Fear of flying? page 5

[halfbunny]

Just thought i report back on my flight of last week. I won't go into detail as i am losing my privacy otherwise, but it was a former-sovjet state. I had to go there, attend smth + sign a paper and return! Everything went well but yes, i was nervous! The pilot had food 'rests' all over his uniform when welcoming the passengers, not that i care, but its the details that make it extra nervous wrecking. The co-pilot was very nice and talked a lot (we had to wait an hour in the plane before taking off)

I did slip in 2 glasses of wine and a wodka before the return flight. I don't do (much) alcohol otherwise, but hey.

Next flight is already on the 11th, i am not yet nervous which is a gooood sign

[Jerseyjim]

Just thought i report back on my flight of last week. I won't go into detail as i am losing my privacy otherwise, but it was a former-sovjet state. I had to go there, attend smth + sign a paper and return! Everything went well but yes, i was nervous! The pilot had food 'rests' all over his uniform when welcoming the passengers, not that i care, but its the details that make it extra nervous wrecking. The co-pilot was very nice and talked a lot (we had to wait an hour in the plane before taking off)

I did slip in 2 glasses of wine and a wodka before the return flight. I don't do (much) alcohol otherwise, but hey.

Next flight is already on the 11th, i am not yet nervous which is a gooood sign

Food on the captain's uniform? Ugh!

Wine and vodka are great coping techniques; nothing wrong with that!

Sounds like your doing well Halfbunny.

[NicoleP]

Nicole, I'm sorry this experience had such an effect on you! Smaller airplanes give us a much more "intimate" experience while flying. They're a bit noisier because they do not have as much sound insulation. The cabins are smaller, so if there is any latent tendencies towards claustrophobia, it will probably push that button. And then sometimes the crew will reseat or restrict seating in parts of the aircraft due to weight and balance (I would imagine this could be disconcerting to a nonpilot).

The FAA rules on aircraft design (and they are extensive) are no different for the smaller airliners; they have to meet the same safety criteria as the larger ones. They carry less sound insulation because they insulation gets heavy and the smaller jets can't carry as much weight.

Airplanes fly and pivot around their center of gravity, just like a seesaw pivots around a point. Just like with a seesaw, if the weight distribution on an aircraft is changed, the pivot point is changed. The pivot point is calculated before each flight to ensure it is within an acceptable range. Hope that makes sense.

The crew training and performance standards are the same for pilots on the smaller airliners as they are for the larger ones. Yes, the pilots tend to be younger and less experienced, but they still have to pass the same tests/checkrides as everyone else.

As to the vibration, if you did not feel it, then it was a sensor inside the aircraft put there to warn the crew of a potential problem. The warning is proactive so the crew can do something about it before a problem develops.

Do you mean Wilmington, NC? Great town! I used to spend quite a bit of time there.

Just saw your post. Thanks for the explanation, I wish I would have known this before.

I do live in the Wilmington NC area and it is a pretty good place.

[Pestmeat]

I don't like to fly at all either. I've taken Xanax, I was still scared just didn't give a rip, which I found to be a disturbing feeling all it's own. I have to have some cocktails and even then I end up crying half the time. I have decided that I won't let it prevent me from going places I want to go. I'll just deal with it. That said, it'd have to be an all expense paid trip to somewhere absolutely spectacular.
The argument that you're safer in a plane than you are in a car has never held water for me. There's nothing inherently safer about the mechanics of flying. It's just a numbers game. If we all flew rather than drove, we'd be safer on the ground.

[bubba070]

Does anyone here have an unhealthy fear of flying? I didn't mind my first few flights as they were on a large plane and largely turbulence free. Then I took a shorter trip on a little plane in a storm and now I have anxiety attacks (nothing I can't endure, but certainly uncomfortable) whenever I have to fly. My last trip involved a couple anti-anxiety pills washed down with a couple beers, anything beat that?

I think your fear of flying may be more of a lack of lack of understanding. I am a pilot with with over 15 years in the industry and currently fly large airplanes a couple of hundred feed above the ground. I am a waterbomer pilot and am in turbulent conditions almost all the time. You would not believe just how much turbulence an airplane can take before coming apart. Here is a link to Boeings 787 wing break test. It is amazing just how much the wing bends before it fails.

Boeing 787 wing break test - YouTube

[Comma]

Haven't read it all, but LOTS of people develop fear of flying once they have kids. The remedy? Fly with them. You'll be so crazy busy, you have no time to be scared. Works for me. Otherwise: xanax.