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Saturday afternoon I installed the new baggage door lock in the baggage door, and made a new hinge pin. Sunday afternoon I went to the hangar, reinstalled the baggage door and changed the canopy lock so it would have the same key as the baggage door. I reinstalled the EFIS (it had been back to Dynon to fix a hardware fault), and updated it to the latest firmware. I had planned to also reinstall the turn and bank indicator (it had had stopped working, and was fixed by First Air Avionics, the best local avionics shop). But, sometime between my removing it and it getting put back in the box by First Air, one of the little brass instrument nuts went missing. I had a bunch of spares at home, but that didn't do me much good at the hangar.

Lesson #1 - take a good look in the box before taking anything to the hangar to be sure I have everything I need to install it. Lesson #2 - I should move most spare parts and hardware to the hangar, which is where I will be when I discover I need them.

I climbed in the cockpit to try out the rudder pedals with my new ankle. As I hoped, I found that the RV-8 pedals are tipped far enough forward so that unlike the Cessna Citation, I can easily use rudder without also applying a bit of brake. I made a bunch of quick rudder and brake applications, and found the ankle was very happy with all that. So, assuming I get a couple more flights on other aircraft this week, as scheduled, I could be ready to fly the RV-8 again as early as next weekend.

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Terry and I are both doing fairly well. She had a good week visiting with her sisters in Green Bay, and I did well at the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh. I am not fully mobile yet, but I was able to walk around a fair bit.

I am a bit discouraged at the extremely slow improvement in the circulation of my ankle. My mobility is fairly good, and I’m not having much pain. But the circulation is so poor that I cannot spend a full day either standing or sitting. For every hour that I am standing or sitting, I need about another hour with my leg elevated, or the ankle starts to swell. If I ignore the swelling, the skin on the inside of the bump on my right ankle starts to break down. If that were allowed to progress, I would end up with an open wound, probably leading to an infection, and it would be difficult to get the skin to grow back there again. The compression stocking I am wearing is helping control the swelling a bit, but not nearly enough. I’ve got to get back to talk with my doctor to see what else I should be doing. Maybe I need a tighter grade of compression stocking. Or maybe I just need to be a bit more patient, and allow the healing process to continue. I certainly won’t be going back to work full time the way things are now. I’ll do half days at work, and half days working from home with the leg elevated. Or maybe I’ll get a reclining chair with leg rest installed at work.

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We flew down to Wisconsin on Saturday, July 25th. Terry enjoyed spending time with her many sisters in the Green Bay area. I was able to accomplish all the things I wanted to at the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh. I only did perhaps 25% as much as I would have on previous years at Oshkosh, but that’s OK.

We stayed with Terry’s sister Sue, and her live-in partner Mike. Monday morning Mike and I drove to Oshkosh, and managed to navigate the incoming traffic to end up at the handicapped parking at the Red Lot, next to the warbirds. I got my reserved electric mobility scooter, and we headed off to Van’s tent to pick up my ticket for the dinner on Tuesday. Then we headed to the Aircraft Spruce booth to pick up the new baggage door lock I had ordered. About this time I realized that the scooter battery was draining very quickly - it was obviously defective. I headed back to the Vista booth, and traded it for another scooter. This scooter was also a bit ragged, but at least it had a better battery. Next time I will rent from the other scooter company, as their scooters looked to be in much better shape, were noticeably faster, and they were in a more convenient location next to the main gate.

Late Monday morning I went to an RV-8/8A builder/flyer get together at the Theater in the Woods. We have been having these gatherings every year for ten years or more. It is good to put faces to many of the online names. The highlight this year was congratulating Don McNamara on the first flight of his RV-8, the week before Oshkosh. Don took 13 years to finish his aircraft, and there were several times during the build when many of us gave up hope, as progress had apparently stopped. But he kept on getting back on that horse, and finally finished it. I spent too long standing up during the RV-8 meeting, and I could tell that my ankle was starting to swell, so Mike and headed back to Green Bay after lunch so I could give it a rest in a recliner.

Tuesday I went down to Oshkosh just before lunch, but couldn’t get parking in the Red Lot next to the warbirds, as it was full. I ended up in the Orange Lot, and took the shuttle bus to the main gate, then had to walk a fair way to catch the Yellow Tram, then transfered to the Red Tram. It took 45 minutes from the time I arrived before I could pick up my electric scooter. I spent the afternoon going through the vendor buildings and the RV parking area, then it took 75 minutes after I returned the scooter next to the warbirds to get back to the car before going to the Van’s builder’s dinner. I had to bail out in the middle of Terry Lutz’s interesting speech, as my ankle was starting to tell me that I needed to get it elevated ASAP. I learned the hard way a couple of weeks ago to not ignore swelling in my ankle.

Wednesday I didn’t go on the main EAA site at all, as my ankle was showing distinct signs of distress. I spent most of the day with it elevated to allow it to recover from the long day on Tuesday. I left Green Bay in the late afternoon and drove down to the EAA camping area to attend Bob Collins’ most excellent gathering of the clan.

Thursday I took it easy again, and Friday we flew home. I was absolutely amazed to find that all the metal hardware in my leg did not set off the airport metal detectors in either Ottawa or Green Bay.

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We flew down to Green Bay with the airlines on Saturday, and are staying with one of Terry's sisters. I'll go down to the EAA Fly-In at Oshkosh on Monday, and probably on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, assuming the right ankle holds up. I've got a ticket to Van's builders dinner on Tuesday evening, and hope to make it to Bob Collins' faux BBQ on Wednesday evening.

I'm going to have to pace myself, as the ankle isn't bouncing back as quickly as I had liked. It starts to swell if I spend too many hours with my leg down. This characteristic is improving as time psses, but at a frustratingly slow pace.

We're having an RV-8/8A builder/flyer get together Monday at 11 AM at the Theatre in the Woods. I'm looking forward to meeting many people that I only know from meeting on the internet.

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We’re having a good week, all in all. Tuesday afternoon I did a Cessna C550 simulator session to check out the various injured body parts. I wanted to be sure that everything had recovered so that it was ready to make worst case control inputs. I tried rejected take-offs with max braking, engine fail at rotation and continue the take-off, max crosswind landings, pitch trim runaways, etc. The ankle, wrist and shoulder did very well. I was surprised to find that the right foot, which had not been injured in the accident, had quite a bit of pain during the max braking events. But, it didn’t stop me from getting the required pressure on the brakes, so I decided I was good to go. The range of motion in the right ankle is just enough to apply rudder without getting brake too. I’ll want to get it working a bit better before I fly the RV-8 again.

Tuesday evening I did a long work session at the hangar, and managed to get the forward baggage door lock removed. It turned out that I had the wrong key. One key had been broken off in the lock in late winter. Another key was lost in the car accident. There should be another key somewhere, but I can’t find it. The key on my key ring was for the new lock sets that I had intended to install to replace the damaged one - these locks were in the car when it burnt. Removing the door was quite a difficult job, but I got it off without damage. I’ve ordered new locks, which I will pick up at the ACS booth at Oshkosh.

Wednesday morning I went flying with one of our training pilots in a C550. I was a bit rusty, but not too bad. It was wonderful to climb up above the clouds and see the sun. It had been over four months since I last flew, which is by far the biggest break from flying I’ve had since 1982. I did all the events needed to get requalified, so I’m cleared to fly as captain again. I’ll get requalifed in the Beech C90A and the mighty C182 in early August.

Wednesday afternoon I went with Terry for a followup visit with her neuro-surgeon. She told him about the pain she was having in her neck, shoulders and arms, and he did some tests that confirmed there was some sort of nerve problem. He asked his staff to get her an MRI ASAP, and he gave her a prescription for some much better pain medications. He was hopeful to get an MRI slot on Friday before we went to Wisconsin, but it turned out there were no slots available. She has an appointment for the week after we return from Green Bay. The new pain meds are doing the job, and Terry had the first good night’s sleep she has had in a long time. We are very encouraged now that there is a path that should lead to diagnosis and treatment of whatever is causing her pain.

My ankle was not happy with the very busy Tuesday and Wednesday. It swelled up a bit, and was somewhat painful. I spent much more time today with my leg up, and I’ll take it easy tomorrow as well. It is clear that I will need to pace myself at Oshkosh.

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I’ve had a fairly good week, all in all. The ankle is working a bit better every day. Once I get it warmed up, I can walk faster than I could a week ago, but I still don’t have much endurance.

I headed out to the hangar today, intending to change the desiccant plugs, reinstall the EFIS and turn and bank indicator, and then update the EFIS to the latest software standard. I had removed both of those before the accident to get them repaired. I replaced the desiccant plugs in five minutes, then couldn’t get the forward baggage door unlocked so I could get at the area ahead of the instrument panel. I wasn’t sure if I had the correct key for the baggage door lock. I broke off one of the original keys a while back, and damaged the lock getting the remains of the key out. At that time, I was able to open the lock once I got the second copy of the key, but I ordered a new lock anyway. The new lock was in the car when it burnt, and I’m no longer sure whether the key I tried today was for the old lock or the one that burnt. I left the hangar in disgust, and drove home - 1:15 of driving round trip for five minutes of productive work. Blast.

I’ll try the baggage door lock again late Tuesday afternoon. I’ll buy some lock lubricant, but if I can’t get it unlocked I’ll drill it out. I’ve ordered a new lock set which I will pick up at the Aircraft Spruce booth at Oshkosh.

Terry didn’t have as good a week as I did. She foolishly tried gardening for a few minutes mid-week, and her back was sore for a couple of days afterwards. She is also having quite a bit of pain from her pinched nerves, which makes it hard to sleep some nights. She has another appointment with her neurosurgeon on Wednesday - hopefully it will be productive. It is high time she got a full diagnosis so they can start to treat the root issue, whatever it is. At the very least she needs some better drugs to deal with the pain.