I just found out that a good friend of mine is having knee replacement surgery this coming Wednesday. He is a pilot who has not been flying in recent years, but wants to get back in. He's Instrument, complex, 3000+ hours. I think he is going to get both knees done, but one at a time.

Has anyone ever had knee surgery to replace the entire joint ? Did it in any way impact your General Aviation flying experience?

Did you have one or two knees done? Did your flying experience post op improve, stay the same, or become somewhat limited?

Did it have any effect on the status of your Class III medical ?

Can this surgical procedure possibly impose any limitations on your non commercial certificate ?

Just looking for general feedback and comments. I don't know all the details of his planned surgery , type of joint being used, etc, The diagram below is generic, and may not reflect the type of replacement or procedure being done. Thanks.

I had both knees and one hip replacements in three successive years. I timed each for the month of November so that I would have all of he winter months for recovery and rehabilitation. I fly a Husky and my biggest concern was getting the range of motion needed to curl myself into the cockpit -- difficult even in the best of time. The key is exercise with a lot of painful stretching to maximize range of motion. The up shot was that by March of each following year, I was able to fly with no real physical impairment. There is some pain from sitting in a cramped space for extended periods of time, but I was able to deal with that. There were no FAA issues as I didn't have any problem passing my normal flight physicals. There have been no post op problems or impacts over than I never could regain my full range of motion no matter how much exercise I did. This doesn't impact your flying ability, but it does somewhat restrict your ability to crawl around to do maintenance on your plane.

+1

I had my right knee replaced and timed it for an over winter recovery.

I called the local FAA Aerospace medicine group before the surgery to find out what they would need from my Surgeon in order to get back in the air. The group near Seattle were extremely helpful.

Self report the replacement and then have the surgeon provide a letter. Most likely the surgeon has provided the same letter to other pilots and probably commercial pilots among them. Ask before surgery.

The magic words seem to be " able to perform all normal activities" .

As said before, the faster you start moving the replaced knee the faster you will heal. Go to Physical therapy as often as you or your insurance can afford it and do your exercises at home without fail. I am a big proponent of ice. It keeps down the swelling after surgery and after your recovery exercises and stimulates blood flow to the area.

Pain pills and stairs do not mix, especially if you are on crutches. I hate the damned things and got off them as soon as I possibly could and went to Tylenol or other OTC pain relievers if needed. I was pretty lucky and did not have lots of pain.

I now can get into my Maule using either leg which I could not do before and walking down hill is no longer something to dread.

Could be TMI but there it is.

My dad did one about 4-5 years ago, and he does great with it.

He is 71 and gets in and out of a champ, husky, C180 and c182 just fine. He doesn't like getting into the back of the RV8, but I don't care for doing that either.

I know a guy who had onè knee replaced. He got bored after three weeks sitting around the house. His lovely but cruel wife wouldn't help get his 180 out of the hanger. Lucky for him he had a 4wheeler to pull it in and out with. He feels that it was very therapeutic for his quick recovery.