Left hand pain from flying C150!
 

Hello,

I am quite close to completing my PPL but I have a "mechanical" problem with my body! In the past I took lessons on a C172. On this plane, even during airport circuits, I could easily trim, power required little adjustment and in windy/turbulent conditions the plane was quite stable. This meant I was never holding the yoke too tightly and I had two hands to choose from.

Recently, I switched to a C150. I did a lot of circuits on it; at some point I was doing 7 a day, every day. Here, my right hand clearly needs to stay on the throttle at all times. The engine is weak and the RPM changes frequently. Also, on take off and final, the plane feels light and i find it requires a good grip on the yoke. I also find this plane harder to trim.

The point is that after a few weeks of trianing on the C150, my left hand is in bad pain whenever I try to squeeze anything with it. I have sharp pain whenever I touch the bone my middle finger stems from; and some times this pain extends towards my thumb.

Has anybody else had such a problem out of flying a light plane in windy/turbulent conditions? What's the best thing to do? Trim as well as possible and fly with the right hand as much as possible?

Good thing my instructor will be gone for a week. However, I am expected to start flying solo when her gets back...don't think I'll be able to with such a left hand :-S

Thanks a lot for any feedback!

I am not a doctor but it sounds like you have carpel tunnel syndrome.

Basically because of your wrist position you are trapping the nerves and other bits and pieces in your wrist causing them to swell which makes maters worse.

If you google the syndrome you can find some exercises which help matters but the only cure is to stop putting your wrist in the same position for extended periods.

Do the exercises while your instructor is away.

You can fly a 152 with just your fingertips holding the yoke just as you do a 172. Is the 150 really that much worse?

As said by Gertrude the Wombat, you should be able to fly a C152 by your fingertips. Sounds like you're not trimming out properly and are holding the yoke in a fearful, tense grasp expecting the engine to conk out.

If the "engine is weak and the RPM changes frequently" then get it looked at.

If the plane is properly set up it will fly itself.

Well that would make me tense up as well !!!

I've noticed a similar problem myself a few times on flights when I started my hour building e.g. if it was very bumpy. A few times on some of my more "memorable" flights, I've ended up holding the yolk in a death grip and then felt a dull, faint muscular pain a few hours after the flight.

I've not noticed it over the last few flights, probably because I'm becoming more relaxed in my flying.

I also agree that, after flying a 172, a 150/152 feels very light and 'skittish' and that might well make the problem worse.

Perhaps go and see your doctor.

As one guru told me after witnessing my death grip on the stick " 'old it like a nun 'olding a lepers ****'.........

alex2kdl
 

Gidday mate, I have had a number of students with this problem, with a variety of reasons.
The most often is being too tense. As many here have said, you should be able to fly the 152 with your fingertips, even in turbulence. First try relaxing.
You mention its dam hard to trim out. When tense it is common for the controlling arm to either push or pull on the yoke. This is usually easily fixed. Try adjusting your seat position, it will often help, as it will free the arm aiding in comfort. I have encountered modified 152's that can adjust the rudder pedal position. If you can do this, then try that also.
This leads to, well, how big you are. Cessna 150's are small, if you are big then you wont be very comfortable, ergo, folding yourself half in order to fly is guaranteed to cause problems.
Madjock mentioned Carpal tunnel syndrome. I had an elderly student with this problem. It often affected him in other areas of life. In particular lifting heavy objects and using the likes of a computer keyboard. You have these issues? Even if not, it might be worth a visit to the quack. You can get support straps for the wrist (does hinder movement though) and an old boss of mine from my cooking days even went so far as to have an operation.
As for the engine misbehaving. Go see the mechanic. It will help relieve any worries at the very least.
Good luck.

The reason why I mentioned it is because I have had it as well flying certain types of aircraft because the seat won't travel back far enough. The old slab wing PA28 is point in case. It doesn't matter how finger tip I hold the stick my wrist angle annoys things so much so I usually put my arm over the top of it or grab the side meant for the other hand which I wouldn't recommend if you are learning.

Now 700 plus odd hours in the tommy I have never been uncomfy flying. C150's are just to small for me so I can understand the issue of having your arm bent and then having your wrist bent at 90 degrees then this leading to issues even if you just use finger tips you can restrict the blood flow and annoy things.

My other experence with it was in a bigger machine with tiller steering. There are two types of handle one a semi circular quarter arc and the other a sun shaped thing with notches and a arrow head for teh wheel direction. I did a compass swing using the sun shaped one and the next day my sex life was ruined. Took about a week before I could open a door with out an explosion of swearing if I forgot which hand to use.

There are exercises you can do which you can find online and for me they seem to work pretty well and I haven't had an issue for 4-5 years now.

You might have tennis elbow if you're hanging on too tight.
I used to get it moving Harley Davidsons around.
Try some anti inflamitories to reduce the irritation and while you're at the Chemist, ask them about a compression strap.
The 152 should be able to fly with fingertips when properly trimmed.

This sounds like a condition that I used to get when I did a lot of mileage in the car, I found that the inside of my knuckles (on the palm side of my hand) felt sore to the touch as if I was touching the bone. Is this the same?

It sounds like a repetative strain kind of injury, mine tended to clear up, actually I'd forgotten I had it until I saw your post and it seemed to go as I drove less!

I too fly a 150 and would say I don't grip it too much and I think this is a matter of proper trimming and getting used to it.

<oldjoke>
Me: doctor, it hurts when I do this
Doctor: Well don't do that then
</oldjoke>

I'd suggest going back to the 172

hello again!

thanks for all the great replies. I haven't flown in almost a week and the pain is almost entirely gone.

From what you guys said, I think it must have been due to:

-I am tall and the wrist stays at an odd angle in the C150.
-I am currently in Tahiti. Like in most tropical locales, it is not uncommon to have wind gusting at 20 or 25kts on final. This sure led me to grip quite a bit; I was on a new plane that felt very light.

Yes, it did hurt on the bone but also near the thumb. Maybe the former was caused by the grip and the latter by the wrist angle. I asked about the engine. It is indeed normal to have to adjust power every time the wind changes. This happens frequently on the Tahiti airport circuit due to the fact the island is mountainous.

I'll fly again on the C150 and properly trim and only use my fingertips. I'll make sure the seat is pushed all the way back. Also, by now, I know when power is about to need adjustment. This will allow to also use my right hand. If the pain comes back, I'll ask to switch to the 172....I will soon for navigation lessons anyway.

Thanks again!

I sometimes get an aching hand on a longish flight. I fly with my left hand and having tried all sorts of balancing acts with elbow on leg, hand on top of the yoke, on the side of the yoke etc have come to the conclusion that it is sometimes just better to swap hands every so often.

I do notice as well especially with the pa28 type throttle that shooting a few instrument approaches where your hand is always on the throttle leaves me with an aching right hand and arm.

you can deffinately fly any of the cessna family (with its excellent trimmer) with thumb and fore finger.... take it from a piper pilot!

Holding it too tight or ridgid will transmit stress through the wrist and up the arm... i had an instructor who gave me an excellent tip.. wedge your elbow into the door rest and hold your arm there, you will then control the yoke better and won't need so much wrist strength.

As for the RPM changing..engine being weak.... check embarrasing posts by me a few years ago where i could not control the rpm in the tommie i was flying... the answer for me was attitude control.. i found if i maitained a constant attitude (vsi was less than +/- 2) my RPM magically stayed where i'd set it.

The worst one was when you declared that you were a big girls blouse and scared of an ickle spider. And scream like a school girl when it crawled on you. :ok: :p

Have you tightened the throttle friction nut to you liking?

Hi, I was flying with a friend who was new to piloting and held the yoke with a white knuckle grip. He was trying to maintain an altitude, but was raising the nose above the horizon, then pointing it down at -5 degrees, all in an attempt to maintain 2000ft.

I showed him that by correctly setting the trim you could achieve a hands-free zero rate of climb ( well +- 100fpm in the turbulance.)
Then if the trim was adjusted to give 100 fpm climb, (i.e. +half a notch.) I could fly the plane with just my thumb or fore-finger pushing the yoke.

Some planes because of their high dihederal, can be flown hands-off for ten minutes or more... And of course it is so much easier with an auto-pilot !
Best of luck with the aches and pains, try to avoid using your pneumatic rock drill. !