gentle, on the centerline, but long.
On the next landing, tower asked us to land on the crosswind runway. Knowing that the winds right above the ground were only 10 knots, I accepted but also asked for a long landing. That was approved, and I had a good workout with winds changing with altitude, crosswinds, gusts, speed control, a no-flap landing because of the crosswind and all that. The landing was just fine, although I didn't keep the plane exactly on the centerline after touchdown because of the crosswind.
The original plan had been to make three landings, but whether due to allergies, surgery, or stress, two was enough. I was tired. After lunch with a buddy on the way home, I took a nap, out like a light.
All told? Not bad, considering. However, my performance standards don't make allowances for surgeries and allergies... and three spinal surgeries in the last 3 1/2 years is a pretty good excuse. I think I should give up spinal surgeries for Lent. Maybe for good.
