I am just starting to do something exciting and scary - I'm learning to fly. What makes this a bit more harder than for most people is that 8 years ago I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes - something that people normally develop in childhood. Whether you are interested in following my experiences as I learn to fly because you are interested in aviation, or if you are a Type 1 diabetic looking for inspiration that the disease shouldn't stop you doing exciting and scary things, then I'm writing this blog is for you.
It's not known what causes some people's bodies to attack the cells that produce insulin. When you get Type 1 Diabetes your insulin-creating cells are destroyed. There is no cure. The only way forward is to inject insulin before going to bed and with every meal that contains carbohydrate. If you don't have enough insulin to help the sugars in the carbohydrate move from your blood into your cells then your blood sugar rises and you can feel dopey and tired. There are long term health risks of high blood sugar too. If you have too much insulin then too much sugar moves from your blood to your cells and your blood sugar drops - a "hypo". When this happens you feel cold, sweaty, disorientated and can appear drunk. If you don't take sugar to increase your blood sugar then you can go into a coma and potentially die.
Neither high blood sugar nor a hypo are good for flying!
For many years people with Type 1 Diabetes have not been allowed to fly. However, in 2012 the rules changed and provided someone's blood sugar management is under good control then with some extra blood sugar measuring procedures at the time of flying it is now possible for people with Type 1 Diabetes to gain a Private Pilot's Licence (PPL). You can find some more info on the 2012 rule change on the Pilots with Diabetes site. The CAA rules for the extra blood sugar monitoring procedures can be found on this briefing sheet.
Having been interested in aviation all my life I'm fortunate to be in the position where I now have the resources to learn to fly, and I'm in very good health despite my Diabetes (healthy BMI and run 10k most weekends). This blog will chart my journey to hopefully get my PPL. I'll describe each flight, and anything else that I do along the way that will be of interest to other prospective pilots and people with Type 1 Diabetes.
A high priority for me is to get my Class 2 Medical Certificate as soon as possible. All pilots need this. Strictly speaking you don't need this until you are ready to fly solo, but I want to get it early because if it is declined for any reason I will be gutted... and this will be a short blog! Truth is I'd rather know sooner or later. I'll blog about my experiences getting it soon.
I'm planning to learn to fly at nearby Shoreham Airport which has recently changed its name to Brighton City Airport. This is a great airfield situated on the south coast of England. It has both tarmac and grass runways. There are a number of flying schools there and it has a great atmosphere. I'm not going to name the flying school or my instructor but if you want to know more then please get in touch. I'm very happy with both - but it doesn't seem fair to name them.
I've elected to learn to fly in a Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II. This is a beautiful low-wing aircraft with 4 seats. I tried a Cessna 152 but didn't like it. You can read about my first flights in both these aircraft in other posts on this blog.
I guess that's enough of an intro. I hope you enjoy the blog and please feel free to send me feedback so I can keep it interesting and hopefully inspiring.
No comments:
Post a Comment