Random

Flying

I logged 7.0 hours of flight time this past weekend. The Mercersburg, PA congregation was having their fall revival, and I wanted to attend Saturday evening’s service. To that end, I flew up to Hagerstown, MD, that afternoon. I filed for 11,000 feet as my final altitude, but after 8,000, despite leaning for best power, I was only climbing at a little over 200 feet per minute. They paused my climb at 9,000 just north of Raleigh, so I amended my final to 9,000, staying there until Richmond needed to drop me to 8,000 based on my direction of flight. My published service ceiling is 12,000, but it would appear that my effective top is 8,000 to 9,000, even with the fresh engine.

I felt fine during the flight, which went well overall, as did the return flight to HWY that night. However, once I laid down Saturday night, my legs started to ache, and they were cold compared to the rest of my body.  The temperature in the room was normal, but I cranked it up a few degrees. It took several hours, during which I didn’t sleep well, but eventually, the discomfort and coldness both subsided. I suspect that it was a delayed reaction to the ninety minutes or so above 8,000 feet, although that’s not a hypoxia reaction or symptom that I’ve ever heard of.

My Chinesium pulse-ox meter said that I was at 88% for the two minutes that I had it on after I got to altitude before I decided that it was getting in my way and took it off. Under 92% is generally considered unsafe, so I was initially a bit concerned. However, I’ve been in an oxygen deficient chamber for hypoxia training/recognition relatively recently, so I know how my body reacts. I had no symptoms, so I believe that my meter is simply inaccurate, despite the expected 98-99% readings in the comfort of my living room.

The flight from HWY to TTA yesterday was unpleasant. While I’ve experienced worse bumps in flight, I’m pretty sure that I’ve never experienced the sheer number of bumps in a single flight before. Plus, there was a 20-25kt average headwind, which added to the amount of time that I was privileged to experience said bumps. I got chastised (gently) by ATC when I called to pick up my IFR clearance after takeoff. I was informed that they were very busy, and in the future, could I please call while on the ground. I meekly apologized, accepted my clearance, which he then provided, and went on my way.

The best part of that flight was the landing. Yes, you read that correctly. The gusty surface winds at TTA that I’d spent most of the flight lamenting and dreading settled into a steady 8-10kt straight-down-the-runway headwind half an hour before I got there. As a result of that and a bit of luck, I gently squished her onto the runway in my best landing in months.

My flight review is scheduled for this week. Tomorrow, weather permitting, or Thursday, if not. Tomorrow’s winds are forecast to be unpleasant, near the demonstrated crosswind component for my airplane. For a normal flight, if I needed to go somewhere, I would go, but no pleasure or practice flights. A flight review falls into the “need” category, though, so unless the CFI cancels, I’ll be hating life tomorrow morning while checking that box for another two years.

Baggage

In preparation for the flight review, I pulled everything from my baggage area that isn’t absolutely required in order to maximize the available useful load. Given that I’ve never had, nor do I really expect to ever have a passenger besides the occasional CFI or safety pilot, I’ve allowed my baggage area to become somewhat cluttered. Some of what I removed yesterday:

• Tow bar
• Tie-down straps
• Wheel chocks
• Extra spark plugs and related tools
• Backup headset
• Battery supply/backup for electronics
• Life vest
• Pint jar used for drained fuel disposal
• Extra quart of oil
• Windshield cleaner
• Various rags
• Clipboard, light, and window mount

All told, I probably freed up 10-12 pounds. I left the POH (legally required) fuel tester (mandatory if you value your life, even if not a legal requirement), and the mount for my EFB iPads. I’m also leaving the fire extinguisher and CO monitor in place. I’ll be leaving behind most of the contents of my flight bag, including secondary backup batteries for the electronics, my handheld radio including the PTT button/adapter, flashlights, and extra batteries for my headset and said flashlights. I’ll bring my primary iPad, primary headset, Sentry mini with the smallest USB battery that I own, my logbook, and my view-limiting device for the instrument portions of the review.

Health/Weight

Here are my weigh-in numbers for the last three months since my last report on 8/16/2025.

• 8/16 – 222.0
• 8/23 – 219.0 (-3.0)
• 8/30 – 219.4 (+0.4)
• 9/6 – 218.0 (-1.4)
• 9/13 – 215.4 (-2.6)
• 9/20 – 219.0 (+3.6)
• 9/27 – 220.8 (+1.8)
• 10/4 – 217.8 (-3.0)
• 10/10 – 214.4 (-3.4) (no weigh-in 10/11)
• 10/18 – 211.8 (-2.6)
• 10/24 – 210.2 (-1.6) (no weigh-in 10/25)
• 11/3 – 207.0 (-3.2) (no weigh-in 11/1)
• 11/8 – 205.0 (-2.0)

As you can see, I stalled for roughly six weeks. I have since recovered from that stall and put up some decent numbers during the second half of the reporting period. My annual physical (with bloodwork) is scheduled for next week. I’ll share those results as soon as they are available.

PSA

If you eat a pound of beef liver in one sitting, your urine will be slightly darker than usual for the next eighteen-ish hours.

Munchies

While I no longer suffer food cravings and largely feel satiated between my once-daily meals, I will occasionally have moments/days when I simply want to eat all day long. This morning was one of those moments. I ate a one-pound burger patty made of 73/27 ground beef. I topped it with a bit of butter for flavor. Most “normal” people, if they could eat the whole thing in one sitting, would be well-full afterward. Not me. I felt almost full, but not quite. It was light on protein, only 68 grams (my daily target is 150), but it should’ve been enough. I gave it an hour, knowing that I wasn’t willing to make the effort to cook something else substantial, and hoped that the satiety would eventually kick in. It didn’t, so I stopped at the convenience store two miles from work. I walked out with two of their quarter-pound beef hot dogs. That only bumped me up to 86 grams of protein but seems to have done the trick. I’m thankful that such episodes are rare these days.

And that’s about it from the Grumpy household.