dl773

I have a mild sinus congestion and a 4 hour flight in the late afternoon today. I am well aware of the issues with sinus congestion and that they can be very painful, I just don't know where to draw a line - should I cancel with even a mild congestion, or wait until it gets a bit worse.

I don't plan on flying above 5500 MSL. Probably no higher than 4500 MSL.

Thanks for any inputs.

A.FLOOR

I wouldn't risk it. Even a "mild" sinus problem can be multiplied into a serious issue with changes in pressure.

rickair7777

It all depends on you. Different people are affected differently. I'm Ok with it, but I'm an ex-diver so my tubes are stretched from that and I've mastered my clearing technique. If it's not too bad you could fly and limit descent rates to avoid ear squeeze. Risk there is if you have an emergency and have to descend rapidly you might blow out an eardrum, which would further complicate the emergency to say the least.

Blown eardrum (s) vary in severity. Best case, it heals on it's own with no loss of hearing. It might require surgery to heal properly. Worst case the inner-ear structures are damaged as well, which might heal to some degree but is not surgically correctable. The later would result in loss of hearing, probably severe loss.

TonyC

No.


If you have to ask the question, the answer is No.

Don't rationalize that it's only low altitudes. The biggest changes are at low altitudes. In other words, if you're OK going down from 4,500', 5,500' won't be a big deal. But if you find you can't get down from 4,500' without pain or permanent damage, you'll wonder why you ever even considered flying with a known sinus issue.

Again, No.






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Flyhayes

In my experience, flying with a slight head cold can result in a sinus infection that would ground you longer than letting the cold run it's course.

bedrock

I remember flying with some minor congestion when I was a flight instructor. We stayed low doing ground ref maneuvers. During approach to landing as we turned base to final, I got the feeling of an ice pick in my brow; as soon as we landed I was in such pain that I had to dry heave on the ramp. Don't risk it!

rickair7777

That's correct when diving as you approach the surface with regards to DCS/air embolism type injuries (ie gas expansion injuries)...larger change in volume for a given change in depth.

But it works the other way in aviation....

Descend from 16K to 8K and the pressure rises from about 7.4 to 11.1 psi which will result in a decrease in volume of about 33%.

Descend the rest of the way from 8K to sea level (11.1 to 14.7psi) and volume decreases by about 24%.

So air trapped in your sinuses or ears will get squeezed more (experience a larger decrease in volume) during the higher part of the descent.

This is because the change in pressure (3.7 psi in both cases) is a higher percentage of the final pressure at 8K than at sea level. The volume change depends on the ratio between the starting and ending pressures and the denominator is not the same in both cases.

dl773

So I went for it. Here's how it went:

I briefed the student and we started with a traffic pattern to check it out. The pressure changes were more annoying than usual, but no pain. So we touched and go and departed.

For the most part, we stayed around 3500 MSL. We did multiple stops and those were the most annoying part, getting back up to altitude always made my ears feel better.

The most intense blockage I felt occurred after we landed from the longest leg at 4500 MSL. A little over an hour at that altitude. Still no pain, though, just pressure.

That said, on the drive home and that night my ears and jaws felt quite sore from all the expansion and contraction. All in all, I may do this again in the future, but maybe not for 4 hours. And certainly not if the congestion rises above a mild case. And it was indeed quite mild, which made this an interesting and eye opening experience.

PRS Guitars

deleted........

TonyC

When I posted my first answer, I did not realize you were an instructor flying with a student. In my opinion, what you did was reckless and irresponsible. Had you experienced trouble with your sinuses in the descent and become incapacitated, were you expecting your student to take over and rescue you?






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