Fear of flying (and heights in general)

[TimberWolf]

You think you’re scared, spare a thought for pilot! Just bear in mind that your fear is irrational and therefore totally outside your control. This may or may not be a comfort to you if you crash.

My first parachute jump also happened to be my first time in a plane, so I was quite looking forward to the day of my first landing.

[AtW]

It's only the first 30 seconds you need to worry about - the most dangerous part of the flight.

Oh - and landing.

And turbulence, and low pressure areas, electrical storms, mechanical failure, decompression, fire, fuel leakage, shear, bird strikes, terrorists, bombs, missiles, other planes, dozy traffic controllers, hijackers...

F***!

I am off to cancel the tickets...

[gingerjedi]

What really annoys me in airplanes is that as soon as they take off they take rather serious angle left or right to turn plane, ffs, can't they want to gain a little bit more height before doing this?

If you were a pilot would you do it? I know I would.

I always have a split second panic as soon as the engines start to power up, it's the realisation that you have to put your life in someone else’s hands for a few hours, once I'm up I then start to think about how BA have much better looking trolley dollies than Easyjet and feck me £3 for a small can of Stella!!!

[Charles Foster Kane]

I realised in my rush to post I had it the wrong way round.

Weren't you talking about my test flight??

[gingerjedi]

Weren't you talking about my test flight??

So your flying as well? What's your first plane gonna be.... A Tornado?

[pflangan]

Sounds illogical, but I got over my apprehensions of flying by taking a flying lesson. Got a half hour in blackpool in a little piper for £30. It was brilliant, and reinstated my confidence no end.

I think it's because it helped me realise a little bit about what goes on in the cockpit.

I used to hate that few seconds after take off when the engines would suddenly reduce in power, and I thought we were gonners, then i found out it was due to noise pollution.

Now I'm not saying I'm foolhardy and have 100% confidence in flying, it's the same as roller coasters, I've lost all perceived control on the situation. I still get a bit nervous when approaching touchdown, but nothing like before. Saved me a fortune in drink bills.

[hyperD]

What really annoys me in airplanes is that as soon as they take off they take rather serious angle left or right to turn plane, ffs, can't they want to gain a little bit more height before doing this?

That's to avoid the incoming heavy traffic on the STAR - at this stage your comfort is the least of the airline pilots (and Air Traffic Controller's) worry.

[AtW]

That's to avoid the incoming heavy traffic on the STAR - at this stage your comfort is the least of the airline pilots (and Air Traffic Controller's) worry.

So, in a nutshell, pilots do this manuveur to save their own life by avoiding a collision with incoming aircraft? How comforting

[Charles Foster Kane]

So your flying as well? What's your first plane gonna be.... A Tornado?

No, I'm not flying.

[Diver]

A lot of people fear being a few thousand feet in the air aboard a plane.

Myself, I fear being a few thousand feet up without a plane