Anyone else afraid of flying?

sunflower27

I am getting a flight tomorrow morning at 8am and am already dreading it. I never had a problem with it until I went on a flight with a friend years ago and she was a total panic merchant. Ever since, I get really paranoid.

I've got four hours to wait at the airport as well, as my bus gets me in at 4am

Anyone else paranoid about flying?

Sky King

Get locked. That's what everyone who hates flying does.

Or do what everyone else who hates flying does and go to your doc and get prescribed some Vitamin X. Really takes the edge off.

Sky King

I'm a pilot btw.

jokettle

Take an antihistamine and a couple of pints. You'll sleep through the whole thing.

Latchy

No.... but if it helps , try not think about the flight until you are actually boarding the plane (books and Ipods help distract ) then switch gear and pretend it's just a bus or train ride you are going on .

Jaafa

No I'm afraid of crashing.

lar203

I hate it ,just sitting there thinking of the 100000s of parts and the 1000s of people that work on this tin can 30,000 feet up had a bad day im fecked.i get the boat,try them small bottles of wine i fine 2or3chills me out but i think ba was right

sunflower27

I am only going to the UK, so a short flight, but still...

I made the mistake of once looking in the cockpit when boarding and seeing all the little lights flashing. That was the worst flight of my life.

No chance I will sleep on the flight. I have tried that before and no chance. I have in the past made a point of telling the person next to me I am a nervous flyer and would they mind talking to me as we take off. I am a nightmare, I know.

Ghandee

I'm terrified of flying.
Don't reckon my arms are strong enough, they'll probably get tired after five mins or so cos i'm a big wuss.

plein de force

No, i love flying. Hurtling through the sky at 30.000 feet in an aliminium tube at 500mph knowing that at any moment its possible to plunge to your death into the icy ocean below is exhilarating.
Sorry OP

but seriously, it's not a myth that flying is the safest mode of transport in the world. But next time you're flying, go to the doctors and get some of those tablets to calm you, seeing as it's too late for that now, just get locked. you'll be fine

ger vallely

I personally love it. Especially take off and landing. But in saying that the odds get shorter each time you fly. But, in saying that- what's the point of worrying really. It's unavoidable if you are travelling a long distance.But if it's just to England why not get the ferry in future?

Skuxx

I love flying, but I'm an aircraft mechanic so 'twood look a bit sus I I was afraid of it!! The gf on the other hand is petrified, the worst I've ever seen!! We're flying to london for new year, can't wait to scare the ****e out of her again!!!

Edit: Does boards automatically censor words now??

sebastianlieken

From an Aero Engineers perspective: it's all down to the pilot. they're the weakest link :P (sorry pilots, but the stats speak for themselves!)

from a structural point of view, aircraft are stupidly strong! The thickness and strengths specification is at LEAST 1.5 times as strong as it needs to be. every department adds it's own fudge factor. aerodynamics will round up the loads, weights will round up their loads, design will make everything thicker than it needs to be. Stress will add their own conservatism....etc...etc.

at the end of the process, the plane is over designed for even the worst possible case scenario.

And just because I think it's funny to be mean sometimes: a skin panel on an aircraft can be as little as 0.028"... that's 0.7mm. Go on, take out a ruler and look at that!!! haha!!! (still overkill mind you)

sunflower27

I decided to fly because obviously it is so much quicker than a ferry and then train. I am thinking now I'd happilly take the ferry.

I'll be OK. just hope I sit next to a 'talker'

Guill

sunflower27 wrote: »

I am getting a flight tomorrow morning at 8am and am already dreading it. I never had a problem with it until I went on a flight with a friend years ago and she was a total panic merchant. Ever since, I get really paranoid.

I've got four hours to wait at the airport as well, as my bus gets me in at 4am

Anyone else paranoid about flying?

Tomorrow aint a good day to fly.

Link

sunflower27

Guill wrote: »

Tomorrow aint a good day to fly.

Link

Cheers for that.:(

Del2005

sunflower27 wrote: »

I am getting a flight tomorrow morning at 8am and am already dreading it. I never had a problem with it until I went on a flight with a friend years ago and she was a total panic merchant. Ever since, I get really paranoid.

I've got four hours to wait at the airport as well, as my bus gets me in at 4am

Anyone else paranoid about flying?

Try logic. The safest part of your journey is the one your most afraid off. Commercial air travel is the safest method of travel. You're much more at risk on the bus or walking into the terminal

Sky King wrote: »

Get locked. That's what everyone who hates flying does.

Or do what everyone else who hates flying does and go to your doc and get prescribed some Vitamin X. Really takes the edge off.

So pilots are all p!ssed or out of it:eek: It's a good job that planes fly themselves :D

TheZohanS

The aul Xanex&Valium lottery is your friend.

Ilyana

My sister gets awfully panicky on flights as well. She uses Kalms tablets, they're natural pills that I'm pretty sure you can buy OTC. I think they work the same way as Rescue Remedy.

Also when my sister panics on a flight, I just remind her of all the flights that happen everyday across the world that you never hear about, because they're completely uneventful and reach their destinations safely

Chuck Stone

Sometimes.

One minute I'm like. Ah nice.. look at the clouds on the TV.. WAIT! THAT'S A ****ING WINDOW... calm down deep breaths... calm....

... OH JESUS I'M IN PRESSURIZED TUBE DOING 500 MILES AN HOUR 10 THOUSAND METERS UP...

relax... that's what these things are designed for....

ad infinitum.

Kiera

I love flying. Flew for the first time on my own a few years ago and love that even more than flying with mates and family who always chat to you when you're trying to listen to music or read.

Looking out the window above the clouds and listening to your fav album is awesome!

Sky King

Well Del I am not a commercial pilot, and alcohol is a big no-no for those actually flying the plane, but since Sunflower is not a pilot, I prescribe eight large glasses of Chilean Merlot.

She'll be flyin' then alright.:)

Pilotdude5

Sky King wrote: »

Well Del I am not a commercial pilot, and alcohol is a big no-no for those actually flying the plane, but since Sunflower is not a pilot, I prescribe eight large glasses of Chilean Merlot.

She'll be flyin' then alright.:)

Just don't go overboard as its legal to drink on a plane but illegal to be drunk!!:rolleyes:
Pilot here also.

sunflower27

The panic sets in when I start thinking there is 30,000 ft of space underneath my feet. It brings on a mini panic attack.

I like the idea of the Kalms tablets, will see if I can get them at the airport.

Pilotdude5

Chuck Stone wrote: »

Sometimes.

One minute I'm like. Ah nice.. look at the clouds on the TV.. WAIT! THAT'S A ****ING WINDOW... calm down deep breaths... calm....

... OH JESUS I'M IN PRESSURIZED TUBE DOING 500 MILES AN HOUR 10 THOUSAND METERS UP...

relax... that's what these things are designed for....

ad infinitum.

Report altitude in feet if you dont want to be considered a noob or French...:)

TheZohanS

sunflower27 wrote: »

The panic sets in when I start thinking there is 30,000 ft of space underneath my feet. It brings on a mini panic attack.

I like the idea of the Kalms tablets, will see if I can get them at the airport.

It's not the space you need to worry about, it's crashing into the ground and your body being turned to mush.

Seriously though, you've a better chance of winning the Lotto than being involved in a plane crash.

Sky King

Report altitude in feet if you dont want to be considered a noob or French...

Flight level in Chuck's instance surely?

chin_grin

F*ckin' petrified. The only thing that helps are breathing techniques, mantras and maybe rescue remedy. Oh and plenty of whiskies. :pac:

sunflower27

One of the worst flights I ever went on was in Australia. I remember looking out at the plane and thinking 'ah, that's not that small'. It then moved out of the way to reveal a 12-seater plane that looked like it was powered by remote control.

The cockpit was partitioned off with a curtain.

At least this won't be that bad

JohnMearsheimer

Nope. They say you're far more likely to die in a car crash than a plane crash. I was on a Cork Cardiff flight in 2009. We began taxiing and a girl had a complete meltdown. We had to return to the terminal so she could be taken off the plane.

I was working with this English girl in Alberta over the summer. She had to go back to the UK and was flying Toronto-London. She was terrified of flying. You can fly London-Calgary (which was 2 and a half hour drive away from where we were). Toronto was 2 days away on a bus from where we were but she preferred to take the bus to Toronto rather than re-book her flight from Calgary and add an extra 2/3 hours to her flight to London.

BrokenArrows

sunflower27 wrote: »

I am getting a flight tomorrow morning at 8am and am already dreading it. I never had a problem with it until I went on a flight with a friend years ago and she was a total panic merchant. Ever since, I get really paranoid.

I've got four hours to wait at the airport as well, as my bus gets me in at 4am

Anyone else paranoid about flying?

Just allow the calmness of the other 100's of flyers to affect you the same way your freaked out friend did. This will be the last light you will ever feel anticipation about.