A pilot friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go up with him this afternoon. I’m going to do it. I am a little nervous, but I think I’ll be OK.
I’m 10% nervous and 90% excited.
I do fine on commercial planes, but I’ve never been in one of these tiny little planes. I think I’m going to take a plastic grocery bag just to ensure I don’t soil his instrument panel.
good luck! Have fun!
Mouthbreather, I’m jealous. I love little planes like that. Do this: First, tell the pilot you’re a little nervous, and ask that he not do too much in the way of aerobatics. And if you do feel a little queasy, tell him. He’d appreciate that, as the alternative is risking a smelly mess in a small place.
And second (or is this 3rd), ask if you can take the controls, if you want. Sometimes concentrating on another task takes your mind off your inner ear discombobulation. Just strive for straight and level for awhile.
Finally, consider some sort of motion sickness meds or those Sea Bands that press on the acupressure point on the inside of the wrist. Some people swear by them.
pez, thanks.
ralf, I will make sure that he doesn’t pull any crazy moves. I probably should get some dramamine, but I’m feeling risky today.
I’ll be up in the air very soon. Look for news reports of a fiery explosion! Also, I am going to try to throw a tomato at the local news traffic helicopter.
Ya know, it really annoys me whenever I offer to take someone up in one of the itty-bitty two-seaters, or even the four-seaters, and some groundpounder starts up immediately with the “take some dramamine” or other motion sickness remedy.
First of all, even in the tiniest of aircraft it isn’t always a bounce-fest - ask the pilot about conditions for the local area and time of day. Early morning can have extremely smooth flying, early afternoon is a different matter.
Secondly, contrary to rumor and myth, merely sitting in the passenger seat of a small airplane does NOT immediately induce vomiting, projectile or otherwise. Most adults know if they’re prone to upchucking in moving vechicles or not. If you don’t normally get carsick/seasick/airsick then you probably won’t >urps< in a small plane either. Most of those anti-motion sickness remedies make you drowsy or wonky or both, thereby potentially removing some of the fun from the experience.
On the other hand, if you ARE prone to getting sick in various moving vehicles the pilot would like to know this ahead of time in order to stock barf bags, papertowels, and disinfectant/air freshener. In which case, please do take something beforehand.
As for being afraid of heights - probably not an issue. I know lots of folks who are afraid of heights but fine in an airplane, even a small one. One of those folks is a favorite flight instructor of mine - he’s OK as long as there are doors on the aircraft. So…
Don’t go looking for trouble.
Have fun.
Bring a camera
If you’re nervous or woozy let the pilot know, even if you’re only a little nervous or woozy, it helps in flight planning.
I landed about an hour ago.
It was pretty cool, I was feeling a little bit pukey about 30 minutes into the flight. (There weren’t any barf bags :eek: ). It passed, though. I am prone to airsickness normally, so this was not a surprise. Turbulance wasn’t so bad, I’ve had worse on commmercial flights.
And broomstick, you are right. The heights thing wasn’t really an issue. I am sure I would be more panicky on top of a 12 foot ladder than I was in the plane today.
Overall, pretty cool. Don’t know that I’ll do it again in the immediate future, but it was a cool experience.
groundpounder? I’ll have to remember that one…
Yay! Hope you had a lot of fun!
Sounds exciting!