I woke up and checked by blood sugar at 7.50am - it was 10.3 which is annoyingly high. The CAA say Diabetics should have a blood sugar between 5 and 15 mmol/l so I was bang between those limits. However, as other Diabetics would know, we generally aim for blood sugars between 5 and 10 to avoid long-term health problems.
I knew I wanted a couple of white coffees this morning which generally raise my blood sugar a bit due to the lactose in the milk. I also knew I wanted a short run this morning, just a 3k squeezed between church and heading to the aerodrome, so I needed to be careful because exercise massively metabolises insulin making it more potent. Finally I didn't want to have breakfast before flying as I didn't want large doses of insulin before getting in a aircraft. I elected to take 3 units of fast insulin with my first coffee just to start pulling my blood sugar down, and headed to church.
After church I bought a white coffee on my way home with the Sunday papers, which I quickly read and headed for my run. I got home, had a quick shower and headed to Shoreham. When I got there I tested my blood sugars and found them to be 9.3 which is okay. I wish I could have had the strength to just leave it there but I bottled it - worried that my run on 3 insulin and no food could continue the decrease in blood sugars too far. Although I carry my tester and sugar when flying I just didn't want the risk of any kind of hypo so ate a cereal bar. I wonder what my sugars would have been at the end of the flight if I hadn't had the cereal bar? I would bet around 6 or 7. In the event they were 10.9 due to the carb in the cereal bar.
Non-diabetics may have been bored by the last two paragraphs but the balance of blood sugar, insulin, things that change insulin metabolism like exercise (or illness), carbs like cereal bars, the CAA limits of 5 and 15, and my preferred flying range of 7 - 10 are all things I have to balance that non-diabetic pilots do not have to worry about. I hope that some reading find this interesting.
I met my Flying Instructor - the same one who I flew with last week (FI2), and he explained that today we would be doing steep turns of 45 degrees and 60 degrees. We went through the theory in the classroom then I headed out to do a pre-flight check of the plane. He had already flown her this morning so only a transit check was needed. I did the transit check and added a check of the stall-warning switch on the left wing to the usual checklist.
After FI2 joined me I did the Before Engine Start checklist, the Starting Engine checklist, and the After Engine Start checklist. I taxied us out to the holding area for Runway 20 and did the Power Check checklist and Before Take Off checklist. I opened up the throttle and we were soon airborne heading towards the training area over the coast at Littlehampton.
We started with some Medium Level Turns to get us in the swing of things then moved onto 45 degree turns and 60 degree turns. These are a bit like patting your head while rubbing your tummy - demanding from a coordination point of view. After you pass 30 degrees you need to open up the engine and use elevator to maintain height whilst using ailerons to set the right bank angle, all the while tracking a neat circle over the ground.
Here's a video of a 45 degree bank turn to the left...
Here's a video of a 60 degree bank turn to the right. This feels like a very steep turn indeed, and as you pull 2G in this turn you can feel the blood heading from brain to feet and feel light at the end of it when you straighten out! You know when you are doing it right because to fly through your own wake turbulence and the plane tips +/- 20 degrees suddenly which is a horrible feeling at first but you soon get used to it. Not correction for wake turbulence at time 1 min 35 secs...
I then flew us back to Shoreham for a crosswind join (not done that before), followed by a standard left hand circuit flying over Shoreham harbour and the South Downs for a landing on Runway 20. My join and approach were okay but I did a poor landing, over-flaring so I ballooned and then did a bounce. Pants. I won't make that mistake again. The flare should just stop the descent so you fly straight and level, then as the plane slows and settles pull back to raise the nose. Pants again. Here it is - don't mind showing my poor things as well as the good/fun stuff...
Here's the route we took...
Weather...
- EGKA 091020Z 16002KT 9999 FEW035 10/08 Q1004
- At 10:20 GMT on 9th (November) wind 160 degrees at 2 kts, visibility 10+ km, few clouds at 3,500 ft. Temperature 10 degrees, dew point 8 degrees. Barometric pressure 1004 (a new low for me!)
Blood sugar readings...
> 2 hours before flight: 10.3
< 30 mins before flight: 9.3
Before landing: 10.9
Flying hours...
This flight: 1h 5m
Accumulated: 12h 10m
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