I have flying. I always have. I’m one of those people that has to drive everywhere, no matter what, because I don’t feel safe if someone else is driving me. So this plane thing is really bad. What should I do? Any advice? This has been going on forever, and I’ll be fine until about a week before I have to leave, which is now. I’m sick to my stomach as I write this. I’m thinking about calling my doctor and getting a prescription for something. I had some Valium once before a root canal and that stuff was pretty nice!
I think part of the problem is I don’t see anything rational about BEING FIVE MILES ABOVE THE EARTH IN SOMETHING THAT WEIGHS A MILLION TONS AND IS BEING HELD UP BY AIR!
Sorry, sorry, the drug’s are coming, yes, the nice doctor is going to call the pharmacy… okay, this’ll be fine, yes, this’ll be fine soon…
A girl
If it’s a control thing, you can get a pilot’s license. There’s nothing like being alone in an airplane, looking out the windscreen, and thinking, “I’m the King of All I Survey!”
Scooting around in a helicopter without doors and looking at the scenery 500 feet below is fun too.
I drop into a trance the instant I sit down on a plane. Coworkers have reported me sitting perfectly motionless, upright, hands clamped on armrests, eyes tightly shut for nearly 6 hours. I hate flying–my first flight ever was on a little twin turboprop in an icestorm, with a guy in handcuffs and his police escort a few rows back. I also knew mech engineers in college who now work for Boeing that I wouldn’t trust to design a folding chair–I’ve seen them try. This does not incline me to trust the planes–and, no, reminding me that the fleets are much too old to have been designed by those guys will not help.
Did I mention that I hate flying, too? Not flying is cheaper than therapy, BTW.
I fly all the time for work - in planes from as large as 747’s to as small as 2-seaters. On trips as close as KC-St. Louis, to as far as KC-Italy. I have to about 26 times a year. And you know?
It terrifies me too!
Vallium will help, although it makes me urp sometimes. The only I’ve been able to do is get a very interesting book to read. Not much help here.
If you’re flying international, and there’s any way you can swing it, fly Business Class. You normally get your own color TV with 20+ channels, a big lounge chair to sleep in, and all the free drinks you want. Thank God my company always flys Business on Foreign trips.
I thought I’d never, ever write this, but: There are some pretty decent self-help books out there. They’ll cram your head full of facts about how & why the thing works, what are the whirring sounds, why does the engine noise suddenly diminish and nope, the pilot doesn’t climb as fast as you think. Perhaps they could convince you of the rather solid rationality of supporting a million tons or thereabouts on thin air?
I haven’t had to face the problem myself - my main gripes are recycled air, sitting way too close for comfort and never being able to talk the pilots into letting me steer - but I’ll read anything about flying and the book I got my hands on was pretty damn entertaining. Unfortunately for you, it was in Danish. Worth a shot, anyway.
Spiny, I already know all that stuff. I can’t speak for the others, but it has no impact on my reaction to flying. I don’t need drugs or therapy to enable me to fly. I don’t drink on the plane or beforehand. I cope with my business trips with cold resolve and a bit of self-hypnosis. I just will not fly if I can avoid it. Even if it didn’t frighten me at all, I’d hate it for the reasons you mentioned–especially not getting to steer.
I too am terrified of flying, although I probably do it about half a dozen times a year. Mr. Golf has his commercial pilot’s license and has a small 4-seater plane, although we don’t use it very often. (Won’t go into the story about testing another plane we were going to buy about a year ago and one engine went out while we were ascending).
Anyway, when we are on commercial flight, it helps when he explains to me what is going on. If we are delayed on the runway, he’ll explain to me what’s going on up in the cockpit, etc. When we hit turbulence, he goes on and on about the different kinds of clouds, air pockets, blah, blah, blah.
Moral of the story here is, sit beside someone who won’t shut up and who will bore the hell out of you. Works for me everytime. I’m so intent on thinking of strangling him, I forget that I’m scared to death of flying.
I also take two Word Search magazines (same exact ones) and Mr. Golf and I will have a contest to see who can finish each puzzle first. They’re easy and don’t take a lot of concentration, but they do keep your mind off the fact you’re on an airplane.
I love to fly. I’m not too crazy about RIDING in a plane, but heights, flight, etc don’t phase me. And since I can sleep anywhere, I always nap if I feel anxious.
Unfortunately, about two years ago I left a large company where my duties required me to fly on a regular basis so I’ve been grounded.
Anthracite, you must work for a small/medium sized company. Large companies that I’m familiar with are entirely too preoccupied with profits to fly most of their people business/first class.
I’m scared to fly too and I’ve never even set foot on a plane! My first experience flying will be next April when Matt and I fly to Las Vegas to get married!! It’s only about a 1 1/2 hour flight but I just know that the minute I get on that plane something’s going to go wrong and we’re going to crash and die!
I have a fear of heights so anything high up scares me. Amusement parks are the worst. I’ll ride the roller coasters but I scream like a 10 year old and make an ass out of myself when I ride them so I don’t go to amusement parks anymore. Maybe someday I’ll get over this fear but I doubt it.
You think that’s bad?? I can’t even swing at the park anymore, is that not ridiculous?? It’s true! I panic.
Strangely enough I can look out of an airplane window, I guess because it’s so high up the ground doesn’t look real, and besides, I like to check and see if anything’s smoking, like engines, etc.
I got some Xanax from my doctor … I’ve never been able to sleep on airplanes, and I hope this’ll help! As far as games and books, I always take plenty! But after, oh, 8 or 9 hours, two bad movies and a meal, I long for some shut eye!
What’s worse is going from a big plane to a smaller one, because the smaller planes are always more bouncy and have more strange noises.
Medium to large sized. And it’s only Business on International flights. We do coach domestically.
Business class has many other hidden benefits to it, like great flexibility to change your ticket on a moment’s notice (for iffy meetings), they are fully refundable, ability to schedule LONG stopovers on intermediate cities (saves you $$ if you’ve got business in 2 cities), much better customer and traveller assistance, much faster check-in.
Plus, most all international coach flights only allow 1 carry-on. So you carry on just your laptop, and pray the rest of your business materials make it there OK (last 4 flights - 3 lost bags. Hmmmm)
ALSO - a lot of times I am going over to start working immediately. Business class does give you a good nights sleep at least. And if you do something like British Airways, they have a cool arrivals lounge at Heathrow so you can freshen up when you arrive at 5:50 am, and your meeting is at 10:00, and of course in London no hotel allows check in before noon.
Of course, the drawback is the cost - typically about $4000 - $6000 round trip to Europe.
One time, BA upgraded me to First Class Transatlantic from Italy to Atlanta. Very nice! I had my own personal stewardess! There were 16 seats in the 777 first class, 3 stewardesses, and only 3 seats filled. Whoooohooo!
