Flying with artificial limbs

On Friday, June 27, 1997 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, Willy Van wrote:
I have a friend interested in obtaining his private pilots licence in
Canada. He has one artificial leg and is concerned about his ability to
operate the rudder pedals particularily for braking. On the advice of
the local club he contacted a local physician who advised him that he
could fly with "Modifications".

Before shelling out $80.00 (can). for a medical, he was wondering if
anyone else is famaliar with his situation and could offer any advice.

Please e-mail your response as well as posting.


Thanks
Willy Van



I am an above the knee amputee, and am interested in learning to fly ( again - flight instruction was interrupted in 2001, just short of soloing, but I let life get in the way and never finished ).

Enjoyed reading all of the stories posted here. However - as wonderful as the stories of modifying war era planes in order to keep an ace flying are, modifying the local trainer is kind of out of reach - assuming the owner didn't mind of course.

I really don't mind traveling a few hundred miles to get this rolling again - sounds like hand breaks may not be too difficult to find - the real problem is rudders. Lacking the 40k miracle knee that you may have heard about, I have very little control of the knee when it bends in a sitting position - that is to say that it will not "lock" in a bent position, nor does it have enough resistance to - for instance, depress a gas or brake pedal.

Perhaps the best way to explain is that above the knee amputees can only climb stairs with their "real" leg - there isn't enough control during the bend cycle on the artificial limb to use it on a step higher than one's "real" leg.

OK sorry - got a little long winded there. Suffice to say that I would not be able to use rudder pedals ( or toe breaks ). Any chance I can find a reasonable trainer with hand rudders?

On Sat, 11 Oct 2014 00:47:29 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On Friday, June 27, 1997 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, Willy Van wrote:
I have a friend interested in obtaining his private pilots licence in
Canada. He has one artificial leg and is concerned about his ability to
operate the rudder pedals particularily for braking. On the advice of
the local club he contacted a local physician who advised him that he
could fly with "Modifications".

Before shelling out $80.00 (can). for a medical, he was wondering if
anyone else is famaliar with his situation and could offer any advice.

Please e-mail your response as well as posting.


Thanks
Willy Van



I am an above the knee amputee, and am interested in learning to fly ( again - flight instruction was interrupted in 2001, just short of soloing, but I let life get in the way and never finished ).

Enjoyed reading all of the stories posted here. However - as wonderful as the stories of modifying war era planes in order to keep an ace flying are, modifying the local trainer is kind of out of reach - assuming the owner didn't mind of course.

I really don't mind traveling a few hundred miles to get this rolling again - sounds like hand breaks may not be too difficult to find - the real problem is rudders. Lacking the 40k miracle knee that you may have heard about, I have very little control of the knee when it bends in a sitting position - that is to say that it will not "lock" in a bent position, nor does it have enough resistance to - for instance, depress a gas or brake pedal.

Perhaps the best way to explain is that above the knee amputees can only climb stairs with their "real" leg - there isn't enough control during the bend cycle on the artificial limb to use it on a step higher than one's "real" leg.

OK sorry - got a little long winded there. Suffice to say that I would not be able to use rudder pedals ( or toe breaks ). Any chance I can find a reasonable trainer with hand rudders?


I have absolutely no experience in this area, other than holding a commercial
airman's certificate. That said, I am aware that movie stunt pilot Frank
Tallman got recertified in some 50-odd aircraft types subsequent to his similar
amputation, IIRC. You might research how he managed to accomplish that; he
owned own a LOT of aircraft, and had the staff to modify them....

Additionally, the 1964 Piper PA28-235 has a hand brake, although many are
converted to toe brakes.

If it were I, I would start with the FAA district office, and possibly an AME
and IA. I would think amputee pilots would have some sort of organization, and
I'd be surprised if AOPA wouldn't have some information available as well as
The American Cirrhotic & Prosthetic Association (Also an AOPA).

Wish I could be more help. Good luck. Here are some links:

http://www.yankton.net/river_city/article_8807e53c-fb19-11e2-ba3a-0019bb2963f4.html
Book On Triple-Amputee Pilot

http://flighttraining.aopa.org/students/presolo/special/medical.html
Statement of Demonstrated Ability

http://www.aopa.org/Search?keyword=amputee#gsc.tab=0&gsc.ref=aopa&gsc. q=amputee&gsc.page=1

http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2012/April/20/Able-Flight-success
The former U.S. Marine who had lost his left arm and a portion of his right leg
in combat in Iraq was about to take a sport pilot checkride, ...

http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2013/July/29/New-VAC-program-helps-returning-vets
Andrew Lourake, a former U.S. Air Force pilot and the first above-the-knee
amputee pilot in any U.S. armed service, will direct the new program.

http://generalaviationnews.com/2008/01/11/spreading-the-good-news-wolf-aviation-fund-supports-projects-promoting-ga/
The founder of Stumps R Us, which he describes as a “whimsical amputee sports
group,” Sorkin used a small grant from the Wolf Aviation Fund to give new
amputees an hour of flight instruction. That hour is part of the perks of
membership in the support group (Stumps.org.)

http://avstop.com/results.htm?cx=000664910993748121930%3Axld91skn1-i&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=amputee&sa=Search
http://avstop.com/medical/amputee.htm
FAA decided to grant his request for the issuance of a Third-Class medical
certificate with a Statement of Demonstrated Ability (SODA) that required him
to wear his artificial limbs when piloting an aircraft.

REFERENCES
1. Aerospace Medical Association. Sixty Years of Aerospace Medicine - Database.
Volumes 1-60.
2. Federal Aviation Administration. Consolidated Airman Information System
(CAIS). Aeromedical Certification Division 1995.
3. International Wheelchair Aviators Association. Escondido, California.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Wheelchair-Aviators/181916075803?v=wall
4. Vital & Health Statistics, Detailed Diagnosis and Procedures, National
Health Discharge Survey, 1992, Series 13, #118. FIGURE 1. Myoelectrically
controlled prostheses used by airman applicant.
Dr. Mera Ospina is the Chief Medical Officer of the Colombian National Police's
Air Service.
Dr. Antuñano manages CAMI's Aeromedical Education Division.

On 11/10/14 20:47, wrote:
On Friday, June 27, 1997 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, Willy Van wrote:
I have a friend interested in obtaining his private pilots licence in
Canada. He has one artificial leg and is concerned about his ability to
operate the rudder pedals particularily for braking. On the advice of
the local club he contacted a local physician who advised him that he
could fly with "Modifications".

Before shelling out $80.00 (can). for a medical, he was wondering if
anyone else is famaliar with his situation and could offer any advice.

Please e-mail your response as well as posting.


Thanks
Willy Van



I am an above the knee amputee, and am interested in learning to fly ( again - flight instruction was interrupted in 2001, just short of soloing, but I let life get in the way and never finished ).

Enjoyed reading all of the stories posted here. However - as wonderful as the stories of modifying war era planes in order to keep an ace flying are, modifying the local trainer is kind of out of reach - assuming the owner didn't mind of course.

I really don't mind traveling a few hundred miles to get this rolling again - sounds like hand breaks may not be too difficult to find - the real problem is rudders. Lacking the 40k miracle knee that you may have heard about, I have very little control of the knee when it bends in a sitting position - that is to say that it will not "lock" in a bent position, nor does it have enough resistance to - for instance, depress a gas or brake pedal.

Perhaps the best way to explain is that above the knee amputees can only climb stairs with their "real" leg - there isn't enough control during the bend cycle on the artificial limb to use it on a step higher than one's "real" leg.

OK sorry - got a little long winded there. Suffice to say that I would not be able to use rudder pedals ( or toe breaks ). Any chance I can find a reasonable trainer with hand rudders?

Okay. The solution here would be the Piper Tripacer which has
interlocked controls so when you bank the aircraft rudder is
automatically added to balance the turn.
Ground maneuvering one foot two rudder pedals and the Park brake.

wrote:
On Friday, June 27, 1997 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, Willy Van wrote:
I have a friend interested in obtaining his private pilots licence in
Canada. He has one artificial leg and is concerned about his ability to
operate the rudder pedals particularily for braking. On the advice of
the local club he contacted a local physician who advised him that he
could fly with "Modifications".

Before shelling out $80.00 (can). for a medical, he was wondering if
anyone else is famaliar with his situation and could offer any advice.

Please e-mail your response as well as posting.

As this post is 17 years old I would imagine the issue is long resolved.



--
Jim Pennino

It is true that Willy Van's post is over a decade old, but the reply to it
isn't a day old yet.

I believe there are Aircoup/Eircoup(?) types that have interconnected roll/yaw
controls, and trailing link gear meant to contact the runway during landings in
a crab.



On Sat, 11 Oct 2014 21:39:59 -0000, wrote:

wrote:
On Friday, June 27, 1997 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, Willy Van wrote:
I have a friend interested in obtaining his private pilots licence in
Canada. He has one artificial leg and is concerned about his ability to
operate the rudder pedals particularily for braking. On the advice of
the local club he contacted a local physician who advised him that he
could fly with "Modifications".

Before shelling out $80.00 (can). for a medical, he was wondering if
anyone else is famaliar with his situation and could offer any advice.

Please e-mail your response as well as posting.

As this post is 17 years old I would imagine the issue is long resolved.

On 12/10/14 13:28, Larry Dighera wrote:

It is true that Willy Van's post is over a decade old, but the reply to it
isn't a day old yet.

I believe there are Aircoup/Eircoup(?) types that have interconnected roll/yaw
controls, and trailing link gear meant to contact the runway during landings in
a crab.

I've heard that and -supposedly- stall proof