Learning to Fly to combat fear of flying

TonyRomo

I have a ridiculously bad fear of flying for which I dont know why and it is ruining travelling. Ive done bungee jumping, sky diving, etc. so its not like im a girl or anything

Cant really take a sleeping pill especially for london - dublin flights which i do a bit.

So would picking up aviation help?

I have the money to do so.

chickenhawk

I don't know for sure but I doubt it. I've seen people who really want to be pilots be scared in small planes.

There are courses run by KLM and virgin I think that help people get over a fear of flying. I've heard great things about them and if you have to money to learn to fly then you can afford the course.

diverdriver

It might help but a small training aeroplane can be quite daunting for some people. As a rule though, Instructors are very careful to avoid any negativity during initial training.

A lot of fear of flying is fear of the unknown. Fear of flying courses usually cover some technical aspects which helps reassure people.

Many people, for example, think that if the engine fails in a light aircraft. That it immediately spirals into an irrecoverable death dive, or tailspin or a 'plunge' to Earth ending in a terrible fireball. When you explain that it simply glides to the ground. They are reassured. Of course it still ends in a terrible fireball once you reach the ground (Only joking;))

I had a passenger once in a Cessna 172 who was scared of flying. In the end I was more nervous than him because I wasn't sure what his reaction might be. He might have grabbed the controls. You may have heard the term. 'You can smell the fear'. I can confirm that.:eek:

Actually have you considered having a go at Microsoft Flight sim. There is a training module which explains many of the basics. A lot cheaper than flying lessons although you do crash a lot in the game.:(

Fabio

You crash a lot in it cos you initially ain't sure what you're doing. You'll get the hang of it...

TonyRomo

Its actually the technical aspect of it that daunts me. Ive seen so many APCI shows that I know how incompetent some pilots can be. That said i reckon 99.9% are quality and i would have nothing to fear but i fear that 0.01%.

Also seeing that show where the PTO static (not sure if correct word) was covered by a tape and was the result of a crash. So easy to happen.

The worst part of the flight is takeoff for me as i constantly think we're going down particularly that little dip about minute into the flight. What is that BTW, landing gear or auto pilot or something?

if only you could blast your ipod during takeoff. I think ill take a course into a fear of flying.

thanks

highlydebased

TonyRomo wrote: »

The worst part of the flight is takeoff for me as i constantly think we're going down particularly that little dip about minute into the flight. What is that BTW, landing gear or auto pilot or something?

s

Its the g-force! At about 1500 feet AGL climb power is applied so would be climbing out at a shallower angle so the aircraft has to pitch down slightly, hence the unusual sensation

diverdriver

PTO static

Pitot pronounced peeto, (it's french) and static. Yes the static ports were covered. But that's very rare and they were unfortunate that it was at night over the sea. But as each accident happens lessons are learned. It won't happen again.

It's no exaggeration to say the drive to the airport is more dangerous. Even the kind of flying I do which would be considered more dangerous than usual. I am more relaxed after six hours flying in a day than I am on the drive home. I've had more scares to and from the airfield than I've ever had in the air.

Alun

For me, I think, it's a control thing. I'd probably be as happy as Larry up in the cockpit, but it's the feeling of detachment from what's going on around me that I find off-putting, and I think because of that I I feel more at ease in small aircraft than large ones. I'm OK on short haul flights up to about 2 hours, but anything longer than that and I'm a bag of nerves after a while, and break out into a sweat at the slightest hint of anything like turbulence (had a really bad experience once.)