Not to nitpick a good story, but “Keep the nose up” is not good advice to someone trying to keep an unpowered aircraft under control. As the stall warning was announcing, this scheme tends to lead to flight at unacceptably low airspeeds.
With a plane whose weight and balance is in the ballpark, about all you need to do is to keep the wings approximately level - you can pretty much let the pitch attitude take care of itself. If the airspeed isn’t what’s desired, modest adjustment of pitch trim should suffice to correct it.
The general message is that aircraft don’t need engines to fly under complete control. Power is useful for postponing encounters with the ground.
I don’t have a phobia per se, but I’ve always been a nervous flyer. My justification is, “Yes, I know I have a one-in-a-gazillion chance of dying on this flight… but that’s no comfort if this happens to be that one-in-a-gazillion flight!” I’m most afraid of the airplace parts wearing out and catching on fire (not coincidentally, I noticed I got a lot more nervous after watching a documentary about SwissAir Flight 111).
The thing that’s helped me the most is buying the book “Ask the Pilot” by Patrick Smith. He writes an aviation column for Salon.com that I’ve always enjoyed reading, and he does a nice job of explaining the mechanics of flight and why airplanes move like they do. I took it on a flight from Detroit to New Orleans last year and read the whole thing; it was the easiest flight I’d ever been on!
I have never been afraid of flying, although I am “aware” during take-off and landing…
However, since having 2 children, nowages 4 and 6, I look forward to flying (alone) to read a book or listen to music in peace. Damn, someone will even bring me a pillow and something to drink!