I guess pretty much everyone here has to fly quite a bit every year, for races or work…
2 years ago, I had a really really really bad flight, two drops, people screaming etc.
Now, I get pretty nervous flying specially when it shakes (even just a bit)…
Anyone else in the same boat? What do you do? (knowing that I can’t get on the bike and hammer it to relax up there! 
)
Statistically you are more likely to get killed by a vending machine, a donkey, or even choking your food than you are to get killed in an airplane.
i understand how it’s hard. it’s about control–you can’t control a plane like you can a bike or car. in reality we put ourselves in more danger riding on the road and driving a car in comparison to flying.
i’m flying this weekend and i don’t like either. it makes me feel air sick, plus the thought of being so high freaks me out.
just have faith. if you’ve ever been in a car wrech or bike crash, certainly you got back on the bike and i the car. it’s the same thing–but only MORE safe to fly.
Sometimes the pilots make it bumpy on purpose to quiet down rowdy/whiny/obnoxious passengers. That way the seatbelt sign has to be on. That’s what I’ve heard from a pilot who used to fly a Cancun route regularly…
Also, those planes can literally fly by themselves after 100 ft. They can also land by themselves. Think of how many people are in the air at any given time.
I hate flying. I do it about once a month for work. Any bit of turbulence and I am white-knuckling the armrest. I am ok if things are smooth. I know that the fear is irrational – turbulence doesn’t make planes crash (at least not the commerciall jets), but that doesn’t matter - I still hate it. Anyway, all I do is try and relax, put on some smooth tunes on the IPOD and say the rosary or at least a string of Hail Mary’s until things settle down.
I would rather run or bike for 4 hours than fly for 4 hours.
I hate flying and avoid it all costs. Hate all aspects of it, not the least being, fear of crashing. No suggestions except step off the plane if you don’t like how the weather, the crew, the passengers, or the plane look.
Given the state of the airlines (bankruptcy) I’m particularly leary of the maintenance and basic employee loyalty/pride in their job. Would really hate a financial situation to cause a mishap.
Sorry, not any help, but damn I hate flying.
My uncle is an aeronautics professor. Last time I saw him he said “You know, most people say that flying is safer than driving. Well, if you measure safety as deaths per distance travelled, it is. However, if you measure it as deaths per travel time, they’re rather similar.”
Oh, was I supposed to reassure you?
I don’t have to fly at all. I have vowed to never fly again. It’s been over seven years. I HATE flying. It’s not about control, it’s about the quality of the landing if something goes wrong. I know it’s kind of irrational, but I don’t care. Never again into the wild blue yonder for me.
hey mathematician/ELP,
do you believe in the laws of probability or don’t you? do you ‘walk the talk’ or not? what are you? are you one of those cardiac surgeons who smokes cigarettes? are you an obese athletic coach? are you a geologist who believes in ‘creationism’? Are you a police officer who speeds like a maniac? (you can add tons more…).
how is the heck can a guy in your field be scared by something as (statistically) safe as US domestic flying? or has the world gone completely wacky?
Oi!!
signed,
the (flying) truck driver
Commercial airplanes are such wonderful, reliable machines.
Stop thinking for a second that people like me work in their development and you’ll see there’s nothing to be nervous about
Flight Rules:
• Every takeoff is optional. Every landing is mandatory.
• A ‘good’ landing is one from which you can walk away. A ‘great’ landing is one after which they can use the plane again.
• Learn from the mistakes of others. You won’t live long enough to make all of them yourself.
• Good judgment comes from experience. Unfortunately, experience usually comes from bad judgment.
• Always try to keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of takeoffs you’ve made.
• There are three simple rules for making a smooth landing. Unfortunately no one knows what these are.
• You start with a bag full of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before you empty the bag of luck.
• The probability of survival is inversely proportional to the angle of arrival. Large angle of arrival, small probability of survival and vice versa.
• In the ongoing battle between objects made of aluminum going hundreds of miles per hour and the ground going zero miles per hour, the ground has yet to lose.
• Stay out of clouds. The silver lining everyone keeps talking about might be another airplane going in the opposite direction. Reliable sources also report that mountains have been known to hide out in clouds.
.
When I was learning to fly helicopters those rules were hammered in constantly. Good stuff to live by.
I try to get a window seat, at least I can see the ground coming on the landing instead of being surprised. I listen to my MP3 player. I try to remember that I don’t really have that much to live for anyway. I go to confession often. I play Microsoft Flight Simulator so I feel like I know what is going on.
The worst are those little turbo-props, particularly when they are overloaded with bikes traveling to an Ironman. Ever since that one crashed on take-off due to loading I hate seeing them full.
I have been wondering lately if flying is less safe these days due to severe financial condition of the major airlines. With all the biggies either in or on the edge of Chap 11 you wonder where they are looking at cutting costs. I am sure it will not be anything blatent but things like understaffed service and inspection do worry me.
At least with most plane crashes you die quickly. Better than some long drawn out disease like cancer…
Saying I’ve had some pretty bad flights is a gross understatement.
I have been wondering lately if flying is less safe these days due to severe financial condition of the major airlines. With all the biggies either in or on the edge of Chap 11 you wonder where they are looking at cutting costs
Or maybe massively pissed off pilots who have gotten their pay slashed and will be kicked out unceremoniously on their rears without a cent of pension and no social security and no real job options at age 60 (see the latest news from UAL). Or maybe pilots in desperate financial straits and a tad suicidal as a result. That does scare me.
The airline should have charged you extra for those 2 drops, an added excitement fee.
Where you sit in the airplane will have an impact of what you feel.
And dont piss off the Flight Attendants, because they just come up to us and say that the dude in row41 wont sit down so we take it off autopilot and shake the plane around a bit and problem solved
I don’t mind the drops when they are planed.
did two parabolic flights for my 30’’ of gravity when doing my military service…that was a lot of fun…
“I care not; a man can die but once; we owe God a death… and let it go which way it will, he that dies this year is quit for the next”
- Feeble, in Henry IV
the stotan approach (cross between stoic and spartan)…