Okay, last year was the trip to Vegas (in September) for the World Wide Vegas Dopefest. This year it’s a trip to see my grandmother (possibly for the last time, she’s hitting 88 years of age) and we are going to Kansas to help her pack this coming weekend.
Thank God, in a way, that my brother’s company has two planes at their disposal. It will take us about 1 1/4 hours of flying time to get there versus 6 hours of drive time. The thing is I gained my fear of flying from a small airplane coming over the Rocky Mtns from Grand Junction to Denver…
This plane is not much bigger than my 1995 Suburban even if it is a twin engine.
Anyhow I am nervous as all hell for this trip. It’s a seven seater, less seating that my fucking Suburban!!! Can this thing actually fly? Shit on bricks and on the sidewalk, the reason I am a chicken-shit flyer is because of a 16 seat plane that I rode from Grand Junction to Denver with wind shear that made us all rock about like a toy boat in tidal wave.
For God’s Sakes, please help me deal with the fear of flying. Please help ease my fears that we will be okay! Shit it’s not much bigger than my fucking Suburban! GOD I am freaked out!
Thankfully, we will only be traveling in the morning hours as the weather gets quite nasty this time of year in the afternoons with thunderstorms, wind shear, and tornado warnings…
I will do it for my grandmother but other than that, I will be a Nervous Nelly and will take some serious Kava Kava when I get up to help ease the effects of my anxiety that I get even on a normal day.
< please pray for my safe return…I need this even if I will be completely safe. >
I can’t believe I agreed to this, I am completely freaked out…If it were my decision I would drive, smoking like a train, the entire way as I usually do. But this plane is so damn small.
< techchick about to jump out of her fuckin skin! >
I don’t like this one fucking bit. One reason I will never meet my east coast Dopers unless they come here to Colorado. Clearing throat to WeirdDave and Silo…
Yup. The complaint about Commanders is that they are slower and burn more fuel than similarly sized aircraft. But they are solidly built. Hell, Bob Hoover did aerobatics in a Shrike Commanders.
Corporate aviation is very close to the airlines in terms of safety. That plane is also very well equipped (weather radar, stormscope [a lightning detector], a full autopilot). Flying in the morning, you should be in for a smooth ride as well.
Techie baby. Relax! That looks like a solid plane for just over an hours trip!! Me thinks it looks like you got it good. There WILL be turbulance, just think of it like a childs roller coaster, a little bumpy but no loops. BTW I think you’re going to need more then kava kava from the sound of it. How bout some hard liquor?
Here’s hoping for no thunderstorms! …then again you know it IS the midwest. BTW you going anywhere near KC?? If you are maybe you can pick up some Barbecue tips.
And don’t get hung-up on the size too much. A safe pilot can make any well maintained airplane very safe. Airplanes don’t suddenly becomes safe once they reach a certain size, it is just that larger airplanes tend to have experienced, well trained crews who do everything by the book. You’ll likely get the same treatment from a corporate pilot.
And part of his routine – including a loop – is done in a Rockwell Commander with the engines off!
An hour and a quarter in a huge seven-seater? Hell, I fly that long in a two-place helicopter with a single piston engine! Have you ever looked at a rotor to see how they’re attached? If you’re nervous about flying a big Aero Commander, you probably don’t want to look! I’ve flown to Las Vegas several times (2 hours) and to Oregon several times (7 hours) in single-engine, four-seat Cessnas – with me at the controls! :eek:
The only way to get over the fear of flying is to fly. (At least that’s what I think – I’ve been in airplanes since I was a little kid.) Maybe it’s fear of the unknown or of not being in control. Suck it up and stick it out. You’ll be fine. And remember: Almost all flights do not end in a crash.
Dr. this still doesn’t do a lot for the nerves…I tell ya when it comes to flying I am the biggest wuss on the planet but I do it anyway. Okay not the worst, but pretty damn close as it’s the take off and landing that freaks me out.
Whammo, my dear sexpot < snort > I don’t think that at 8:00 am I will be drunk, although the thought has crossed my mind, I will have my older brother coming over to pick me up, so I might enjoy a beer along with my Kava Kava…that’s to be seen though. A wee bit early to enjoy a libation to rid thy self of nervous energy. Then again I have never been too chicken to drink a Bloody Mary on a weekend morning or on a vacation morning…you might be onto something there.
Oh and no, my Grandmother lives in Kinsley, Kansas. It’s about 30-45 minutes from Dodge City where we will be flying into. They claim it’s exactly between LA and New York…so the sign says when you drive in to the town from the west end.
OY…I hate flying, I guess it will be safer than a 737 that I understand still has problems, so I will try to focus on that rather than it’s smaller than my Suburban.
YEEESH! I will be drunken all week now, just thinking about this flight…I guarantee it.
Well quick cures i.e. in time for the upcoming flight are a little hard (alcohol comes to mid).
Long term as this appears to be learnt fear; knowledge is usually the best cure that with some positive reinforcement should do the trick. Look at taking up hang-gliding any descent club will teach you all about airflows and you get to be in control; really you’ll love it!
I have been going in planes since I was a week tike, and even before I fathom the idea of planes and why they get you to and from so quickely.
The problem is two flights from and to and back again beginning in Grand Junction Colorado to Stapleton airport in Denver. Scary rides, worse than any amusement park you could imagine.
Being in a tin can of a plane while experiencing severe turbulance, I am am not talking your run of the mill turbulance, then flying into Houston with thunderstorms and even more turbulance in a 747, a stable plane, I have just lost faith in air travel.
In 1990 or 1991 we had a plane coming into the Colorado Springs airport (before the new airport) in March. I think it was flight 585. Crashed due to wind shear. It was coming from California…my father was going to be on that plane and decided to hang back and go to a flea market that afternoon instead.
I can’t tell you what I felt with that. Combined with the fact that I have been in very turbulant planes, large and small, I am a big fucking chicken shit. I make no excuses for that, not one bit.
It’s a matter of nerves. I know I have to do it for my grand mother. I know I will have to do it in the future but it doesn’t ease my nerves at all.
In short, flying almost drives to to the edges of sanity. I can’t help that. I wish it were different but it’s one of my serious fears in life, to die plunging several thousand or even a few thousand feet to my death.
I fear fire, planes and that’s about it. Fire and planes are those things that I dwell on almost obsessive.
That is always my favorite part. He loops, lands, and taxies to his parking spot all without starting the engines. I’ve seen him at Oshkosh several times and he does the most beautiful aerobatics routine out of the whole bunch, even in his clunking Commander.
That’s the truth. I heard about a guy who was deathly afraid of flying and just got sick of it. So, to cure himself, he got his pilot’s license. And it worked. Kind of an extreme action, but anything that gets you up and facing your fear will help it go away.
And really, techie hon, you’re at no worse (or even less, in fact) risk than when you’re out and about in your car (or truck, as you would have it). Admittedly, as far as the feeling of control goes, when you’re driving, you are the driver, and that gives you some feeling of control (I don’t care now that I have normal driving habits, but when I drove a cab it made me a little koo-koo to be a passenger).
The facts of the matter are that driving your own vehicle leaves you constantly exposed to the stupidity/misfortune of others at times when you can not recover from such, no matter how good a driver you are. Statistically speaking, you’re better off in the plane.
I can’t remember; I think you’re agnostic, but you may be atheististic like me. It doesn’t matter - I think manny Christians, Muslims and what have you can agree to the same observation - fate will find you wherever you are.
Somehow that came off a mite heavier than I meant it to be. Anyway, you’re no more at risk in the plane, you can’t really predict or manipulate your ultimate fate and, that all being said, read a little introductory geology and sit by a window - you’ll forget about the worries as you soak up Father Earth’s delights.
And then you could simply prepare for various worst-case scenarios. For instance, take along a small sterno grill, and some sharp knives. If the plane should go down in the mountains, and all rescue attempts cannot find it, you’ll find cannibalism much more palatable when you can properly carve and roast.
Turn the coin over. That airplane flew into severe turbulence and nothing bad happened. Not that I’d recommend flying into a thunderstorm, but most airplanes can withstand an astonishing amount of turbulence. To be honest with you, airplanes have flown into thunderstorms and have been torn apart. That’s why pilots try not to fly into thunderstorms. But unless you actually fly into the cell, and that’s very unlikely, the airplane should withstand the turbulence just fine. Nothing to worry about.
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In 1990 or 1991 we had a plane coming into the Colorado Springs airport (before the new airport) in March. I think it was flight 585. Crashed due to wind shear. It was coming from California…my father was going to be on that plane and decided to hang back and go to a flea market that afternoon instead.
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That one’s harder. I remember when I was a kid a civilian-owned Korean War vintage fighter crashed into a Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour. My sister, who is 8 years older than I am, would not go into a Farrell’s because she was afraid an airplane would crash into it. Sometimes when people “just miss” a tragedy, they develop an irrational fear of similar situations. You just have to realize your fear is irrational. That’s the first step in overcoming it. Also, “no one” heard of wind shear 10 or 20 years ago. Most large airports now have wind shear warning systems. Jets flying into a potential wind shear condition can add some extra speed. Wind shear is dangerous not because it “shears the wings off” as I suspect some people think, but because if an airplane is flying near stall speed – as on landing – and the wind shifts suddenly, then the air flowing over the wings might not be enough to support flight. If you know about the wind shear condition, then you can carry extra knots so that you don’t stall. Large jets take more time to accellerate than a small “puddle jumper”, so I think you’re safer in a small airplane if you get into wind shear unexpectedly.
In any case, just because your father was not on the flight that crashed doesn’t mean you will be on one that does.
Well… Full disclosure time. Pilots are fond of saying, “The most dangerous part of a flight is your drive to the airport.” In fact, flying is more dangerous than driving according to articles I’ve read in recent AOPA Pilot and Flying magazines. It’s a “little white lie” we tell to soothe nervous passengers. But while it’s not exactly true, it’s true enough. Flying, especially on airlines, is very, very safe. Personally, I’d rather be in an airplane than be, as beatle says, “constantly exposed to the stupidity of others”.
You might consider confronting your fears head-on. Getting a pilot’s license might be a little extreme, but it can work. A Cessna or a Piper (the most common airplanes used in training) will feel turbulence more than a big jet on long flexible wings, but you will learn that it’s not a big monster-in-the-dark. You’ll learn how and why an airplane does what it does, and you’ll know how to control it. You’ll gain confidence. People solo after about 10 hours. The pilots of a corporate or commercial airplane have thousands of hours.
I’ve read enough of your posts to know that you are an intelligent person. You know your fear is irrational. If you confront it and conquer it, you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.
I can understand people being uncomfortable with flying from the lack of control standpoint. I don’t care much for being a passenger in a car, bus, or whatever because I am not in control of things.
But keep in mind that even lowly Private Pilots like myself are pretty well trained. The guys (and ladies) who fly for airlines and corporate aviation are the shit. They know what they are doing backwards, forwards, and inverted. I feel better being a passenger in a plane than in a car.
This may sound like a weird idea but try it - ask if you can sit up front if there is only a single pilot. I read somewhere that one reason people don’t like airliners is that the windows are only side facing, and folks don’t like not knowing where they are going.
Personally, I envy you getting to take a trip in a cool plane like that! I got to take a ride in a Navajo Chieftain last year where they were testing the landing gear. The pilot pulled up hard and then let it dive. We pulled a couple of g’s each way. Normally I don’t like wild rides like roller coasters, but that was way cool! But the point is, those planes can take quite a bit of abuse, and you most likley will not fly through anything like that.
JohnnyLA is right about planes and turbulence. Heck, planes not only fly into T-storms, they also fly into hurricanes, and the guys’ll get bruises where their straps dug into their shoulders–the turbulence is that bad. In my 2,000 plus hours in the P-3 airframe, (the same kind that often go into hurricanes), I’ve seen some pretty rough stuff, and the planes get through it just fine. I actually think it’s fun, now… I may as well enjoy it since worrying about it does no good.
OTOH, I understand flying isn’t for everyone. The sitting up front thing is a great idea. I took a puddle jumper flight with US Air, IIRC, about 7 or 8 years ago, and since I was seated right behind the cockpit, the copilot asked me if I wanted to listen in on an extra headset. I was thrilled. If they can’t get you up front, maybe they could swing something like this for you. Having no interest in aviation may make it boring as hell for you, but then, maybe that’s exactly what you need? Either way, bring something to do (a book, crosswords, whatever floats your boat) so you can concentrate on something besides the plane.
I emailed my brother last night to tell him, he’s got to be kidding and here was the gist of his response:
The guy who will be flying is Paul, who I do know and is a sharp and intelligent guy, and has 4000 hours of flight experience in this particular plane alone. This is reassuring to me. He said the plane is much more roomy and comfortable than those shuttle planes the airlines use.
We will be flying only in the mornings when the weather is usually nicer and thunderstorms aren’t usually happening. It looks like the weather forecast is in our favor.
I will be heavily sedated…okay only with Kava Kava, but it works wonders for me – it could be all psychosomatic (sp, meaning
Anyhow, it will be a step in the right direction to getting me off this wimpy ass idea that airplanes are bad trasportation.
