I am a bit like this as well. I’ll feel nervous looking over the edge of a cliff. I’ll also feel nervous during takeoff and landing, when the ground is much closer. I feel an irrational distrust of the mechanisms of the plane, and every noise it makes feels like something is going wrong.
I always feel that if something bad happened to the plane at that point we’d be pretty much screwed, but at cruising altitude the powers that be may have the time to deal with the situation.
I’m not really afraid of high places but I’m also not all that comfortable standing close to a big window in a tall building.
One difference is that with an airplane I don’t really feel a sensation of height, whereas with buildings I do.
I will say that I really don’t like instrument approaches in airplanes. I landed, as a passenger, in a blizzard at Chicago Midway in the mid 1950’s in a DC-6. As I could feel the maneuvers, changes in trottle and the like apprehesion set in. Finally we straightened out, flaps came down as did the landing gear. I knew we were descendig and all you could see out the window was white. Finally a billboard went by below and off the to the side and I relaxed a little knowing that we were now visual. It was a somewhat unpleasant time. Of course the technology for such landings is much improved now and it isn’t so bad but I still don’t particulary like it.
When I was a kid, I had absolutely no fear of heights. At 14 I fell off a sort of cliff…a series of 4-5 drops ranging from 6 to around 10 feet. Just remember standing at the edge admiring the view and suddenly the view became alternating sky and ground. Fortunately it was very cold out (deer season) and so I was bundled up pretty well, and came out of it with a just a few scrapes and bruises. Now I really don’t like getting closer than about 6’ to the edge…
Now go figure this: I flew hang gliders for most of my 20s. No problems launching off a cliff as long as I was hooked in. These days I fly sailplanes, and there is no issue at all.
Anyway, for me it isn’t the height that bothered me at all. It is the possibility of falling down. Which isn’t a problem provided I’ve got my wings on, because I can fly. When your in an airplane, you too can fly, so maybe it is the same thing.
I’m not afraid of heights. I have no problems with cliffs or tall buildings.
I’m not real good with ladders–even short ones.
I had to laugh at myself once. I was in South Africa, and had just boarded the “middle” plane of a five plane sequence that was taking me home. I felt so safe and comfortable and NON-Stressed once our airplane had taken off and we were safely flying over the ocean. And yet, part of me thought that logically a small plane should feel safer–less weight to get up and keep up in the air. But some of the relaxation came from knowing that once that plane landed safely, any flight delays would become comparatively minor inconveniences.
(The five planes
Little-bitty Cessna that held 6 people, counting the pilot. Fun to land and take off on grass, fun to chase giraffes off the runway, little scary to sit next to the pilot–I think I had my eyes closed on takeoff.
A short, fat plane that held 50 people or so, maybe a few more which flew from an airport in Botswana to the big airport in Johannesburg.
A 747-400–the really big modern plane. 18 hour flight–not much fun, but I think there is a comfort factor to be surrounded by all these people. Something bad might happen to me, but not with my grandmother, tour guide, and hundreds of other people.
One of those skinny little commuter jets which people always complain about–including some dingbat on a cellphone whom I so wanted to slap.
a 757? Whatever–an nice ordinary “big” plane for transporting people across the US.)
I’ve been told that this is the very reason the Army uses 34ft Jump Towers at Airborne School. It’s harder to leave the door of that tower than it is to leave the plane.
Personally, I feel pretty secure strapped into a parachute rig. I have no problem standing on a loud open ramp at 1200ft, but looking over the edge of a very tall building would probably make me nervous and uneasy.
And obviously I’m justified. Such windows aren’t unbreakable.
Another aspect is that when you look over the edge of a building or a cliff, you see the building disappear downwards. Your binocular vision then can get a handle on what it’s seeing and give you that, “Ohmygodthat’salongwaydown!” feeling.
In an airplane, you have no depth perception looking down. There’s nothing between you and the ground, and the ground is too far away for your binocular vision to give you proper depth perception.
Next ime you’re looking over the edge of a building, try closing one eye and see if the sensation changes.
Part of it may be the difference between standing and sitting. I can sit on a Ferris wheel and not be scared, but if you made me stand on a ledge with a railing at the same height, I’d be nervous.
A surprising number of pilots I know are afraid of heights. Including me. I get nervous just standing on a balcony. Looking over the edge of a balcony always gives me the creeps,and I can’t even walk within five feet of a cliff edge without my brain jjibbering at me. But airplanes don’t bother me at all, including low-level flying.
Oh, another thing I was thinking about in this thread. I’m ok with heights, but if my husband or children are near the edge my whole body physically panics, vertigo, the whole nine yards. I remember being on the roof, higher than my husband, completely fine, yet watching him come up was traumatic for me. I don’t like watching him walk walls, but I can. My kids next to the edge of anything makes me want to throw up. I’m sure this is because I have confidence on my own abilities, but understand,especially with kids, that it only takes a moment of them being stupid.
dafisheroo
You used the word “confidence” but I think the word “control” might be even more appropriate. You know you are close to an edge or up high and can behave appropriately. If you overbalance, you can compensate. When you know that your husband or children are in danger, if something happens, you can’t do anything except call an ambulance later.
further “proof” of the problem being with your brain being able to imagine harm happening is the fact that (for me, at least, and I know many who agree) jumping off a plane through a back ramp is a lot less threateing than a side door. There is something about seeing the landing gear and the tail of the plane giving the scene a sense of perspective that makes the sense of height more real and more immediate. Also the fact that on a side door you have to first peek out while on the ramp you never really look down.
I had to do some kind of repair for my older brother’s TV wires that connect to the antenna. What it involved was our being on the roof of the 4th floor building, and him holding my feet while I went over the side to reach the wires on the side of the building.
To put it mildly, I am afraid of heights. I get dizzy looking out a window from a tall building.
However, I had complete faith in my brother. So I fixed my gaze on the wires - not on the ground below, and got the job done. When I think about it, though, I still get chills going up my spine.
I’ve often wondered if it counts as acrophobia if you’re only afraid of falling and unsecured heights. I can look over a ledge with railings no problem. I can look over a bridge rail no problem until I think about jumping off. It’s only about a 10 foot fall, yet I just can’t do it. It took some determination just to jump off the ~6 foot bridge. I used to work at a power plant and most of the floors were metal grating. Walking around, you could look down and sometimes see all the way to the ground beneath you. It had 12 floors, although they were taller than a typical building floor. Even at the top, I had no problem with it. One of the other guys there had to get used to it though. I’m not sure why I can look down through metal grating from any height without a problem but can’t jump off a 10 foot bridge into the lake. Do I really have a fear of heights or just a fear of falling?
I’ve been rappelling a few times when I was in the military, and I been parachuting.
IMHO, the rappelling was far worse. Actually, the worst part was climbing the rappelling tower. It was made up of two-inch diameter wood poles that you climbed like a ladder. The climbing section was so wide that three people climbed up simultaneously. The wood was so slick and polished, I was sure I was going to slip and fall to my death.
Parachuting wasn’t nearly as bad. I did the kind where they open the door, and you go hand-over-hand to the end of the wing strut and then drop off. I had no fear of heights during the jump whatsover. I think it’s because you’re so high that your instinctual fear of heights simply doesn’t kick in.
On the other hand, I really dislike heights where my 10-year son is involved. If we go on a Ferris wheel ride, I feel compelled to hang onto his wrist hard enough for him to complain. (When he was much younger, I had an arm around his waist.) I can’t enjoy such rides with him along.
For me, it’s because above a certain height it doesn’t actually feel like a “height” - it becomes abstract. I’m much more aware of the drop when I’m coming in to land and can clearly see individual cars, houses etc below me. But at cruising height it’s just “Ooh, that looks cool!” rather than “Wow I’m a long way up!”
As robby says, the instinctive fear of height doesn’t seem to kick in above a certain height. I know that I could never do a bungee jump (though I happily climb and abseil) simply because my brain would not let me jump off a bridge. But I’m pretty sure I would do a parachute jump because of the greater height involved. Jumping from 100ft would be much scarier than jumping from 10,000ft.
That is to say, “I’ve been parachuting.”