afraid to fly

[loser]

hello gents and flossy and dyana

my girlfriend is now enrolled at the university of waterloo in Ontario Canada. I live 2000 miles away in the middle of Saskatchewan.

she is a great girl and i would love to visit her.  

My problem is i have a deathly fear of flying.

This fear is totally unrelated to the 9/11 atrocity (sp)

I know that as far as stats go i am much safer in  plane than i am in my car, but flying still freaks me out.  Especially at this time of year and the "ice on the wing syndrome" and even more so because the last time my girlfriend visited me her plane almost augered on final due to a sudden wind gust. ( i saw it happen from the airport, the plane's right wing tip was inches from skipping the rwy)

how did you guys get over your fear of flying?

[Eagler]

which is bigger ..

your love of this girl

or your girlie fear

time to grab them up...before she realizes what a wuzzie you are  

[loser]

oh she knows of the fear

[Curval]

Dude...I was scared to death of flying for a number of years as well.

I overcame it by actually talking to an Air Canada pilot who rented an apartment from my parents years ago.  He was their second most senior pilot and had logged a riduclous number of hours during his career...

I told him about how scared I was and he then asked me to explain all of my concerns...he then addressed each one, giving me an idea of how they deal with problems and how the saftey features worked, as well as explaining the various back-up systems that were on-board.

My biggest concern was losing all engines while in-flight (at 32,000 feet)and that the plane would simply fall from the sky...he then pulled out the HUGE specs binder he had and showed me the glide capabilty of the various jets....I had no idea they could glide at all....obviously you need to find somewhere to land..FAST, but at least there isn't a massive death spiral from 32k up!

Dunno if this will help you or whether you know any airline pilots...but it sure did wonders for me!  I am still a bit jitery on takeoff now, but other than that I am pretty confident.  Try calling an airline...they might be very open to at least an e-mail to one of their pilots...?

And by the way....I HAD to fly for work despite my fear even when I was petrified!  My sweat glands would be so active I would be soaked at the end of every flight!

[loser]

now that i think about it, and regarding my previous post.

the wind that hit my g/f's plane was an 50 mph sudden crosswind....the pilot managed to keep her under control in an crazy situation....what do i have to fear...

btw i have 2 cousins and a grandfather who flew a wellington in WW2, what do i have to fear?

i just wish i could be in the "pit" watching what they are doing

[fd ski]

hehehe loser, don't know if it will help..

Bascially, don't worry about things you cannot control. What's meant to be, will be, and your worring ain't good change it.
If you are religious it should come even easier to you.

 

[Serapis]

Or, you can do what a friend of mine does and just get smashed! It works for her  

Charon

[skernsk]

My first planeride was in a Cessna 182.  I was 16 and we were going skydiving.

There was one seat for the pilot and 5 others sitting on the floor.  I was the lightest and therefore the last to go.  The first guy was 250lbs. or so and he got out there and hung on the strut.  When he let go....I thought we were going to crash!  

That plane was flopping from side to side and then the pilot stood it on its right wing and there I am looking out the open door at nothing but air and scared toejamless.

I'm telling you jumping out of that airplane was the easiest decision I've ever made in my life!

I've since learned to enjoy flying.  My brother is a pilot and we have taken some small planes up and he's "educated" me some.  I actually enjoy flying now.

[Badger]

Originally posted by loser:
how did you guys get over your fear of flying?

152 parachute jumps and obtaining my pilot's license worked just fine for me.  

Seriously, I'm still acrophobic (afraid of heights) and I'm not sure phobia's of any sort ever go away.  It's about controlling them as opposed to letting them control you.  

BTW, ....Waterloo is a fabulous University..... Just up the road from me.

Regards,
Badger

[mason22]

Originally posted by loser:
oh she knows of the fear

think about what it would mean to her if you did overcome that fear, just to see her.

she will be floored.

[Curval]

Hey Badger...where did you do your jumps?  In the army?  Or did you go to the "Toronto Parachute School (TPS)" in Arthur, Ontario?

I did my "one" static line jump from the latter..

I was totally tricked into going by my college roomate at York University...he said we were going "somewhere for my birthday".  When we pulled in to the school I was cursing him, because I found out he had already paid for it and that I had no way out.

(I am scared of heights too...it was his attempt to cure me so that I would get up a ladder when we had painting contacts).

As it turned out the TPS had their first accident the day before, which explained the presence of all the cops...some goof tried to land on the target set up for the experts (with a big chute) and over-shot...landed in the power lines apparently and managed to ground himself!!!  This did not help my fears at ALL!

But, I was really glad to do it...my buddy and I were "high-fiving" each other about every 30 seconds on the drive back into the city.

[mjolnir]

First flight was on a 747 from Boston to London.  If that doesn't do it for you, nothing will.  Since then, came to the Air Force Academy, got to do 5 solo jumps out of a UV-18, flew gliders (great place to start getting over your fear), then on to Cessnas to get my ppl.  Flying isn't nearly as scary when you're at the controls of the plane.  Especially once you start learning about all the checklists and backups that planes have for pretty much every situation imaginable, it's not bad at all.

[Hangtime]

The more you know the more you worry.

I tend to be smiling, happy, pleasant to the stews; all whilst calmly maintaining a white knuckle grip on the armrest. I can watch two in-flight movies and not remember even ONE scene. Even once read in flight an entire paperback and instantly forgot it.

Like Badger sez.. it's about controlling the anxiety. All my energy goes there.. it's do-able. I regard flying as a test of my own resolve.

Just do it.  

[Raubvogel]

Originally posted by loser:

My problem is i have a deathly fear of flying.

Why do you think God put Pubs in airports?  

[batdog]

Jump from one... or two... or three... it just wont friggen matter anymore.

 xBAT