After major surgery, the author returned to flying through a progressive assessment, starting with regaining driving endurance and then conducting a supervised flight with a CFI to evaluate basic control and situational awareness.
He observed reduced physical strength, experienced challenges with high-workload instrument flying, and crucially realized he could be completely exhausted without feeling symptoms during the flight.
Full recovery is a lengthy process (up to a year), necessitating continued physical therapy, deliberate flight practice, and a commitment to conservative planning and adequate rest to mitigate fatigue and physical limitations.
When you’re starting to feel human again after major surgery, what’s a good plan for getting safely back into the cockpit?
I had a total knee replacement. Generally, it is regarded as the most brutal surgery out there, and here’s what I did. (Note: Your mileage will almost certainly vary, so make your decisions in concert with appropriate medical personnel.)
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Ed Wischmeyer has been flying 50 years with time logged in 200 makes and models of aircraft. His current airplane is an RV-9A, flown all over the US. Professional research at SRI International, Boeing, and Gulfstream included low level windshear, unstable approaches, runway incursions, and hybrid GPS/ILS approaches. Recent research indicated broad scope pilot training and psychology as more effective for overall GA accident reduction than AOA devices. He has an MIT Ph.D. and ATP/CFII, but sometimes reminisces about X-C with just a compass and a sectional chart. He received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot award in 2024.
