Flying..

[RRolfe]

Is there anyone else out there who is just scared to death of flying? I am! The whole idea of being 50K feet in the air and your life is in the pilots control.. yikes. :confused:

I have a few days left then I have to fly all the way across the country... getting nervous...

so does anyone else here have this problem?

[Rewdog]

Nope, never been afraid of flying, I find it fascinating. I'm surprised more people aren't scared of driving or riding in cars though, I mean every time you get on the road you are trusting the person behind your wheel, and on every side of your car. The guy next to you with one swift arm movement could kill you or seriously injure you for life.

[RRolfe]

yes... but...

i look at it this way.. if i get in a car accident.. theres a CHANCE i will live. Theres airbags, seat belts and other such things to help save me.

if your falling from that high... you can kiss it goodbye. your dead.

and what if that pilot has a bad day?
what if he just found out his wife was cheating on him.. and went boozing.. and now he's gonna fly!?!??!

what if the ground crew didn't do a good job checking the plane?

what if we run out of gas?!?!?

[Rewdog]

Here's an Article just for you, so you feel more prepared.


How to survive a 40,000 foot fall!

By David Carkeet
Admit it: You want to be the sole survivor of an airline disaster. You aren't looking for a disaster to happen, but if it does, you see yourself coming through it. I'm here to tell you that you're not out of touch with reality—you can do it. Sure, you'll take a few hits, and I'm not saying there won't be some sweaty flashbacks later on, but you'll make it. You'll sit up in your hospital bed and meet the press. Refreshingly, you will keep God out of your public comments, knowing that it's unfair to sing His praises when all of your dead fellow-passengers have no platform from which to offer an alternative view.
Let's say your jet blows apart at 35,000 feet. You exit the aircraft, and you begin to descend independently. Now what?
First of all, you're starting off a full mile higher than Everest, so after a few gulps of disappointing air you're going to black out. This is not a bad thing. If you have ever tried to keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, you know what I mean. This brief respite from the ambient fear and chaos will come to an end when you wake up at about 15,000 feet. Here begins the final phase of your descent, which will last about a minute. It is a time of planning and preparation. Look around you. What equipment is available? None? Are you sure? Look carefully. Perhaps a shipment of folded parachutes was in the cargo hold, and the blast opened the box and scattered them. One of these just might be within reach. Grab it, put it on, and hit the silk. You're sitting pretty.
Other items can be helpful as well. Let nature be your guide. See how yon maple seed gently wafts to earth on gossamer wings. Look around for a proportionate personal vehicle—some large, flat, aerodynamically suitable piece of wreckage. Mount it and ride, cowboy! Remember: molecules are your friends. You want a bunch of molecules of solid matter hitting a bunch of atmospheric molecules in order to reduce your rate of acceleration.
As you fall, you're going to realize that your previous visualization of this experience has been off the mark. You have seen yourself as a loose, free body, and you've imagined yourself in the belly-down, limbs-out position (good: you remembered the molecules). But, pray tell, who unstrapped your seat belt? You could very well be riding your seat (or it could be riding you; if so, straighten up and fly right!); you might still be connected to an entire row of seats or to a row and some of the attached cabin structure.
If thus connected, you have some questions to address. Is your new conveyance air-worthy? If your entire row is intact and the seats are occupied, is the passenger next to you now going to feel free to break the code of silence your body language enjoined upon him at takeoff? If you choose to go it alone, simply unclasp your seat belt and drift free. Resist the common impulse to use the wreckage fragment as a "jumping-off point" to reduce your plunge-rate, not because you will thereby worsen the chances of those you leave behind (who are they kidding? they're goners!), but just because the effect of your puny jump is so small compared with the alarming Newtonian forces at work.
Just how fast are you going? Imagine standing atop a train going 120 mph, and the train goes through a tunnel but you do not. You hit the wall above the opening at 120 mph. That's how fast you will be going at the end of your fall. Yes, it's discouraging, but proper planning requires that you know the facts. You're used to seeing things fall more slowly. You're used to a jump from a swing or a jungle gym, or a fall from a three-story building on TV action news. Those folks are not going 120 mph. They will not bounce. You will bounce. Your body will be found some distance away from the dent you make in the soil (or crack in the concrete). Make no mistake: you will be motoring.
At this point you will think: trees. It's a reasonable thought. The concept of "breaking the fall" is powerful, as is the hopeful message implicit in the *****ry song "Rock-a-bye, Baby," which one must assume from the affect of the average singer tells the story not of a baby's death but of its survival. You will want a tall tree with an excurrent growth pattern—a single, undivided trunk with lateral branches, delicate on top and thicker as you cascade downward. A conifer is best. The redwood is attractive for the way it rises to shorten your fall, but a word of caution here: the redwood's lowest branches grow dangerously high from the ground; having gone 35,000 feet, you don't want the last 50 feet to ruin everything. The perfectly tiered Norfolk Island pine is a natural safety net, so if you're near New Zealand, you're in luck, pilgrim. When crunch time comes, elongate your body and hit the tree limbs at a perfectly flat angle as close to the trunk as possible. Think!
Snow is good—soft, deep, drifted snow. Snow is lovely. Remember that you are the pilot and your body is the aircraft. By tilting forward and putting your hands at your side, you can modify your pitch and make progress not just vertically but horizontally as well. As you go down 15,000 feet, you can also go sideways two-thirds of that distance—that's two miles! Choose your landing zone. You be the boss.
If your search discloses no trees or snow, the parachutist's "five-point landing" is useful to remember even in the absence of a parachute. Meet the ground with your feet together, and fall sideways in such a way that five parts of your body successively absorb the shock, equally and in this order: feet, calf, thigh, buttock, and shoulder. 120 divided by 5 = 24. Not bad! 24 mph is only a bit faster than the speed at which experienced parachutists land. There will be some bruising and breakage but no loss of consciousness to delay your press conference. Just be sure to apportion the 120-mph blow in equal fifths. Concentrate!
Much will depend on your attitude. Don't let negative thinking ruin your descent. If you find yourself dwelling morbidly on your discouraging starting point of seven miles up, think of this: Thirty feet is the cutoff for fatality in a fall. That is, most who fall from thirty feet or higher die. Thirty feet! It's nothing! Pity the poor sod who falls from such a "height." What kind of planning time does he have?
Think of the pluses in your situation. For example, although you fall faster and faster for the first fifteen seconds or so, you soon reach "terminal velocity"—the point at which atmospheric drag resists gravity's acceleration in a perfect standoff. Not only do you stop speeding up, but because the air is thickening as you fall, you actually begin to slow down. With every foot that you drop, you are going slower and slower.
There's more. When parachutists focus on a landing zone, sometimes they become so fascinated with it that they forget to pull the ripcord. Since you probably have no ripcord, "target fixation" poses no danger. Count your blessings.
Think of others who have gone before you. Think of Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant who in 1972 fell 33,000 feet in the tail of an exploded DC-9 jetliner; she landed in snow and lived. Vesna knew about molecules.
Think of Joe Hermann of the Royal Australian Air Force, blown out of his bomber in 1944 without a parachute. He found himself falling through the night sky amid airplane debris and wildly grabbed a piece of it. It turned out to be not debris at all, but rather a fellow flyer in the process of pulling his ripcord. Joe hung on and, as a courtesy, hit the ground first, breaking the fall of his savior and a mere two ribs of his own. Joe was not a quitter. Don't you be.
Think of Nick Alkemade, an RAF tailgunner who jumped from his flaming turret without a parachute and fell 18,000 feet. When he came to and saw stars overhead, he lit a cigarette. He would later describe the fall as "a pleasant experience." Nick's trick: fir trees, underbrush, and snow.
But in one important regard, Nick is a disappointment. He gave up. As he plummeted to Germany, he concluded he was going to die and felt "a strange peace." This is exactly the wrong kind of thinking. It will get you nowhere but dead fast. You cannot give up and plan aggressively at the same time.
To conclude, here are some words that might help you avoid such a collapse of resolve on your way down.
"Keep a-goin'." (Frank L. Stanton)
"Failure is not an option." (Ed Harris, as the guy in Apollo 13 who says, "Failure is not an option")
"'Hope' is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops-at all." (Emily Dickinson)

[interactive]

You have more of a chance of dying in a car crash then you do of flying. I love flying, special small planes and gliders. It's not all that bad :D

[RRolfe]

why does everyone smile with a big grin when they say "its not all that bad"?

Thats just like saying... "I am lying.. your going to die"

[Rewdog]

Maybe he's smiling because he finds it strange that you think flying is scary :p:

[interactive]

I was smiling cause I like flying. But you wont die, plus there are some pretty cute flight attendants, but then again I didn't say that.

[JeremyV]

And on international flights it is free booze :D

[suppleSupport]

I'm not afraid of flying, but I feel just a tad queasy during turbulence :yikes:

[Rewdog]

Originally posted by JeremyV:

And on international flights it is free booze :D
mmm, british airways is my favorite. When I was 13 or so I was flying to England. When I arrived at the airport, the desk said they had misplaced my ticket and overbooked, but they'd move me up to first class for free. So I felt like a hot shot, up in the heated lazy boy, slippers and a personal TV. The flight attendant stopped by every few minutes to fill my champagne glass as she had gladly informed me we were over 'international waters'. My parents(stuck in coach) blamed it on jet lagg when I slept the whole day after I got off the plane. :banana:

[Robert]

How about we put super duper big parachutes on the planes, like what the U.S. Army uses for tanks when they are dropping from the sky? That way, if something happens, you can "guide" down. hehe

[JeremyV]

Originally posted by Rewdog:

mmm, british airways is my favorite. When I was 13 or so I was flying to England. When I arrived at the airport, the desk said they had misplaced my ticket and overbooked, but they'd move me up to first class for free. So I felt like a hot shot, up in the heated lazy boy, slippers and a personal TV. The flight attendant stopped by every few minutes to fill my champagne glass as she had gladly informed me we were over 'international waters'. My parents(stuck in coach) blamed it on jet lagg when I slept the whole day after I got off the plane. :banana:

On my last trip to Europe, I didn't know of this rule. I was old enough to drink, but didn't know it was free, so I just had my one little beer that came with my meal. Then we were flying out of London to Amsterdam and a buddy of mine told me it was free... so, that short hour and 20 minute flight, the drinks just kept coming.

Problem was getting off the plain, nobody knew any dutch or german or anything, so we had no idea where to go or what to do :D Then on the way home leaving Paris back to home, it was a turbulent ride, so we all got loaded again to make the flight go quicker :banana:

I mean for how much they charge for flights, I might as well get my money's worth right? :D

[shaunewing]

I personally love flying; I aim to fly at least once a year; the last time I flew was in January.

I remember a few years ago when my mum had to go on a plane for the first time (she's 36). She got home from work and told me that they were sending her interstate to a conference. As soon as she said that, the news came on about that Concorde crash in France.

Quite freaky, and she was extremely nervous, but after she flew she was fine and now loves flying (although she has only flown twice since then).

The first time I flew was 11 years ago (at the time I was 8 years old). I recall a situation where I had just finished going to the toilet when we hit bad turbulence that knocked me over; if the turbulence had been any earlier then it could have been quite an interesting situation.

Currently I have flown with (in A-Z)
- Air Niugini
- Ansett (no longer with us).
- Impulse Airlines (Qantas bought them a while back)
- Qantas
- Virgin Blue

The food was best on Air Niugini. Free champagne, juices, etc. and meal with actual silverware (which was most peculiar, especially as I flew with them in Dec-2001).

Qantas and Virgin Blue are my favourite of the two. Generally when booking domestic I'll try Qantas and if nothing is available I'll try Virgin Blue.

--Shaun

[Robert]

Every summer we would go to Europe, and since my dad was in the army, the plane ticket was free. However, we had to go in the army planes, which had:

- no windows
- seats facing backwards (you'd lean foward when plane taking off and landing)
- all U.S. Soliders at the front of the plane
- Loud, LOUD, LOUD!

It was big and loud and there wasn't music or a video. It was the Army!

Now I fly commerical and love to fly.

[interactive]

My parents divorced when I was about 2 and I remember me and my older brother would always go down from North Idaho to Phoenix. Always flying Delta (which is ok) Or Alaska. I remember one time though, I had broken my ankle at my dad's house, and so on the way back I had to ride "handicaped". If anyone has ever been in the newer Denver and Salt Lake city air port you know how big they are. I got to ride on one of those little trolly things all the way accross. I felt like a king. lol. Ahh those were the days (was like 7 traveling alone)...

[RRolfe]

I hate to fly... i couldnt imagine doing it alone.
i have been on planes a few times... (never willingly.. or sober) and every time it gets me...

like today.. i am freaking out.. and its like 3 days away.

:(

[Debbie]

I hate to fly. I've done it plenty of times since hubby was in the Air Force and that's the way we had to move to different bases, and I wanted to go to Norway and flying was the best way to get there, so I did that a few times. I still hated it though. It is partly that I am afraid of heights (I even get queasy watching a movie where they might fall off the roof or a cliff or something), partly because I am a little claustrophobic, partly because I am afraid of a crash and turbulence makes me crazy. It didn't help any when they decided you can't smoke on airplanes anymore either.

We came back to the States after our tour in England, got off the plane in NYC and that was it for me. It was a rough flight on a nasty airplane. We took a train from NYC to here and I decided then that I was never going to fly again if I could possibly avoid it. I highly recommend train travel. That was a hoot.

That said, my sister has been a flight attendant for years and flies all the time, many times every week, worst thing that ever happened to her that I know of is that they hit an air pocket once and dropped fast while she was walking down the aisle and she went weightless or something for a couple seconds. A passenger seated next to her commented that he'd never seen a stewardess fly in the cabin before. She said it was interesting. lol

It really is a safe mode of travel. Think of the thousands of people flying thousands and thousands of miles every day and figure how many times do you ever hear something went wrong? It's a big deal all over the news when something goes wrong because it IS so rare.

[RRolfe]

with the airport security around here since 9-11 they have made it VERY hard on smokers. the first thing you do is go get your tickets at the counter.. then go through security... at this point... theres no smoking.. and oh yeah.. dont forget to show up 2 FREAKING HOURS EARLY so you can get through the security it took you 5 mins to get through. The theres the flight.. and the landing time, the unloading time... bagage claim.. then MAYBE just maybe you can have a smoke..

and when you smoke 2 packs a day.. it doesnt help to have 5-9 hours of no smoking.

maybe this is why i quit 2 months ago. maybe it will be easier this time. but i dont care how safe everyone thinks it is, its the plane crashes, drunk pilots, minimum wage security, shotty ground crew, and crappy peanuts that i dont like. If any 1 thing goes wrong.. 50-120 people die. this is what scares the hell out of me.

[Scott]

I know where your coming from. I used to sit in my seat before take off look around at my fellow travelers and say, "hmmm, hope I don't get killed with this group". I have flown megamiles in my life and now have zero patience for the security people, aging, bitter flight attendants and the lack of courtesy from other fliers. The odds are with you that you'll travel safe, keep that in mind.

You may also want to sedate yourself .... with some chemistry .... before lift off :cool:

[RRolfe]

sedate myself eh? will beer work? is it effective enough?

*Side note.. YEEHA i'm a "member" now.

[Chicken]

I suppose you don't want me to post my small collection of black box recordings of plane disasters then, eh? Probably not...

Honestly, as was said, they make such a big deal about crashes on the news, because it is so rare. My mother is also afraid to fly (or at least uneasy about it), however a good point to think about are airline stewardesses and pilots who do it every day. You're probably more likely to die from a brick falling off your rooftop than in a plane crash. Think about that next time you step outside! ;) :D


...and yes, I really do have a small collection of plane disaster videos and blackbox recordings which are somewhat disturbing.

[shaunewing]

Originally posted by Chicken:

...and yes, I really do have a small collection of plane disaster videos and blackbox recordings which are somewhat disturbing.

Yep, I've got some of those too.

Back in January when I was on a plane with Justin, my [evil?] business partner (and best friend) we were doing some things on our laptops.

There was a third person seated with us who was obviously terrified of flying (we were on a B737-800 in a 3x3 config). Justin joked and said he felt like watching some of the "aviation videos". I said "don't you dare" :p

My wallpaper is currently a Bombardier Challenger 604 (biz jet); my wall calendar has a different plane photo for each month (currently Singapore B777-200) and I have a model plane on my desk :D.

As for plane safety - with safety records of planes measured in incidents per million flights; I don't think there is anything to worry about :)

--Shaun

[net-trend]

Actually flying is much safer now when compared to the yester-years.

These days, pilot's don't even do much except picking up chicks when they are in flight; why you ask?

the answer is "autopilot".....

[interactive]

Originally posted by Debbie:


We came back to the States after our tour in England, got off the plane in NYC and that was it for me. It was a rough flight on a nasty airplane. We took a train from NYC to here and I decided then that I was never going to fly again if I could possibly avoid it. I highly recommend train travel. That was a hoot.
.

I traveled on Amtrak like 2 weeks after 9-11, I have to say it is very nice. Not to expensive really. Cost me like $80 to go from ABQ New Mexico to Chicago.

[RRolfe]

whew, i feel better now. Spent some time last night and watched the perfect preperation movie for my trip...

"Final Destination".

Good Movie!
I just had to keep sitting there telling myself... "its only a movie... its only a movie"

[ZummiBear]

Originally posted by Rakmin:

yes... but...

i look at it this way.. if i get in a car accident.. theres a CHANCE i will live. Theres airbags, seat belts and other such things to help save me.

if your falling from that high... you can kiss it goodbye. your dead.

and what if that pilot has a bad day?
what if he just found out his wife was cheating on him.. and went boozing.. and now he's gonna fly!?!??!

what if the ground crew didn't do a good job checking the plane?

what if we run out of gas?!?!?


No worries....I'm exactly the same way =/ I'm terrified of planes...well more the flying part. I've used the same reasoning as you.....if you get in a car accident....there is a chance you can get OUT of the car afterwards.....if a plane is going down....where are you gonna go?? If you jump out....you still have that fall and if you don't have a parachute....you get to go splat on the ground =/ Granted there are more car accidents than plane accidents....I like the chances of being on the ground when and if something is going to happen :)

[Dapon]

I fly all of the time from Ontario, CA to Phoenix, AZ and Sacramento, CA. I have been doing it since I was about 9 and I am much older than that now so I have a lot of flights under my belt. This year for Christmas my wife got me flying lessons. Plus the fact that my sister is a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines so flying is pretty common in our family. I would much rather fly than drive somewhere. I rode the train once and it was just a glorified bus. We made a stop in any little town that had a train depot. I wasn't that impressed by it. When I travel I want to get there now.

[RRolfe]

when will teleporters be available?

[RRolfe]

now that i sit around and think.. one good thing will come from all of this.. atleast i am not flying on april fools day.

:D

[MMiz]

They now have medication to sedate those who have anxiety associated with flying. I actually know some people that use it, why not ask your doctor? Its a pretty common fear, one thankfully I dont have.

As long as you're not the person behind me that is fascinated at my reaction when you stomp on the back of my seat, or the little kid that wont stop crying, then I'm pretty good with the whole flying thing :)