Ed_Wischmeyer

Ed_Wischmeyer

Well Known Member
Went up with a CFI today in a Cessna 172 just to check that my skills were okay before I start doing the PIC thing again.

The reason for the flight was that two months ago, to the day, I had a total knee replacement. That procedure placed enormous stress on every aspect of my being, and I know from experience that not every corner of my flight envelope is guaranteed to be untouched after that much surgical insult and recovery.

Why not go in the RV-9A? None of the local CFIs have flown in it, and it needs a first flight after maintenance, so not a good choice. The C172 won't be an RV-9A skills checker, of course, but that wasn't my concern. I just wanted to make sure that my situational awareness was still intact, and that I could make the plane do what I wanted to without excessive concentration (tunnel vision). After a good flight in the C172, and 700 hours in the RV-9A, I'm confident that the RV-9A skills will be at least satisfactory.

The C172 controls were a *lot* heavier than I remembered, but on the other hand, the C172 held altitude in the light chop a whole lot better than the RV-9A. The RV has exceptional avionics and an autopilot, but the C172 would be much easier to hand fly IFR. And boy, is it slow. I climb the RV faster than the C172 cruises.

My standards are damn near perfection on everything, and I did not achieve that in the C172. But aside from getting distracted and missing a radio call (she was handling the radios, but I should have been listening more closely) things were satisfactory.

Other tidbits: There's a trick to getting into the left seat of the C172 with a recalcitrant right knee, and I've not found it. Glad that physical therapy has done leg strengthening exercises, because at one point, the required right rudder pressure was noticeably more than I've had to do at PT.

Lastly... I've been researching takeoff and landing accidents for a presentation at Oshkosh this year. One C172 takeoff accident was because the pilot had too much left rudder on takeoff and couldn't get his foot off the pedal. Why? Hadn't recovered sufficiently from total knee replacement...

Thursday is an IPC in the RV-9A. WIth that done, I'll be ready for a bit more practice before heading off to Oshkosh.

See y'all there.

Ed
 
Ed,
I have been putting off replacing both of my knees for many years. If you dont have the re-birthing bar from AntiSplat to get out, you are going to want one! Glad your recovery is going well.
 
Hello Ed,
Having gone through this myself recently, I’d say you’re doing pretty good. I also had my right knee replaced, but for me it was last October. For me, my concern was getting into, and more importantly, out of my RV6. I tried to do that after only 1 week post surgery. Surprisingly, I found out that was relatively easy to do. Next for me was range of motion, and strength. With those parameters in good shape, I felt ready to fly after a month. I found it to be no problem. I did my range of motion and strengthening exercises almost daily, and still do. Ironically, my operative leg (right) is stronger than my other leg (left). I’m working on that To try to equal them out. I’m a little surprised that I still have pain in my new knee. My doc says that’s normal for at least a year. I’m supposed to do my left knee next, but I’m not sure about that. 12 months seems like a long time. But flying with my new knee is not a problem at all. I’ve been dealing with knee pain for decades, pretty much all the time no matter what I’m doing. The hope for all of us is that the pain will go away eventually after the replacement surgery.
 
I had a total knee replacement 3 years ago. With how intrusive it is I thought it would affect fine motor skills. It did not. Flew again at 4 weeks and noticed no difference in skills for other activities such as snow skiing, biking and hiking. Balance was initially off some so I was tentative on foot placement when hiking down hill in rocky terrain but my brain figured it out by first anniversary of the surgery. Don’t wait to do it. No matter what others tell you, it is time if it starts to restrict your life style.
 
scottmillhouse said:
I had a total knee replacement 3 years ago. With how intrusive it is I thought it would affect fine motor skills. It did not. Flew again at 4 weeks and noticed no difference in skills for other activities such as snow skiing, biking and hiking. Balance was initially off some so I was tentative on foot placement when hiking down hill in rocky terrain but my brain figured it out by first anniversary of the surgery. Don’t wait to do it. No matter what others tell you, it is time if it starts to restrict your life style.
Click to expand...
That was my experience too, both times. Total knee arthroplasty, in many or most cases, will affect proprioception...that is, the ability of the knee/lower leg to send nerve signals to the brain about where the foot and lower leg is actually positioned. Computer/digital operative planning, the use of the Velys robot, and the nature of the actual incision made can affect how much such positional impairment exists post-op. This will also affect the quality and the timing of the functional recovery. In other cases, it takes awhile for the brain to re-program the functionality of the lower leg relative to walking and fine motor skills.
 
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Ed_Wischmeyer said:
Went up with a CFI today in a Cessna 172 just to check that my skills were okay before I start doing the PIC thing again.

The reason for the flight was that two months ago, to the day, I had a total knee replacement. That procedure placed enormous stress on every aspect of my being, and I know from experience that not every corner of my flight envelope is guaranteed to be untouched after that much surgical insult and recovery.

Why not go in the RV-9A? None of the local CFIs have flown in it, and it needs a first flight after maintenance, so not a good choice. The C172 won't be an RV-9A skills checker, of course, but that wasn't my concern. I just wanted to make sure that my situational awareness was still intact, and that I could make the plane do what I wanted to without excessive concentration (tunnel vision). After a good flight in the C172, and 700 hours in the RV-9A, I'm confident that the RV-9A skills will be at least satisfactory.

The C172 controls were a *lot* heavier than I remembered, but on the other hand, the C172 held altitude in the light chop a whole lot better than the RV-9A. The RV has exceptional avionics and an autopilot, but the C172 would be much easier to hand fly IFR. And boy, is it slow. I climb the RV faster than the C172 cruises.

My standards are damn near perfection on everything, and I did not achieve that in the C172. But aside from getting distracted and missing a radio call (she was handling the radios, but I should have been listening more closely) things were satisfactory.

Other tidbits: There's a trick to getting into the left seat of the C172 with a recalcitrant right knee, and I've not found it. Glad that physical therapy has done leg strengthening exercises, because at one point, the required right rudder pressure was noticeably more than I've had to do at PT.

Lastly... I've been researching takeoff and landing accidents for a presentation at Oshkosh this year. One C172 takeoff accident was because the pilot had too much left rudder on takeoff and couldn't get his foot off the pedal. Why? Hadn't recovered sufficiently from total knee replacement...

Thursday is an IPC in the RV-9A. WIth that done, I'll be ready for a bit more practice before heading off to Oshkosh.

See y'all there.

Ed
Click to expand...
So glad to see you are (literally) up and at ‘em! Your approach to getting back into the cockpit seems very wise to me.
 
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