re: Fear of Flying

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I literally watched flight videos on YouTube until I could understand why a plane does what it does.

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I have done this to some extent, but I still panic a little when there is turbulence.

777, do you always chuckle when you hear the RETARD call out at landing?

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do you always chuckle when you hear the RETARD call out at landing?

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no, because it's me saying it, that's an airbus thing, btw

I get nervous flying over the ocean. In an emergency, even if the plane lands on the water, I would have to wait hours adrift in open water. In reality, the plane will evaporate as it hits the water at 400+ mph. Atleast I won’t have to wait for help.

Xanax

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Xanax

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I have a Xanax prescription, and it does help some, but it does not fully take the edge off. Also, I want to drink on the plane and a Xanax usually accelerates that process pretty quickly

No is scared of flying.
You’re scared of falling from a high place.
You’d actually RATHER be flying.

The average number of flights per day in the US is close to +/- 80,000 flights. Given that, how many plane crashes have you heard of happening in the last few years?

Now, how many car crashes have you heard of (in the last few weeks alone) in which everybody died?

Why do people have a fear of flying but say that they want that as their super power?

Oh...it is because they are afraid of dying...not flying.

I have gone from never, ever flying before I was 34 years old, to my first flight from NOLA to Dallas in 1983-4. Scared to death, but had to take that trip. Turbulence in spots - on a scale of 1 (mild)-10(worst) - was about a 4-5 maybe. But I was white knuckle all the way. I hate turbulence.

Took a short flight from Louisville to Huntsville. It was ok, but I was a wreck there and back.

Next flight wasn't until about 1992 - flew with a tour group from Louisville to NY, then non-stop trans-Atlantic to the Holy Land - about 12-13 hours non-stop. Prospect was terrifying. Actually both legs were uneventful. When we landed at Tel Aviv, the passengers cheered and clapped. I later learned that is the custom. Trip back was fine, too. But still relieved to land (still always am).

Another long, long flight I've taken was from Atlanta to Pittsburgh to London to Nairobi on a church mission trip. Pitts to London was ok; London to Nairobi was bumpy the whole way. White knuckles.

Longest flight was 2 different trips, from Tampa to NY or Dallas; then to Tokyo, then to Okinawa. Took about 22-24 hours of stopover and flying. Grueling. Big-time turbulence over Aleutian Chain both going and coming (about a 5-6). Otherwise just long, but uneventful.

Domestic flights in the last 10-15 years, to San Diego (twice), San Francisco (once), Atlanta (a bunch), New Orleans (a bunch), Dallas (3 or 4 times), Boston (twice), Washington D.C. (once), Albuquerque (once). Stop-overs going/coming in Salt Lake City, L.A., Las Vegas, Phoenix, Houston, Chicago.

Long story short - I now enjoy flying, even though I hate turbulence. It feels nothing short of a miracle to get somewhere in a fairly short time that might otherwise take forever on a road trip. Or be impossible to get to from North America.

My son in law is a USMC pilot - has flown fixed wing and helicopters. I've talked with him a lot about my feelings about flying, especially turbulence. He said I need to think of the air as I would being in a boat on the surface of the water. Sometimes it is calm and smooth. Sometimes there is a light chop. Sometimes the chop is more choppy. The boat doesn't sink when it passes over the chop, it just bumps a bit. Pilots want to live as much as everybody on board; they know their aircraft, they understand the dynamics of flight; they are not going to take risks. It's just sometimes the bumps are unavoidable.

So I have a certain amount of peace about all that.