General / Off-Topic Fear of flying

Slopey

Volunteer Moderator
Slopey
FuzzySpider said:
And landing. Oh my god. That noise. And that gawdawful feeling of slowing down.
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Knowledge is the answer you know - that sinking feeling just after take-off? That's the flaps being retracted, so you lose a bit of lift - nothing to worry about. Engines spooling down shortly after take-off? Again, below 10,000ft, aircraft are limited to 250kts, so just ATC vectoring them - all perfectly normal. And coming in to land, you WANT to be low and slow - as that's how it works.

My 2c - go and try a flying lesson. No, really.

I have my PPL, I'm doing my instrument rating at the moment, but when I'm down the back in cattle class it still gives me the willies sometimes. But I'll give you any money that when you're up front with the yoke/dials right infront of you, and it's patently obvious that you're not about to drop out of the sky, you'll enjoy it. And you might find after an hour in the air actually flying the airplane, that you'll have enough knowledge to know what sort of stuff is happening when, and that'll calm your nerves. :)
 

FrankMurphy

FrankMurphy
"that sinking feeling just after take-off? That's the flaps being retracted, so you lose a bit of lift" Just after take off ? When exactly ? At rotation or on climb out ?
 

Polygonal Spaceship

P
Slopey said:
And coming in to land, you WANT to be low and slow - as that's how it works.
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Of course, when you're in Kew Gardens, the descent path for Heathrow rather spoils the tranquility - I'm told the horrendous noise levels are because, after dropping the undercarriage and making other sundry preparations to land, they actually have to spool the engines up to avoid stalling. (Disruptons to the aerodynamics, or something.)

Maybe I'm being overly logical; however, I'm not sure I'm comfortable of the idea of something of that size which can remain airborne under power, yet possesses the gliding characteristics of a housebrick. Whatever happened to good old-fashioned delta wings?
 

lysan

lysan
FuzzySpider said:
I am sure air travel shaves inches off my life. Every time I land I feel older, which is actually not the way its supposed to be if Einstein was right about relativity and speed.

Last time I flew it was from Liverpool John Lennon airport to Bratislava Int. Merely 2 and a half hours or so. But I felt every single second.

I had 3 milligrams of prochlorperazine and 4 milligrams of diazepam, yet my fitbit told me that my heart was going at around 145 beats per minute.

I made the mistake, not long after take off, of looking out of the window. I thought I was going to die. Every single episode of Air Crash Investigation I've ever watched flashed in front of me. My evil brain replayed every Seconds From Disaster I've ever watched in chilling clarity. With every single movement up or down, with every bit of G-force I felt my heart rate went over 160.

And landing. Oh my god. That noise. And that gawdawful feeling of slowing down.

My wife is on about going away again, soon. Does anyone else have fear of flying? And has anyone found a way to deal with this phobia?
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Mate, nothing I can say will help you, but I know many people who are afraid of flying. So what is it people are afraid of? it must be death right, because let's face it, if the plane crash, you won't feel much, almost sure it will be instantly a ticket to the otherside.

Airplanes are still one of the most secure ways of travel, and I do it all the time, hours of air travel each year, done it for many years and nothing ever never happened. I sometimes take people up in a small airplane, just to fly around, it's more intense, if they settle with that, the big commercial airplanes will feel like taking a ride on the local bus :)
 

yolomcbobbinz

Y
No need to fear flying, it can be a bit scary your first time, just remember airplanes like to fly, flying is the safest way of transportation just take a deep breath and try not to think that you're flying. And just sitting in a chair
 
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