fear of flying

[TromboneAl]

My fear of flying consists of fear of waiting around in airports, long lines, being cramped in the airplane seat for long periods, etc.

 

[Moemg]

Martha , This will not solve your fear of flying but I think it is pretty funny . My Mom who is 93 got invited to a big celebration in Pa. . She is afraid to fly alone but unfortunately both my sister and I had plans so we were not able to fly with her . I told her it would be easy . My sister would escort her right to the plane and my other sister would meet her at the landing in Pa.. My Mom loves a good party so she decided to go . Well flight to Pa. was okay . Flight home they had to make an emergency landing because they smelled smoke . I figured that would be it for flying for my Mom but no , I think she really enjoyed that adventure .Her life had become pretty boring now she has something to talk about in her card club.

 

[cantlogin]

I also have a small airport a couple miles away where they give lessons. But given that winter is here and this option does make me want to hyperventilate a bit I think I will go with number 1 or 2.

This isn't an attempt to change your list but sunny winter days are excellent for flying. Less turbulent than hot days and both engine and aerodynamic performance is far superior.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

Funny I should happen across this thread and right below it find "2010, the year to travel". Trust me, get on a big plane, one where bumps and groans and grinds are mostly mutted. Find a window seat behind the wing and watch all the mechanical marvels that take place in flying. Watch the wing flaps go up and down, in and out. Experience the takeoff speed and lift, the wheels retracting and then the flaps as you accelerate. Then the reverse when you come in for a landing. Neat experience. You'll love it. After years of flying I took a fishing trip up in Canada where you fly into a lake on one of those pontoon planes. My first trip in one of those so the guys let me sit in the copilot seat. Had to wear ear mufflers to keep out the noise. That was an experience. I'll keep my flying to the big boys. To this day, when I fly, I always check the type of aircraft that is on the schedule. I love the MD88, Boeing 757, 767 and 777. Only been on a 747 one time from San Francisco to Okinawa. Eleven hours one way. Tough trip. Go get 'em!!

 

[Martha]

This isn't an attempt to change your list but sunny winter days are excellent for flying. Less turbulent than hot days and both engine and aerodynamic performance is far superior.

And the air is "thicker" too.

 

[Sue J]

I'm not afraid of flying, I just dislike it. Too many people, too close together. The pressurization feels strange. I don't like the constant loud noise. I've had takeoffs that were delayed for 2 hours and I was sitting with some creepy people. I've been on planes that circled the airport so long that I got nauseous and ended up using that handy bag. I don't look at it as a fun exciting way to travel, but I have to admit it's a great time saver.

I'll do it if I have to but it's more of an ordeal than a great adventure.

 

[Walt34]

I'm not afraid of flying, I just dislike it. Too many people, too close together.

I'm that way also - I absolutely loathe airliner flying. To me it's nothing more than a bus with wings, and that nonsense of getting to the airport two hours before takeoff is ludicrous.

But owning one's own airplane gets you spoiled. Do the preflight, load it up, crank it up, and fifteen minutes after arrival at the airport you're climbing out. That's the way it should be.

 

[W2R]

I'm not afraid of flying, I just dislike it. Too many people, too close together. The pressurization feels strange. I don't like the constant loud noise. I've had takeoffs that were delayed for 2 hours and I was sitting with some creepy people. I've been on planes that circled the airport so long that I got nauseous and ended up using that handy bag. I don't look at it as a fun exciting way to travel, but I have to admit it's a great time saver.

I'll do it if I have to but it's more of an ordeal than a great adventure.

Same here. After ER, I don't expect to have the same pressures to travel quickly so I doubt I will fly much. We love driving places spontaneously, taking whatever route we wish and exploring along the way. But then, we don't anticipate very many long trips after we retire.

Meanwhile, this weekend we will be flying to Oregon to attend the wedding of my daughter and her beloved fiance. We will fly back the next day. I am not looking forward to flying, but I wouldn't miss my only child's wedding for anything!

We can't stay because we have to get back to our jobs. Frank has a hard time getting much vacation time at all, much less at a particular time planned in advance like this. (Sometimes he can take a week here or there at the last minute). He did manage to get out of OT just for this *one* weekend by telling them about it months ago.

 

[Rustic23]

Fear of heights and fear of flying are two separate things, IMO. You would be surprised how many pilots are afraid of heights. This came up in the squadron one day, and 30% of the pilots admitted to being afraid of heights. Your fear is irrational, and you know it, that does not make it any less. I would vote for option 1. However, I would like to talk with some of the folks that have gone through the program and see if it worked long term.

 

[TromboneAl]

A friend's mom had an unreasonable fear/obsession that her luggage would break open on the luggage carousel, and that people would see her underwear. Then after a flight, her luggage broke open on the carousel, and people saw her underwear.

 

[Moemg]

This is my fear (the sunshine skyway bridge ) . I do drive on it if absolutely necessary but otherwise I avoid it like the black plague . It scares the crap out of me .

 

[Martha]

This is my fear (the sunshine skyway bridge ) . I do drive on it if absolutely necessary but otherwise I avoid it like the black plague . It scares the crap out of me .

My FIL, who used the bridge on occasion, told me once that fairly frequently people have to be "talked through" driving the bridge. Sometimes people get part of the way over the middle span and just can't go any further.

I drove over it a couple of times. It is disconcerting to go up and up like you are going to go off the top edge. Gives me a bit of the willies but not enough to have avoided the bridge.

 

[CuppaJoe]

....Then after a flight, her luggage broke open on the carousel, and people saw her underwear.

One of my "clean out the closet" techniques is to take my oldest undies on a trip and throw them out as I go along.
-----
I have a problem when seeing no visible support under me. That FL bridge would do it. I don’t panic but yes, talking myself through it is very effective. I sometimes go up, or worse, down this staircase either because that’s where I want to go and as a desensitizing attempt. It can be embarrassing because I hang on to both railings. People come along and are very kind; they say the stairs in next block are scarier. But look, I’m not alone, there is a warning on a staircase!

 

[W2R]

I had to drive over the Sunshine Skyway bridge unexpectedly when I was flown out there for a job interview years ago. I had no idea what I was getting myself into but was just trying to get to the hotel. The map said nothing like "incredibly scary, high bridge!" on it.

I didn't like it one bit! But you've got to do what you've got to do. I was utterly terrified but made it to the other side.

One time when driving west over the big "New Bridge" over the Mississippi in Baton Rouge on I-10, I was stopped by traffic. There had been an accident, and I was stuck right at the top for over a half hour. That was really scary, too. I could feel the bridge flexing up and down with the wind, and with the traffic going the other way. It did not feel one bit solid. All I could think of was, "Why, oh why did I do this?"

 

[Moemg]

My FIL, who used the bridge on occasion, told me once that fairly frequently people have to be "talked through" driving the bridge. Sometimes people get part of the way over the middle span and just can't go any further.

I drove over it a couple of times. It is disconcerting to go up and up like you are going to go off the top edge. Gives me a bit of the willies but not enough to have avoided the bridge.

The weird thing is it does not bother me as much going from sarasota to St. Pete because you hit the awful part quickly and then it is done . I can not drive it from St.Pete to Sarasota because you see the awful part coming for awhile before you get to it and by then I am in a panic mode . Even going over it when my SO drives I close my eyes for the top part . The reason the bridge is this high is because the old bridge was hit by a freighter . It knocked out a section and a lot of people drove off the bridge and died .

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I drove over it a couple of times. It is disconcerting to go up and up like you are going to go off the top edge. Gives me a bit of the willies but not enough to have avoided the bridge.

It's a lot of fun on a motorcycle. If you are not too busy covering your eyes and screaming, the view is gorgeous.

There are two huge fishing piers at either side of the bridge where people have caught almost anything including tarpon, grouper, sharks.

 

[TromboneAl]

This is my fear (the sunshine skyway bridge ) . I do drive on it if absolutely necessary but otherwise I avoid it like the black plague . It scares the crap out of me .

Yet it's the undramatic Minnesota bridges that are deadly.

 

[Moemg]

There is a bridge In California on the Pacific coast highway that just extends out from the mountain so it looks like nothing is supporting it . I drove over this once at the end of the bridge my husband had to peel my hands off the steering wheel and give me a paper bag because I was having a panic attack . The Pacific coast highway is breathtaking but scary .

 

[Martha]

Yet it's the undramatic Minnesota bridges that are deadly.

I can't even guess how many times I went over that bridge before its collapse. The last time was only a few days before the collapse. Friends of mine had just driven under the bridge on river road minutes before the failure. I course we never gave it a second thought. Now I drive over the new bridge and after the first couple of crosses I don't think about the collapse anymore.

In contrast, I have gone over the San Francisco Bay bridge a few times and get the willies thinking about earthquakes.

 

[CuppaJoe]

....

In contrast, I have gone over the San Francisco Bay bridge a few times and get the willies thinking about earthquakes.

Reminds me of an old friend when she wanted to go from SF to Oakland, was terrified going though the BART tunnel. Somehow she calmed down when I told to think of it as a train. I knew she loved trains and moving slowly in general.

Any distraction might help. Seems to me on planes, there is a distraction every few seconds. Coffee cart coming, peanuts being thrown at passengers, ear phones, movies, and on and on.

 

[NW-Bound]

Some years ago I was assaulted on a bus while seated in a window seat, surrounded by five or six large delinquents, one of whom sat next to me in the aisle seat and leaned against me. Long story but eventually he said, "I'm tired of leaning on you" and he and the others got off the bus. I've always had some claustrophobia but that event created a problem for many years.

Sorry to hear about this, CJ. Reminded me of the case of Bernhard Goetz. How I would love to be a juror in his case, just to do the same that the actual jury did: found him not guilty of all charges except an illegal firearms possession count.

 

[CuppaJoe]

Sorry to hear about this, CJ. Reminded me of the case of Bernhard Goetz. How I would love to be a juror in his case, just to do the same that the actual jury did: found him not guilty of all charges except an illegal firearms possession count.

Thanks, NW-B. In an unrelated incident SO and I were on a bus. Bunch of teens got on dressed like they just came from Sunday School. One of them stole a bag from SO, (bag contained mainly photos and some clothes). It was literally a rip-off, SO threw the bag handle in the gutter in disgust a few blocks later. One kid ran straight into a plain clothes cop who ran him down and made an example of him. Kid made a deal on the morning it was to go to trial so we didn't have to testify. After SO moved out of that neighborhood, we stopped riding those bus lines.

 

[Achiever51]

The reason the bridge is this high is because the old bridge was hit by a freighter . It knocked out a section and a lot of people drove off the bridge and died .

I was there in May, 1980 and I'll never forget it. DH and I were vacationing in Florida and stayed the night in St. Petersburg, planning to drive down to Naples the following morning. I remember reading the AAA guidebook and telling DH that he was going to have to drive over this bridge because it was really high and in sections you could see all the way to the water, which was terrifying to me. When we work up that morning, it was raining really hard and we decided to wait awhile before heading south. So instead of getting on the road at about 7 am, we drove around St. Pete and stopped for breakfast. While we were having our third or so cup of coffee, someone came in and said they heard on the radio that a freighter hit the Sunshine Skyway bridge. It was a real "do you remember where you were when?" moment and after watching some of the rescue efforts on tv, we decided not to even attempt to go south. Headed over to the Orlando area, but the whole sad experience clouded the vacation and we decided to cut it short and head back home. To this day, when I see a Greyhound bus on a bridge, I think of all those people who died when their bus went off that bridge.

 

[vicente solano]

Airline travel is hours of boredom interrupted by moments of stark terror-AL BOLISKA.

 

[Moemg]

I was there in May, 1980 and I'll never forget it. DH and I were vacationing in Florida and stayed the night in St. Petersburg, planning to drive down to Naples the following morning. I remember reading the AAA guidebook and telling DH that he was going to have to drive over this bridge because it was really high and in sections you could see all the way to the water, which was terrifying to me. When we work up that morning, it was raining really hard and we decided to wait awhile before heading south. So instead of getting on the road at about 7 am, we drove around St. Pete and stopped for breakfast. While we were having our third or so cup of coffee, someone came in and said they heard on the radio that a freighter hit the Sunshine Skyway bridge. It was a real "do you remember where you were when?" moment and after watching some of the rescue efforts on tv, we decided not to even attempt to go south. Headed over to the Orlando area, but the whole sad experience clouded the vacation and we decided to cut it short and head back home. To this day, when I see a Greyhound bus on a bridge, I think of all those people who died when their bus went off that bridge.

It is really scary when you miss being involved in something tragic. I knew several people who survived 911 by being late for work or sick . My nephew was supposed to be on the plane from Newark that hit the towers but he changed for a later flight since they were travelling with a newborn .