Personal Health Limits

[londonblue]

alexbrett

Both of those points were my next questions!

[Pace]

But airliners typically go to the equivalent of 5000-8000 feet, which are common altitudes for light aircraft so surely the same problems apply?

As a corporate jet pilot I agree and can testify to a 6000 foot cabin can be murder on blocked ears and very painful

Pace

[MisterFred]

Having said that, I wonder why we don't see more cases of passengers having ear problems when flying with a cold...

The worst pain I ever experienced was from flying as a passenger with a cold. I've never had a problem with ascent, but descent can be murder. The one time I'm remembering I ended up staggering around a gate at Salt Lake International barely able to think, barely able to stand, stringing together more profanities than I normally utter in a year. Finally someone told me to just hold my nose and blow. Which had never entered my mind for some reason (yes, I know that's dangerous now). Pop, a flash of pain so intense my vision literally went white and maybe the eardrums perforated, maybe not (I didn't start bleeding from my ears...), but either way I had blessed relief. My ears still hurt, but simply being in moderate pain was such a huge improvement.

So yes, passengers suffer these problems!

Edit: Some people have Eustachian tubes more likely to get blocked up than others. For some rather unusual reasons, I suffered injury to my left Eustachian tube. Now that one clears pretty easily, but I still often have trouble with the right ear clearing. Makes me wonder how much nicer it would be to have both ears so incredibly easy to clear.

[mary meagher]

I remember a headline in an American newspaper that said "NAVY REPORTS DEAD PILOTS WERE FLYING WITH HANGOVERS"......

[tecman]

Flying when dead is incontrovertibly a bad thing, hangover or not The world is a poorer place as sub-editors bite the dust.

I do not fly with noticeable headcold or other acute symptoms but I don't buy the line that everyone has to be happy and totally healthy all the time to get through life, including life in aviation. Presumably most people recognize this view is a fantasy promoted by lifestyle TV programs and newspaper magazines (and phamaceutical and complementary medicine companies).

I don't want to go back to the situation where e.g a CFI could start the day with a strong coffee, a handful of BP pills and a ciggie or two, but I'm not about to get too precious when a recovering pilot makes an informed decision to fly. As others have noted, elements of that decison could involve the nature of the medical condition, class of operation, number of crew, prevailing weather, length of flight, etc. If you're a typical human, with more than a few years on the clock, you are going to have to get used to making these calls if you want to get off the ground. It doesn't hurt to do some thought experiments ahead of being faced with real situations - helps maintain some objectivity, in my experience.

[thing]

There's no hard and fast as tecman says. If it's a solo flight that is a more or less 'must do' (OK I know there's no such thing as a 'must do' in GA) like a servicing flight then if I was slightly under the weather I would make that call and do whatever my call was. If it's taking two non pilot friends to France for the day then other than fighting fit and on the ball is not an option.

[Andy_P]

Originally Posted by localflighteast

now that I'm not a student the answer to your question is a lot easier for me.

While I was learning I was always aware of the fact that I was screwing up my instructor's schedule as well as mine.

Now as well as G the E's questions, I also ask myself "Am I going to enjoy this flight"

if the answer is no , then I don't go

Interesting. I am still a student, but if I am crook I wont fly, I try my best to give plenty of notice to the instructors but ultimately if your head is not in it then there is no point flying.

Last week my mother passed away, and I have made the conscious decision to cancel all training for now. I am fine, but I have my moments (usually at night when I have a glass of red or 2!). Given I am now at the point where I go out solo most of the time I figure its just not worth it. Its going to hurt my training, but it may well just end up with me dead if I am not on the game. I will pick it up again next week I think, and it may just mean an extra hour of dual flight to pick up where I left. A cheap price to pay I think.

The bonus with having down time, is that I am replaying a lot of stuff in my head now. I was doing steep turns fine under instruction, but not doing well out solo. I have since figured out my head was spending to much time in the cockpit rather than focusing on looking out and keeping the correct attitude. So maybe the downtime will actually save me money!

[skyking1]

It is good to have pilot friends for many reasons, including riding along with another to see for yourself.
Go out and sit right seat with the hood on and see how much fun you are having
I might go do pattern work with the sniffles, but no way am I going to go high with questionable sinuses.

[funfly]

I know this might sound silly, but I used to have a Go-NoGo check list.
Number of things on it including wind speed, cross wind, viz, cloud height etc. all in order for me to never take a decision based on 'well maybe it will turn out all right'.
One thing on my list was how I felt.
If everything ticked off I flew, if there was only one thing not ticked I didn't fly.

[Big Pistons Forever]

As an instructor I do not want to fly with students who are not feeling well. My experience is that the lesson is usually a waste of time for both of us. For personal flying I don't go up in my airplane if the weather is nasty or I am not feeling 100 % as it is supposed to be fun.

For work flying I have a job to do so it is a bit of a different story.

Before every training flight I explicitly ask the student 3 questions

1) Are you in all respects good to go ?

2) Is the aircraft in all respects good to go ?

3) Is the weather suitable for our flight ?

[skyking1]

I concur, I remember one hungover flight as a student that ended early and was a waste of everybody's time.

[ChampChump]

If I can drive to the airfield and not feel any worse than when I left the house, get the aeroplane ready and the go-no go criteria weather-wise are in my favour, I'll consider it.

Not completely facetiously, I have felt a great deal better after some gentle bimbling...it's that Champ effect. Should be available on the NHS.