Motion sickness

[canuk1]

Hello Rotorheads!
I have got a huge problem: the company I work for just gave the go to go flying...after being ground crew for 15 months! The case is they want me to pipeline with an R22.
I've been out 3 times with an other company pilot and after 2 hours of banking and turning non stop I have thrown up.
Please, any ideas! I do not want to be left behind now!
For your information I never had this problem before, I did my flight training normally plus some advanced one with no problems either...
Any help will be much appreciated.

PS: can it be that I am not flying all the time? (not even half of it)
:confused:

[[email protected]]

Canuk, I think being a passenger for 2 hours of constant low level manoeuvring is enough to make anyone feel uncomfortable - I am sure it will not be a problem if you are the one doing the flying.
The RAF used to run (and possibly still do) a de-sensitisation course for pilots who had problems and it proved that you can train your body not to react - but you need to fly regularly to keep on top of it. A guy I knew only had to have a couple of weeks off flying and he was guaranteed to chunder on his first trip back - after that he was fine again.
If it all gets too much in the air then fly straight and level and open the windows - much the same as dealing with car sickness in children!

[vorticey]

i get sick when somone else is doin low level flying

[Holly_Copter]

Canuk,

it does get better, I assure you. In my early days of flying, I managed to throw up quite often. In fact, I remember my trial heli lesson arriving back at the airfield, getting out of the aircraft & throwing up on the grass, then going and signing up for 10 more lessons! Thereafter, I guess I repeated the process another dozen or so times, becoming less and less frequent. Now, I don't even think about it even if turbulence is kicking me all over the place constantly.

Hang in there, mate. And, yes, it's SO MUCH better when YOU have the controls.

Holly_Copter

[HeliAviator]

Canuk , old chap it does get better. However even I with 5000+ hours get queasy if low level, heads in and the HP is throwing it around somewhat. Try looking out to the horizon more and not looking at the power lines to much, open a window as fresh air helps and get a pilot who can fly steadily and not trying to show you how well he can handle the machine (if you can call an R22 a machine)

Badger;)

[Genghis the Engineer]

My sympathies, but all is not lost. Like other people who have worked in FT or similar trades such as yours I've had my share of manoeuvring heads-in, and as you've noticed, it's not desperately pleasant. (It could be worse, I had a boss who'd spent 160hrs in the observers seat of a Sea-Vixen when he worked at de-Havilland's flight test department. That is worse, the thing is buried in the bowels of the jet, with just an 8" square skylight!).

It can be coped with, and you should eventually aclimatise to it. But, in the meantime:-

- Keep cool, don't overdress, if you are slightly chilly, you'll suffer much less than if you are comfortably warm. (Of course, survival issues may get in the way here, depending upon the nature of operations).
- As far as your duties permit, look outside the cockpit, at identifiable objects.
- Don't let yourself just sit there, keep doing things. If there's no job to do invent one (just don't bother the pilot with it!).
- Try to keep yourself in a flow of fresh air so far as possible, any smell of fumes can really knock you down.

- And finally, anti-seasickness pills help a-lot whilst you get aclimatised. They got me through two sorties a day of flying back-seat for spinning trials some years ago with no ill effects, and if you talk to the pharmacist about your particular needs, you can get ones that don't impair your performance or create any other risk.

G

[Thomas coupling]

I sympathise with you...flying in an R22 would make anyone sick.

[CTD]

If you notice this anywhere else in addition to the cojo side, it is possible that you have developed some inner ear infection, or other physiological problem that you should get checked out. If not, then it's probably just a combination of nerves and gyrating around low-level. And despite the encouraging brilliance of the above post, if you're prone to this sort of thing, it doesn't matter much what you're in.

So, barring some medical problem, why are you getting sick? Although other physiological factors may come into play as well, motion sickness is primarily caused by conflicting messages to your brain from your eyes and inner ear. Funny enough, that's the same thing that happens when we get food poisoning. SO, back when our bodies were designed (Lu may be able to help on this), nobody thought about riding around in boats or air machines, so the software read: “If conflicting signals are received from the optical nerve and the gyro input, THROW UP. Obviously, we're being poisoned.”

Anyone can be airsick given the right combination of factors. One airborne survey operator I flew with had been sitting left seat during bird-towing work for 15 years, and probably over 10,000 hrs. He would hammer away at his keyboard, make notes and check data for hours at a time, and never look out the window. I was sure this guy had a cast-iron gut until… One day, while towing in a particularly nasty piece of rock in the Kiglapait Mountains, Labrador, he looked at me with a wide-eyed stare and said, "I can't believe it, I'm going to... BLAEHHH...". Nice. First time in 15 years.

Bottom line - in addition to some of the good advice above, try to provide the brain with concurring signals from the eye and inner ear. Look out the front. Don't read. Don't put your head in your lap. Don't lie down in the back (R22 notwithstanding). As previously stated by others, it's unlikely you'll be sick when you're doing the flying yourself.

I'm sure you'll get through it, have a great career.

[Dick Mitten]

Avoid alcoholic and caffinated beverages for several days. The alcohol stays in the fluid of the inner ear for quite some time, and the caffiene just gets you wired and jittery.

A couple of days ago I spent some time moving garbage around a lease site. It was windy and gusty and I was hanging out my door the whole time. After landing my stomach was definitely unhappy! And when someone else is flying my eyes stay on the horizon for sure or else it's queazy time right now!

Enjoy the pipeline!

[BlenderPilot]

Ok here's the thing, whenever I fly as a passenger without being at the controls, I instantly get SICK.

Last year I went to Africa to work, during my first flights I flew as a passenger with the base manager, we were always very low level, manuvering like I didn't think a helicopter could ever perform. I would last approximately 30 seconds without being sick, I would sometimes stay on the ground because of being soo sick, the base manager has been training pilots for 20 years to do this job, and he's told me it is quite common for this to happen.

One thing that helped me, was looking at a where the helicopter is going to anticipate where the helicopter would go next, this helped a lot! Its not the same having the helicopter bank suddenly 60 degrees right as you are looking at a monkey on a tree abeam you, than looking forward and knowing which way its going to turn next.

[rightpedalRIGHTPEDAL]

Ha ha tell Jimbo not to throw it around so rough. Don't worry, before each flight eat some rice and jam. It doesn't work, but it doesn't taste so bad coming back up.
Regards to all the crew at AES and good luck with the job. Its hell of fun. Would love to come back again!:cool: :)

[Steve76]

Hey vorticey,
Stay out of the gorge!:D
When doing those hard low level turns get involved with the machine. Strap it on and anticipate the 'G' you know you will feel. Look ahead and think about where you would fly to help with becoming involved.
Never been sick yet ... touch wood :)

[Yoho]

rightpedalRIGHTPEDAL: not a bad idea! I'm ok with the jam but the rice!! Now wouldn't that be like shooting bullets!!....:eek: How 'bout crackers & jam instead!


CTD : good reply, fever is usually the first indication of any infection, sharp stabbing or throbbing pains in the ear would indicate the same. Vestibular (inner ear disorder) could also be at play. Many of us don't know it until we're actually put in that "trick your brain" situation! A Dr's visit would clear up that theory up. A temporary fix is the focusing on the horizon as you said or even on anything straight ahead (hopefully not the rice on your partener's headset!:D

Good luck canuk1, hope things "settle down".;)

Heli-loggers might have some temporary remedies, that line of work I hear can be "up-lifting" too!

[almost canadian]

A few years ago I saw something about air sickness on BBC.
Some facility had developed a 3 axis revolving chair and first they would scan your head to get the exact layout of your inner ear and more importantly the little tubes in there.
They would plot this info into a computer, strap the patient into the chair and then very slowly rotate the chair around the layout of your inner ear tubes, thus making any large particles is the ear that can cause motion sickness to collect and exit the ear (somewhere on the inside).
It was a very harmless procedure and the subjects that were treated got cured.
I don't know if this is still in a testing phase or becoming available to the general public,
check it out,
I'll do a search on the net if I can find any more info (which probably explains the whole thing a bit better).
Cheers

[Robsibk1]

Hi there!!!!!

Well as the other guys told you ,it will go away as soon as you start flying more.
So enjoy your time in Alberta and I hope we see us soon,in the best country for flying helicopters:D

see you

Robsibk1

[canuk1]

:) Hello Rotorheads!
First of all I'd like to say thank you for all your answers...they sure helped!
Since I wrote the topic I have flown 30 hours and yes, it does get much better!
I am taking ginger pils,they help to settle the stomach and no side effects plus I am wearing wristbands which use an acupuncture principle (as you can see I am in favour of natural medicine). Now I am able to eat while flying (bananas and gum) plus I can spend most of the time writing notes on the maps as I have to learn the patrols.
About a possible inner ear problem I have been told that they might be affected by the fact my upper wisdom tooth are coming out.Besides that I've learned of some sort of ear candles that burn all the **** ears accumulate through life which affect your inner ear balance.
Well guys, again thank you very much for your time, your answers are much appreciated.

Canuk1