Geniune Fear Of Flying

[Blinkz]

I'm the OP and I don't find this view very nice at all. To much distance between your feet and ground.

I'm sorry but if you don't find that even slightly pleasant to look at then you must have some serious aesthetic issues haha. Its just a beautiful sunset.

Going back to flying, what is it that bothers you? Describe the feelings that bother you. Do you have any questions regarding what happens?

 

[Chris.]

Not scared of flying, but once I got this really bad stabbing pain in my head when descending, felt like my head was going to explode. Every time I fly now I worry whether its going to come back, but it never has.

Saft I know, but you have no idea how much it hurt, right between my eyes and my fringe. :/

 

[Blinkz]

Not scared of flying, but once I got this really bad stabbing pain in my head when descending, felt like my head was going to explode. Every time I fly now I worry whether its going to come back, but it never has.

Saft I know, but you have no idea how much it hurt, right between my eyes and my fringe. :/

You probably had a cold and so your sinuses were blocked. As the aircraft descends the pressure in the cabin increases and can cause pain in the ears and sinuses if the openings are blocked.

 

[Scuzi]

Not scared of flying, but once I got this really bad stabbing pain in my head when descending, felt like my head was going to explode. Every time I fly now I worry whether its going to come back, but it never has.

Saft I know, but you have no idea how much it hurt, right between my eyes and my fringe. :/

Sinus barotrauma. It's one of the most excruciating pains I have ever had. It is caused by differential pressure between the cabin and your sinus cavities. Infection causes your sinuses to swell or become blocked by mucus, preventing pressure equalisation. It is usually worse during descent as it is more difficult for higher pressure air to enter a blocked sinus than vice versa.

Pseudoephedrine works wonders for this.

 

[albert]

I'm sorry but if you don't find that even slightly pleasant to look at then you must have some serious aesthetic issues haha. Its just a beautiful sunset.

Going back to flying, what is it that bothers you? Describe the feelings that bother you. Do you have any questions regarding what happens?

All I think about is the horrific flight I had last time I flew. The thought of sitting in a plane at the end of the runway, engines reviving up , climbing into the sky with the plane shaking just fills me with fear. I know i'd be on the plane panicking and hyper ventilating and making myself look daft. Im worried of the plane crashing and me and my family dying. That Alanais Morrisette song about the old man who'd waited his whole life to fly. And as the plane crashed down ..... that's me lol.

Yeah,I know its really really safe to fly. It's just my rational train of thought seems to have gone out of the window.

Reading posts here it looks like a trip to the docs may be order and get some happy tablets.

 

[[TW]Fox]

Going back to flying, what is it that bothers you? Describe the feelings that bother you. Do you have any questions regarding what happens?

I wouldn't say it bothers me but I always wonder whats going on when the engines are continually throttled up and down at certain points in the flight. In my completely uneducated head I have this idea that you use loads of engine power to reach a cruise, throttle them right back to cruise, then adjust them again to land and thats that, and my uneducated head just cannot reconcile constant adjustments and the noise of the engines spinning up and slowing down again when at cruise.

Whats the story?

 

[Cleeecooo]

I wouldn't say it bothers me but I always wonder whats going on when the engines are continually throttled up and down at certain points in the flight. In my completely uneducated head I have this idea that you use loads of engine power to reach a cruise, throttle them right back to cruise, then adjust them again to land and thats that, and my uneducated head just cannot reconcile constant adjustments and the noise of the engines spinning up and slowing down again when at cruise.

Whats the story?

not enough airflow due to turbulence.
The plane before makes the air very "bumpy". Think of it like that Dyson pic showing how a fan makes the air buffet


I think anyway

 

[[TW]Fox]

I think anyway

Yea, Blinkz is a pilot though so he'll know the 100% answer

 

[Philtor]

You probably had a cold and so your sinuses were blocked. As the aircraft descends the pressure in the cabin increases and can cause pain in the ears and sinuses if the openings are blocked.

******* hell I never knew we had actual Pilots posting on this forum I absolutely love flying and not just when im doing it as the checklist is so intensive. There is no chance anything can go wrong within the scope of the Pilot and First officer as everything is checked and double checked before we even get to taxi !! If the big bird want's to give up then we always have our books which do the job (in most cases). That Pic you took sums it all up for me

 

[Energize]

Gliders? None of the small aircraft I fly can do that. Please enlighten me

No, not gliders, a sink rate of 300 is not unusual with a nice headwind at idle.

 

[Blinkz]

All I think about is the horrific flight I had last time I flew. The thought of sitting in a plane at the end of the runway, engines reviving up , climbing into the sky with the plane shaking just fills me with fear. I know i'd be on the plane panicking and hyper ventilating and making myself look daft. Im worried of the plane crashing and me and my family dying. That Alanais Morrisette song about the old man who'd waited his whole life to fly. And as the plane crashed down ..... that's me lol.

Yeah,I know its really really safe to fly. It's just my rational train of thought seems to have gone out of the window.

Reading posts here it looks like a trip to the docs may be order and get some happy tablets.

Well obviously I'm not a psychiatrist, so can't really help you specifically if you just feel a total fear of flying! Yes I understand you had a bad flight, but it wasn't a dangerous situation. Turbulence is just like driving a car over a bumpy road. Its not comfortable, and if you have no understand of exactly what is happening (say it was your first time seeing a car or something) then you'd think it was scary. Airliners are totally over built and can handle more then you can imagine. I guess you don't like roller-coasters either? An option might be to go for a flight in a small aircraft first and have the instructor explain things and help you get used to the sensations.

I wouldn't say it bothers me but I always wonder whats going on when the engines are continually throttled up and down at certain points in the flight. In my completely uneducated head I have this idea that you use loads of engine power to reach a cruise, throttle them right back to cruise, then adjust them again to land and thats that, and my uneducated head just cannot reconcile constant adjustments and the noise of the engines spinning up and slowing down again when at cruise.

Whats the story?

Well it can be any number of things! For a start in the cruise the autothrust will be controlling the engine power. As has been mentioned, turbulence can cause it. As the aircraft goes through turbulence the airspeed can fluctuate by a few knots, this can lead to the autothrust 'chasing' the speed and adding/removing power to keep the speed where its selected. Another option would be if the aircraft has to climb/descend to another level. Climbs and descents at high altitudes are generally very smooth at small rates of climb/descent so wouldn't be that obvious from the cabin.

Whilst on approach and during the landing we will generally be controlling the engines ourselves, although depending on the aircraft type you can let the autothurst handle it as well. Just like in a car, you have to adjust the throttle to keep a set speed, depending on wind, turbulence, aircraft configuation etc.

No, not gliders, a sink rate of 300 is not unusual with a nice headwind at idle.

Ah there is where your cheating! With the engine at idle its still producing thrust! A wind-milling prop or worse a seized engine will cause a huge amount of drag and you'll descend waaaay quicker then 300fpm!

 

[Cleeecooo]

So what do you fly Blinkz?

 

[Blinkz]

So what do you fly Blinkz?

Currently I fly the Airbus A320. I've also flown the A321 and the Boeing 737-800.

 

[[TW]Fox]

I genuinelly beleive that pilots are amongst the coolest people on the planet and have nothing but admiration for them.

What could be more awesome than wearing shades, flying a Jet liner and calmly announcing on the tannoy that we are cruising at 37,000 feet?

 

[PermaBanned]

What could be more awesome than wearing shades, flying a Jet liner and calmly announcing on the tannoy that we are cruising at 37,000 feet?

Wearing shades, flying a shuttle and calmly announcing that you're cruising at 17,500mph at 200 miles?

But no - i completely agree

 

[Energize]

Ah there is where your cheating! With the engine at idle its still producing thrust! A wind-milling prop or worse a seized engine will cause a huge amount of drag and you'll descend waaaay quicker then 300fpm!

Not if you feather it.

 

[Pav89]

I've never been afraid of flying, it is one of the safest modes of transport although I do understand why people may be terrified - no control and no easy way out.


I flew from Krakow to Liverpool with Ryanair on Saturday night. Half way into the flight, something a little out of the ordinary happened. I was sitting on the very back row and did not see where this man came from but he ran down to the back of the aircraft and started shouting at the air host that he overheard the pilot talking about the compression system not working. He kept telling him to do something about it, swearing at him.

People started to wake up in realisation what was happening, the air hosts / hostesses were trying to get him to calm down. Luckily, it sounded as though he was drunk but could walk/run easily enough. He insulted people/air host/esses more during the flight.

As we touched down, the usually eastern european tradition of clapping when you land, commenced. We came to a stop and were told by the captain to remain in our seats with our seat belts on. Everybody was puzzled as to what was happening as we sat there for a few minutes. Drunk man was up, getting his bags though.

Next thing that happens, three British Transport Police board the plane and arrest the guy . A scouzer to the right of me started clapping, which spread through the whole plane.

You really don't need an idiot on a plane to start spreading rumours and throwing insults. I hope you guys someday manage to overcome your fear; there are thousands of flights each day, yet you don't hear about crashes often.

 

[Blinkz]

Not if you feather it.

I don't know any SEPs that have a feathering prop..... even then a light aircraft isn't going to stay in the air for an hour!

 

[thingemajib]

Currently I fly the Airbus A320. I've also flown the A321 and the Boeing 737-800.

Just out of curiosity, who do you fly for?

Im currently training at the oxford aviation academy, and everyone here is always banging the recruitment drum. As im always hearing differing stories and rumours about different airlines, it would be nice to get a bit of inside scoop so to speak...

 

[Scuzi]

Not if you feather it.

Where are you getting this "information" from?

A feathered prop still induces a significant amount of drag. Even at idle power, I can't think of any airframe bar that of a glider that will stay in the air for over an hour from ~15,000ft. Even a single engine turbine that can climb up to FL300-ish with a Vs of 60Kts, a feathered prop and at a fraction over empty weight wouldn't stay in the air for an hour if it lost power at it's service ceiling.