I was up very early this morning, drove to Frankfort, took the 340 to Terre Haute, and landed down there at 8:20 am. The plane was out and ready to go, and he wanted to see some takeoffs and landings first, so I got up in the front seat and did two or three wheel landings, and then two 3-point landings, and then took it back to the hangars to swap seats. Dennis came out with his dog, so we sat and chatted with him for awhile. The only down side to that was that the winds kept picking up. By the time we finally went, they were starting off at 310 at 14 gusting 19. Runway 32, so not terrible. Then it became 300 14 gusting 25. More interesting. We did something like 5 landings, all wheel landings now that it was that gusty. I had to help on the first one, save it, but after that he managed them. But it was windy, it was gusty, it was tricky, and it was cold. By the time we stopped for fuel and lunch, I was worn out. I'm serious, I do not much enjoy T-6 instruction. I always feel like I'm on the edge of trouble. But it's also good for me in a couple of ways. Anyway, we stopped for lunch, right? We're eating our sandwich, and I call the weather and it's saying 300 gusting to 25 still. So we're going to go back up and do some more. We get back in the plane, and the plane is rocking just sitting there. I call again and now it's 280 variable, 15 gusting 29. That's over my line of comfort. The 25 knots almost down the runway was enough work with a 10 knot gust factor. Add in a 40 degree crosswind, variable, and up to 29 knots, and I was out. I said I wanted to call it. What I hate is that he wasn't planning on calling it. The winds don't bother him in his Citation and King Air, of course. They don't bother me in the 340 or a 172 or whatever, either. But they do in the T-6, for good reason, and I can't seem to impart that on him no matter how many times I've said it. It makes me look like the one 'wussing out', and I am, but I am wussing out because it's the smart thing to do. COULD we make it? Probably. I've had those winds as a direct crosswind before and managed it. Is it smart? Not particularly. Is it smart for a guy's first day really doing takeoffs and landings in that airplane no matter how good a pilot he otherwise is? Where we both just hope I can save it if need be? Definitely not. So I do what I have to do and call him off, while flinching at having to be the one to stand down. I hate being the one to stand down.
He wanted me to drop him back off in Eagle Creek on my way home, so I did that in the 340. He asked if the winds bothered me there. No, not in a 340. *sigh* Dropped him off, and headed back to Frankfort, pulled up to the self serve pump and topped off on my card so I could bill him for the fuel.
When I got home, I was so tired, not from lack of sleep or anything, but purely from adrenaline. Had I been wearing my Apple Watch, I'm quite sure it would have shown a high increase in heart rate. I've seen my heart rate higher when in T-6s than I did doing Spins in the Champ, or exercising. No joke. I got home, had some juice, changed clothes, sat down, and closed my eyes and took a short half nap, until Steve and his friends woke me up on the deck. When I woke up, I was mentally clear. I'm tired from being cold, and shaking from being cold, and worn down from the stress of the day, but when I got up and walked around, still feel good.
I told Steve today what I've been doing, and he compared it to chem trails (which are laughable and not real)--he doesn't think it has much of anything to do with it. He's not buying it that the constant EMF exposure on my skin had any negative effects, or that it really bothers much of anyone, that we get a lot more from household things (not wrong, wifi routers and such put out a fair amount). His suggestion was that the better sleep I got the last few night helped with the stiffness and swollen feeling and mental clarity and such. I've gotten good nights of sleep before in the last year or 8 months or whatever, and not woken to feel that good, so I think it's more than that. He also suggests I've felt crappy for awhile because we're getting older, too sedentary, and too fat. All true as well. But I'm still all three of those things and feel pretty good the last three days. So who knows. So I'm running the experiment, keeping it off for about 10 days in a row, see if this is a fluke, if everything comes back, if it doesn't. Then I'll probably put it back on and wear it non-stop again and see what happens. I don't think I'll psych myself in or out of anything, I'm usually pretty good about assessing things relatively objectively. We'll see. Today I was able to run up the wing of the T-6, whereas by the end of last season I had to crawl up it on my knees because I couldn't put that much pressure on my legs, they were too weak and painful. I am going to keep exercising my legs too--I'm sure I've lost some muscle mass. I'm glad I'd been still walking, on the treadmill some, etc. But I'll need to do a little more. Anyway, that's today's update. I got tired, but I had good reasons to be tired, and I wasn't mentally foggy along with it, and I can handle most things as long as my head is clear, ya know?
Tomorrow afternoon I have a doc appointment at Ascension St. Vincent to have a heart health scan done. A few years ago I did a series of ultrasound scans of my various arteries, EKG, etc., and got a glowing report of heart and artery health. Since it's been a few years, I'm doing a full heart scan, just to make sure everything is good there. I'm doing it, like the other one, outside of my regular doctor's office, paying cash, so that I can have information without any threats to my livelihood. Should something be detected, I can learn more about it and what I need to do and what it means, before having to deal with the FAA. I don't expect them to find anything, for the record. I'm just staying on top of it, is all. :)
Nothing else going on tonight but a little relaxation, some emails, some laundry, getting ready for next week, and a few new TV show episodes we enjoy.
See ya!
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