I have been accused of being an aviation luddite. But as the British would say, “It’s a fair cop.” While I don’t burn looms or throw bricks at machinery, my aviation life is not that far above that of a hundred years ago. I fly single-seat, open-cockpit airplanes. I flew the first Fly Baby NORDO for seven years. Eventually, I bought one that had an electrical system and a radio. Because of my proximity to Class B airspace, I eventually had to add a transponder and ADS-B.
So I am not quite as primitive as I used to be.
One Christmas, I received another bit of technology: a smartwatch. One feature was a mode to record heart rate during exercise.
The thought struck: How about correlating the ADS-B position data with my heart rate? How does my heart rate change during various events?
It wasn’t necessarily easy. My watch does not output data, just graphics… so I needed to overlay it with some homegrown time hacks. The position data (ADS-B) only records when I am in flight (typical altitude ~800 feet or higher at my home airport), so there are gaps.
But as a systems engineer, I am used to merging separate systems.
The diagram shows the result. I am amused that my highest heart rate is just climbing into the thing and strapping on the aircraft. Of course, my airplane has no doors, and I have to stand on the wing root, slide down, and wiggle the straps and radio leads into place. Facing a tight cockpit with a plus-size body and two bad knees is no help, either.
The yellow boxes on the diagram are approximations of events, and the vertical hacks show the ADS-B position. Note, again, that the ADS-B shuts down close to the ground, so the heart rate peaks don’t necessarily match.
Generally, though, I seem to be a cool cat. My typical sitting heart rate is about 80 BPM, and for normal flying, it just rises a bit. It does go up when I enter the pattern at my home field—there were several planes in there.
Also, there’s a curious spike at 2:39 p.m., when I was out in the open. Might have spotted another aircraft. Or sneezed. Who knows?
When a friend of my wife’s saw the plot, she said, “That has got to be the most engineer thing EVER.”
I think she’s right.
As a retired engineer, I think this is a very cool analysis. My only concern is your 80 bpm resting heart rate. It sounds like it is time to hit the gym! I’m an overweight 66 year old (225 lbs @ 6’) and I had a resting heart rate rate of around 74 six months ago and starting a light exercise routine and now I am down in the low 60s generally (62-65 most times I check). Just 30 minutes on the stationary bike every other day and then 60 minutes or so of dumbbell work on the intervening days and then Sunday as a rest day. I need to focus more now on weight loss, but my fitness increased a lot in just a few months of fairly light exercise, all done at home.
Actually, at the time I worked out with a personal trainer twice a week, mostly lifting weights. It’s not “pure” cardio, but the trainer’s philosophy was, “if you want cardio, just pump iron faster.”
There is a lot to be said for that as my leg work (squats, dead lifts and single leg squats) really gets the heart rate up, but it is hard to sustain those exercises for long periods. The exercise bike seems to work better for a consistent elevated heart rate.
Anything is better than nothing though!
Keep the off-beat columns coming.
This is fabulous work, and I’m really impressed. As another engineer, I am sure you took it as a great compliment when your friend said this was the most Engineer thing ever!
In the late 1980’s, members of my gliding club near Zurich decided to perform a similar experiment. This, being way before the tiny medical devices of today, required considerable effort since bulky, power-hungry and very expensive instruments were the state of the art back then. The conclusion? A sailplane pilot’s heart rate and blood pressure were lowest when high above landable terrain, and highest where low over rocks. Go figure, lol.
Great story, Ron! And a gorgeous photo of Rainier over the nose. I too am impressed by your application, but not at all surprised that you did it. As the doctor told Dilbert’s mother, to her dismay, you’ve got “the knack”.
As a retired software engineer by trade and hobbyist electronics hacker since 807 tubes, I’m afraid I must disagree with your wife’s friend. You didn’t extract the guts of your new watch, design an interface into your phone’s moving map, and display heart-rate and BP excursions in real time on the panel, now did you? They have no idea how bad the affliction we share, can be.
But I guess there’s no mystery surrounding the subtext of a Christmas present that keeps track of your cardiac health, is there?
That initial spike could also be a response to heaving the hangar door closed (unless yours is electrically controlled) or pulling your aircraft onto the ramp from the hangar (unless you use a BestTug or equivalent) 😉
This is my 65th year of flying. My brother and I have several summits of Mt. Rainier–it’s harder than doing marathons or “Century”–100 mile bike trips. What a view–FROM the mountain–or OF THE MOUNTAIN!
Anything above 0 BP/pulse is gravy.
My curve probably peaks at pulling thru radial, likely a similar peak spouting incantations during start attempts, less consequence than “Flight of the Phoenix”, but I’m also much less cool than Jimmy Stewart.
Engineering Computation Paper? Any chance you could show use your official engineer’s work? 📝 Further evidence of an engineer mindset….
Defendant’s exhibit #1: An actual, unedited, photo of the “mouse pad” on my computer. The pad is an engineering tablet. Note the pen has a ruler printed on the side. The green box is a test 3D printed scale model of the last satellite I worked on. The full-scale version is currently printing out. Partially visible next to it is a small brass cannon.
The defense not only rests, it lifts its feet onto the table and orders takeout…. 🙂
Due to overwhelming cannonical (sic) evidence, case dismissed!