Overcoming the fear of flying
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A few people have asked me to provide updates on my training, from the point of view of someone who has a fear of flying, so I thought I would spawn a new thread for it. Perhaps it may even help a few other along too. I will split up my initial post over a couple of posts, cause I think it will be too much.
A few years back, I would not even step into a commercial jet. I was just too scared. A completely irrational fear I know, but if you have not experienced it yourself, its impossible for others to understand. I guess this is why we call it an irrational fear. I love aviation, have always been interested in it, but just to scared to pursue the interest.
So eventually, I was forced to overcome this fear or lose my job, so I had to get onto a plane. So with much protest I eventually did. You become so overcome with fear, that it makes you physically sick, you nerves are shot, you start sweating profusely, you feel like you need to throw up. Even breathing becomes labored and difficult. Anyway, I survived. I am sure the metal on the seat handles of that 737-800 is now permanently deformed, and probably still has my fingernail marks in it. You have to give credit to the flight crew when dealing with people like me, they do a fantastic job of alleviating your fears and making you comfortable. A few stiff drinks before hand also helped me. I was not drunk when I first stepped on a plane, I think that would make things worth, but a little social lubricant does help. maybe 2 standard drinks!
Step forward a few years, I had made many flights between Brisbane and Sydney/Melbourne for work. I even took a few holidays, including one to Cairns. It was during that holiday I decided to step up the challenge. We were out on a boat trip to the great barrier reef, and they offered helicopter scenic flights. So I signed up. Getting into that heli brought back all my initial fears. I was petrified to the point were I was almost about to get back out. But I pulled myself together and off we went. Once you are up there, a good pilot will soon make you forget your fears. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Work eventually saw me mixing it up in smaller aircraft flying out to regional areas. Spend time in Dash 8's, Metroliners, Kingairs and various other small twin engine aircraft. I become a regular commuter on aircraft, even at times doing the monday friday commute between Brisbane and Sydney. I have become so used to it now, that it does not worry me anymore. I still have the nerves, I still get sweaty palms, but I can get on an aircraft and relax to some degree.
Fast forward to last Jan. I took a trip to New Zealand, and chartered a helicopter to fly my wife and I out to Milford sound and around (and on) a few of the glaciers. The helicopter was an R44, and it was this trip that convinced I need to make the next step. As I said before, I was always interested in Aviation, so I decided to make the next step. I just wasn't quite sure when it would happen.
My other hobbies are motorcycle riding, and sailing. Apparently a lot of pilots also like motorcycles and sailing, and often do one or the other or both. It was my pursuit of motorcycling that would eventually lead me to taking that step into becoming a pilot. About march last year, I was out riding my trail bike (solo) and I have a pretty good crash. I thought I had just sprained my knee, but it was hurting pretty bad so I got my wife to take me to hospital that night. Turns out I had fractured my tibia in about 5 places, and ruptured my ACL. I had surgery about 6 weeks later to fix it all up, but sailing and riding was going to be impossible for the next 12 months. I was good enough to walk after about 3 months, and decided this was the time to go for a trial flight.
Yup, those fears came straight back again, but it was no where near as bad as that first time I stepped onto that commercial aircraft 10 years ago. Nevertheless, I was scared, but I sat in the left seat, and once were were at a 1000' I got to take over and fly the plane. Once you discover how easy it is, most of your fear dissipates. I flew the plane until we turned on base leg, when the pilot took over. Fear back again, the landing was scary, but not like I had expected.
So I am hooked at this point. I just need the thumbs up from my surgeon to fly and start training. That came a couple of months later, September 2013 IIRC.
Now the fun stuff begins. I am still scared, every take off and landing, I get sweaty palms, my breathing becomes a little labored. You get that sick feeling in your stomach. But I am flying, and enjoying it. Doing the basic stuff, straight and level, turns, climbing and descending is all pretty straightforward. Steep climbs make me nervous, in fact still do today. But all in all things are going well.
Enter stall training. Not good, not good at all. For someone who has that fear of flying, a plane falling out of the sky is not an easy thing to deal with. That point were the aircraft becomes completely stalled, and that brief feeling of weightlessness is pretty intense for the first time. I have felt that before, in commercial flight where the plane has hit turbulence and dropped a couple of hundred feet (if that) but nothing prepares you for it when you in the pilots seat. This is where a good instructor makes life a lot easier. I didn't like my instructor at first, I though he was a pompous ****, but I really appreciated him after this. He turned out to be a pretty good guy, and I was completely wrong with my opinion. It took me about 3 hours in total to do basic stalls. Most people (especially younger lads) would have this stitched up in an hour. I walked away with the ability to recover a stalled aircraft, but I was still scared of stalls.
With all the basic stuff covered off, its time to start doing circuits. By now, I had done my medical, but because of chronic asthma, there is a delay whilst CASA ponders my case. Not a problem, got plenty of time yet. So I am still scared, take off and landing still make me nervous, but each time I fly it becomes just that tiny little bit easier. The great thing about the circuit, especially in the early parts is that your workload is so high, you dont have a lot of time to be scared. You just do what you have to, and keep flying. This is the time I decided to pop up on pprune. Been reading stuff on here for ages, and a lot of google searches end up pointing here. I am starting to get frustrated with the round out and hold off not working for me, wondering if I will ever get it. Then a post here, a few good pointers I nailed it the following week (Thanks pprune!!).
Finally, I get to that point where I am ready to go solo in the circuit. But it turns out that my previous stall training has not been signed off on (the instructor I did my stall training with was only a casual), so out to the training area we go again. This time, they CFI decided I can start on advanced stalls, as this will cover off the basics. They know I have done it before, so a bit of revision on the simple stalls and they will sign off on it. But we also start some advanced stuff. Stalls whilst climbing, stalls whilst descending, turning stalls, then mix it all up. Then incipient stalls. The instructor demo's this spin recovery, but it scared the hell out of me so much so that I refuse to have a go on the day. I need to go back and digest it all first.
So the day comes around, I finally solo. When you first do a solo circuit, all that fear comes back again. But you push on, and you are so busy you dont have time to digest it. I did one full stop and that was it for the day. But you walk away, still shaking, but smiling. Finally I have flow a plane by myself. I have taken off and landed by myself. Its a great feeling. And for someone like me who is so scared of flying, its just so much bettered knowing you have tamed your fears finally, well almost. But for that little moment, you just dont care about the fears that are still there.
I know the inevitable is coming. I have to master 2 things that have been demonstrated to me to date. Steep turns (I only have to do 45 degree turn for my GFPT, but this becomes 60 degree for my PPL). Both have scared me a lot, and I dont like it all. I still dont like stalls either.
My last flight was bad. Practicing crosswind circuits in gusty 15-20knot winds. I did a go around after hitting some chopper upwash that screwed up my final. About midway down the runway, I got hit by a large gust that rolled the plane over about 30-45 degrees. It happened pretty quickly and violently. The instructor took over and I told him I had had enough for the day. I was a bit rattled by the whole experience. We landed and I walked away wondering if I am making the right decision to pursue my licence. This comes at a good time, because I have to go for another minor operation on my knee. I keep up the study anyway, and put that little incident to the back of my mind.
Today comes about. By now I have written off my little fright and some good solid experience. I did not die, so it cant be that bad. Just goes to show how stable the C172S is. Its another one of those days, blowing 20-25knots. I expect more crosswind circuits, but the instructor says nope, we are going off to do incipient stalls. I really don't want to do this. I am thinking how I can get out of it. That same fear is coming back again. I feel sick. But I go up anyway. Fortunately, this instructor is really good at allaying your fears. I cant speak highly enough of him.
We get to the training area and start off with a few clean stalls, then a few stalls with flaps down. Then I ask him to demo a 60 degree turn, I can handle that but I cant handle the incipient stall, I am just delaying the inevitable. So we do the turn, then I have a go. I manage a couple of 45 degree turns, and even one pushing 60. I am feeling pretty good now, confidence is up. FI demos a incipient stall. I still dont want to do it, but he encourages me to have a go by suggesting we will just do a real gentle one. So I have a go. Done. I have another go, done. Have a third go, done. No major fear at all. I say that sitting here typing thinking about it, and my palms are all sweaty. But today I managed some standard stalls, with out any major component of fear at all, and I also manged incipient stalls!
Today I am happy, defeating that incipient stall feels just as good as that first solo. I was so afraid of doing, but I have come to the realisation that its pretty harmless. I know I can go out there and do some more stalls now, and the idea does not scare me at all.
So we move on. I still need another hour of solo circuits. I nearly have the crosswind stuff sorted. So I am moving forward at a good pace now. Just got to do a little more advanced takeoff and landing, precautionary search and landing, and some basic instrument training and I should be able to do the area solo.
I also passed my area solo exam today. 90% pass. The 2 questions I got wrong were an engine related one which I genuinely did not know. the other was regarding turns and forces, and had the concept right, I just did not interpret the answer correctly. See folks, they say you should go reread all your answers when doing exams, had i done so I would have had a 95% pass!
So my fears are subsiding, and my confidence is growing. I decided to write this here on pprune, because hopefully others will go to google and might get directed here for help on fear of flying. I have certainly taken a lot from here, so perhaps here is my opportunity to provide a little back. Hopefully in the years to come I will be able to provide more assistance, as I gain experience!
Thanks for listening.
A few years back, I would not even step into a commercial jet. I was just too scared. A completely irrational fear I know, but if you have not experienced it yourself, its impossible for others to understand. I guess this is why we call it an irrational fear. I love aviation, have always been interested in it, but just to scared to pursue the interest.
So eventually, I was forced to overcome this fear or lose my job, so I had to get onto a plane. So with much protest I eventually did. You become so overcome with fear, that it makes you physically sick, you nerves are shot, you start sweating profusely, you feel like you need to throw up. Even breathing becomes labored and difficult. Anyway, I survived. I am sure the metal on the seat handles of that 737-800 is now permanently deformed, and probably still has my fingernail marks in it. You have to give credit to the flight crew when dealing with people like me, they do a fantastic job of alleviating your fears and making you comfortable. A few stiff drinks before hand also helped me. I was not drunk when I first stepped on a plane, I think that would make things worth, but a little social lubricant does help. maybe 2 standard drinks!
Step forward a few years, I had made many flights between Brisbane and Sydney/Melbourne for work. I even took a few holidays, including one to Cairns. It was during that holiday I decided to step up the challenge. We were out on a boat trip to the great barrier reef, and they offered helicopter scenic flights. So I signed up. Getting into that heli brought back all my initial fears. I was petrified to the point were I was almost about to get back out. But I pulled myself together and off we went. Once you are up there, a good pilot will soon make you forget your fears. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Work eventually saw me mixing it up in smaller aircraft flying out to regional areas. Spend time in Dash 8's, Metroliners, Kingairs and various other small twin engine aircraft. I become a regular commuter on aircraft, even at times doing the monday friday commute between Brisbane and Sydney. I have become so used to it now, that it does not worry me anymore. I still have the nerves, I still get sweaty palms, but I can get on an aircraft and relax to some degree.
Fast forward to last Jan. I took a trip to New Zealand, and chartered a helicopter to fly my wife and I out to Milford sound and around (and on) a few of the glaciers. The helicopter was an R44, and it was this trip that convinced I need to make the next step. As I said before, I was always interested in Aviation, so I decided to make the next step. I just wasn't quite sure when it would happen.
My other hobbies are motorcycle riding, and sailing. Apparently a lot of pilots also like motorcycles and sailing, and often do one or the other or both. It was my pursuit of motorcycling that would eventually lead me to taking that step into becoming a pilot. About march last year, I was out riding my trail bike (solo) and I have a pretty good crash. I thought I had just sprained my knee, but it was hurting pretty bad so I got my wife to take me to hospital that night. Turns out I had fractured my tibia in about 5 places, and ruptured my ACL. I had surgery about 6 weeks later to fix it all up, but sailing and riding was going to be impossible for the next 12 months. I was good enough to walk after about 3 months, and decided this was the time to go for a trial flight.
Yup, those fears came straight back again, but it was no where near as bad as that first time I stepped onto that commercial aircraft 10 years ago. Nevertheless, I was scared, but I sat in the left seat, and once were were at a 1000' I got to take over and fly the plane. Once you discover how easy it is, most of your fear dissipates. I flew the plane until we turned on base leg, when the pilot took over. Fear back again, the landing was scary, but not like I had expected.
So I am hooked at this point. I just need the thumbs up from my surgeon to fly and start training. That came a couple of months later, September 2013 IIRC.
Now the fun stuff begins. I am still scared, every take off and landing, I get sweaty palms, my breathing becomes a little labored. You get that sick feeling in your stomach. But I am flying, and enjoying it. Doing the basic stuff, straight and level, turns, climbing and descending is all pretty straightforward. Steep climbs make me nervous, in fact still do today. But all in all things are going well.
Enter stall training. Not good, not good at all. For someone who has that fear of flying, a plane falling out of the sky is not an easy thing to deal with. That point were the aircraft becomes completely stalled, and that brief feeling of weightlessness is pretty intense for the first time. I have felt that before, in commercial flight where the plane has hit turbulence and dropped a couple of hundred feet (if that) but nothing prepares you for it when you in the pilots seat. This is where a good instructor makes life a lot easier. I didn't like my instructor at first, I though he was a pompous ****, but I really appreciated him after this. He turned out to be a pretty good guy, and I was completely wrong with my opinion. It took me about 3 hours in total to do basic stalls. Most people (especially younger lads) would have this stitched up in an hour. I walked away with the ability to recover a stalled aircraft, but I was still scared of stalls.
With all the basic stuff covered off, its time to start doing circuits. By now, I had done my medical, but because of chronic asthma, there is a delay whilst CASA ponders my case. Not a problem, got plenty of time yet. So I am still scared, take off and landing still make me nervous, but each time I fly it becomes just that tiny little bit easier. The great thing about the circuit, especially in the early parts is that your workload is so high, you dont have a lot of time to be scared. You just do what you have to, and keep flying. This is the time I decided to pop up on pprune. Been reading stuff on here for ages, and a lot of google searches end up pointing here. I am starting to get frustrated with the round out and hold off not working for me, wondering if I will ever get it. Then a post here, a few good pointers I nailed it the following week (Thanks pprune!!).
Finally, I get to that point where I am ready to go solo in the circuit. But it turns out that my previous stall training has not been signed off on (the instructor I did my stall training with was only a casual), so out to the training area we go again. This time, they CFI decided I can start on advanced stalls, as this will cover off the basics. They know I have done it before, so a bit of revision on the simple stalls and they will sign off on it. But we also start some advanced stuff. Stalls whilst climbing, stalls whilst descending, turning stalls, then mix it all up. Then incipient stalls. The instructor demo's this spin recovery, but it scared the hell out of me so much so that I refuse to have a go on the day. I need to go back and digest it all first.
So the day comes around, I finally solo. When you first do a solo circuit, all that fear comes back again. But you push on, and you are so busy you dont have time to digest it. I did one full stop and that was it for the day. But you walk away, still shaking, but smiling. Finally I have flow a plane by myself. I have taken off and landed by myself. Its a great feeling. And for someone like me who is so scared of flying, its just so much bettered knowing you have tamed your fears finally, well almost. But for that little moment, you just dont care about the fears that are still there.
I know the inevitable is coming. I have to master 2 things that have been demonstrated to me to date. Steep turns (I only have to do 45 degree turn for my GFPT, but this becomes 60 degree for my PPL). Both have scared me a lot, and I dont like it all. I still dont like stalls either.
My last flight was bad. Practicing crosswind circuits in gusty 15-20knot winds. I did a go around after hitting some chopper upwash that screwed up my final. About midway down the runway, I got hit by a large gust that rolled the plane over about 30-45 degrees. It happened pretty quickly and violently. The instructor took over and I told him I had had enough for the day. I was a bit rattled by the whole experience. We landed and I walked away wondering if I am making the right decision to pursue my licence. This comes at a good time, because I have to go for another minor operation on my knee. I keep up the study anyway, and put that little incident to the back of my mind.
Today comes about. By now I have written off my little fright and some good solid experience. I did not die, so it cant be that bad. Just goes to show how stable the C172S is. Its another one of those days, blowing 20-25knots. I expect more crosswind circuits, but the instructor says nope, we are going off to do incipient stalls. I really don't want to do this. I am thinking how I can get out of it. That same fear is coming back again. I feel sick. But I go up anyway. Fortunately, this instructor is really good at allaying your fears. I cant speak highly enough of him.
We get to the training area and start off with a few clean stalls, then a few stalls with flaps down. Then I ask him to demo a 60 degree turn, I can handle that but I cant handle the incipient stall, I am just delaying the inevitable. So we do the turn, then I have a go. I manage a couple of 45 degree turns, and even one pushing 60. I am feeling pretty good now, confidence is up. FI demos a incipient stall. I still dont want to do it, but he encourages me to have a go by suggesting we will just do a real gentle one. So I have a go. Done. I have another go, done. Have a third go, done. No major fear at all. I say that sitting here typing thinking about it, and my palms are all sweaty. But today I managed some standard stalls, with out any major component of fear at all, and I also manged incipient stalls!
Today I am happy, defeating that incipient stall feels just as good as that first solo. I was so afraid of doing, but I have come to the realisation that its pretty harmless. I know I can go out there and do some more stalls now, and the idea does not scare me at all.
So we move on. I still need another hour of solo circuits. I nearly have the crosswind stuff sorted. So I am moving forward at a good pace now. Just got to do a little more advanced takeoff and landing, precautionary search and landing, and some basic instrument training and I should be able to do the area solo.
I also passed my area solo exam today. 90% pass. The 2 questions I got wrong were an engine related one which I genuinely did not know. the other was regarding turns and forces, and had the concept right, I just did not interpret the answer correctly. See folks, they say you should go reread all your answers when doing exams, had i done so I would have had a 95% pass!
So my fears are subsiding, and my confidence is growing. I decided to write this here on pprune, because hopefully others will go to google and might get directed here for help on fear of flying. I have certainly taken a lot from here, so perhaps here is my opportunity to provide a little back. Hopefully in the years to come I will be able to provide more assistance, as I gain experience!
Thanks for listening.
Andy,
I'll chip in while Europe is waking up. Very well done and thanks for writing it up so candidly. I'm sure this will help others who also have fear of flying.
You seem to be managing by having some amazing willpower. I hope things get better for you. Two things I will mention. One is to try to have your instructor talk you through an exercise rather than demo it first. Sitting through a demo, if you already have sweaty palms, is not going to help. I knew a very experienced CFI in Canada who told me that he would talk an ab-initio student through their very first takeoff in a 152!
Secondly, as you have noticed, it helps to approach stalls by degrees (pardon the pun). I used to introduce glider students to stalls by just slowing to the beginning of the buffet and then easing off. It does wonders for their confidence.
I've never had the kind of issues that you have had, but I do remember after flying for about 20 years, I developed an uneasy feeling if I was in an airliner cabin and couldn't see out of the front. I was fine if I was in a jumpseat! Completely irrational I know, and it eventually went away.
I used to live in Brisbane and flew a little there. Are you flying from Archerfield?
Motorcycles, yachts and aeroplanes.
PS When you say "incipient stalls", do you mean "incipient spins"?
I'll chip in while Europe is waking up. Very well done and thanks for writing it up so candidly. I'm sure this will help others who also have fear of flying.
You seem to be managing by having some amazing willpower. I hope things get better for you. Two things I will mention. One is to try to have your instructor talk you through an exercise rather than demo it first. Sitting through a demo, if you already have sweaty palms, is not going to help. I knew a very experienced CFI in Canada who told me that he would talk an ab-initio student through their very first takeoff in a 152!
Secondly, as you have noticed, it helps to approach stalls by degrees (pardon the pun). I used to introduce glider students to stalls by just slowing to the beginning of the buffet and then easing off. It does wonders for their confidence.
I've never had the kind of issues that you have had, but I do remember after flying for about 20 years, I developed an uneasy feeling if I was in an airliner cabin and couldn't see out of the front. I was fine if I was in a jumpseat! Completely irrational I know, and it eventually went away.
I used to live in Brisbane and flew a little there. Are you flying from Archerfield?
Motorcycles, yachts and aeroplanes.
PS When you say "incipient stalls", do you mean "incipient spins"?
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If we are honest with ourselves, I think that we have all had moments in our training / early experience where we have been a bit afraid even if we are not scared of flying.
I have had five so far in my 2 and a bit years of flying : my first solo flight into controlled airspace, my first full spin in a Citabria (with an instructor), chopping power from 100% to 50% while turning from crosswind to base in a Cirrus to maintain a reasonable speed in the pattern full of 172s etc (with an instructor but it just feels unnatural), testing eTAWS by aiming at a mountain (with an instructor) and the appropriately named Rocks2 VFR departure out of KVGT.
I found that 3 hours of "gentleman's aero" work in a Citabria (very steep turns, quick stall recovery, spins, loops and rolls while learning what the rudder is actually there for) helped me a lot with fast but smooth manipulation of the controls to the "stops".
I would highly recommend some "gentleman's aero" in an aerobatic taildragger in the first 100 hours or so for everyone.
I have had five so far in my 2 and a bit years of flying : my first solo flight into controlled airspace, my first full spin in a Citabria (with an instructor), chopping power from 100% to 50% while turning from crosswind to base in a Cirrus to maintain a reasonable speed in the pattern full of 172s etc (with an instructor but it just feels unnatural), testing eTAWS by aiming at a mountain (with an instructor) and the appropriately named Rocks2 VFR departure out of KVGT.
I found that 3 hours of "gentleman's aero" work in a Citabria (very steep turns, quick stall recovery, spins, loops and rolls while learning what the rudder is actually there for) helped me a lot with fast but smooth manipulation of the controls to the "stops".
I would highly recommend some "gentleman's aero" in an aerobatic taildragger in the first 100 hours or so for everyone.
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Originally Posted by India Four Two
I used to live in Brisbane and flew a little there. Are you flying from Archerfield?
Motorcycles, yachts and aeroplanes.
PS When you say "incipient stalls", do you mean "incipient spins"?
Motorcycles, yachts and aeroplanes.
PS When you say "incipient stalls", do you mean "incipient spins"?
When I say incipient stalls, well, we call then incipient spins in Australia. I have been questioned when I called it a spin, and I think the US folk call it an incipient stall, because its not a fully developed spin. Eitherway, its a power on, wing drop stall that is developing into a spin.
Originally Posted by porterhouse
Andy - your fears of deep stalls or sharp banking turns resonate with me, I think all novice pilots go through similar experiences.
Fear keeps you alive, but irrational fears can do the exact opposite. I was adamant from the very beginning, if I was not able to deal with it, or I was not getting the flying part, then I wanted the instructors to tell me and I will walk away. Its like anything, put your mind to it and anyone can do it, but this does not mean you will be a good pilot. I want to be a good pilot, but if I cant, then I want to be told, and I want to walk away from it. If that irrational fear stops me from being able to deal with a real life situation, then I need to cut my losses and give it all away. So far, I feel I am just keeping on top of it. I keep asking the question of my instructors, but I know its just a half arsed way of making the excuse to get out of it. Dont ask me why, I dont know. When I am up there, I love it.
Originally Posted by Aphrican
I would highly recommend some "gentleman's aero" in an aerobatic taildragger in the first 100 hours or so for everyone.
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Andy
The biggest fear is fear of the unknown so the less unknown there is the less fear!
We had a guy who posted a while back that he was scared of stalling especially practicing stalls on his own!
It emerged that his real fear was getting into a situation where he went beyond recovery at incipient and ended up in a full stall / wing drop / spin / spiral dive !
That is why it is important to confront those fears!
Feel the fear and do it ! Is a well known phrase!
Do go up with a good aerobatic instructor and throw the aircraft around to your hearts content!
I stress the words hearts content as a lot if fear is negative thought!
If you approach the exercise thinking " I am going to enjoy this! I don't care what happens ! If I get killed no more worries ; ) you will relax!
Just tell yourself the aerobatic exercise will be fun fun fun !
Fear is natural it's our attitude of what if which causes the problems!
I had to land a Citation in 80 kt winds a few days ago !
I had awful wing drops and speed fluctuations from 170 Kts to 120 kts
Was I fearful ? Yes of course
What if the jet gets slammed into the. Ground when I reduce speed?
All manner of thoughts
You throw them away ! Make a plan think a way out and get on with it
Don't worry ! FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT
Pace
The biggest fear is fear of the unknown so the less unknown there is the less fear!
We had a guy who posted a while back that he was scared of stalling especially practicing stalls on his own!
It emerged that his real fear was getting into a situation where he went beyond recovery at incipient and ended up in a full stall / wing drop / spin / spiral dive !
That is why it is important to confront those fears!
Feel the fear and do it ! Is a well known phrase!
Do go up with a good aerobatic instructor and throw the aircraft around to your hearts content!
I stress the words hearts content as a lot if fear is negative thought!
If you approach the exercise thinking " I am going to enjoy this! I don't care what happens ! If I get killed no more worries ; ) you will relax!
Just tell yourself the aerobatic exercise will be fun fun fun !
Fear is natural it's our attitude of what if which causes the problems!
I had to land a Citation in 80 kt winds a few days ago !
I had awful wing drops and speed fluctuations from 170 Kts to 120 kts
Was I fearful ? Yes of course
What if the jet gets slammed into the. Ground when I reduce speed?
All manner of thoughts
You throw them away ! Make a plan think a way out and get on with it
Don't worry ! FEEL THE FEAR AND DO IT
Pace
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buy and fly a radio control model! despite the "anorak" image, it sharpens the reflexes and apart from (usually) having huge power reserves, they fly the same....."ye can't beat the laws of physics, Jim"
When you actually see, feel and control steep turns, knife-edge and other simple manoeuvers, the full size job is a doddle,
I introduced a pilot-friend to sailing and pointed out that it was 2-dimensional ,slow-motion flying....when it came to Navigation, it's more like time-lapse
Congrats on having the willpower to supress and beat your irrational fears....wish I could do the same with spiders (we don't have poisonous ones here, in fact Idon't think we have any bitey ones at all! Iam happy to observe them, as long as the buggers don't scuttle towards me!
When you actually see, feel and control steep turns, knife-edge and other simple manoeuvers, the full size job is a doddle,
I introduced a pilot-friend to sailing and pointed out that it was 2-dimensional ,slow-motion flying....when it came to Navigation, it's more like time-lapse
Congrats on having the willpower to supress and beat your irrational fears....wish I could do the same with spiders (we don't have poisonous ones here, in fact Idon't think we have any bitey ones at all! Iam happy to observe them, as long as the buggers don't scuttle towards me!
wish I could do the same with spiders
You wouldn't like Oz then.
When I lived there, I had a wonderful book called Things That Sting. Spiders and snakes featured very prominently! Even the vegetation is out to get you - beware of the Gympie Stinging Tree.Andy,
It sounds like Redcliffe is a nice place, but I wouldn't fly with too many instructors, nice as they are. Try to pick one who you get on well with. That way he/she will fly with you more often and be more familiar with your skills and will be able to ensure that you are progressing.
I'm pretty sure incipient spin is the term in the US as well. Important to practice and actually quite fun once you are used to them.
Remember to look outside and enjoy the scenery and the sensation of flying. That will help with combatting the fear and sweaty palms.
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I'm away from my PC at the moment ,so won't be a long post but I couldn't not comment on this.
I think I could have written 90% of what you've written myself. Yep I too have gone from being too scared to get on a plane to flying one on my own.
Even now, after far too many hours , I still get anxious when soloing. Even last week I was on the verge of turning back after dropping off my instructor. I still have to remind myself to breath out there.
Once I do breathe it call comes flooding back,the training ,the ability , the confidence.
What you have done is truly amazing. Learning to fly in itself is a phenomenal achievement , learning to fly when you have been so scared adds a whole other level.
I think I could have written 90% of what you've written myself. Yep I too have gone from being too scared to get on a plane to flying one on my own.
Even now, after far too many hours , I still get anxious when soloing. Even last week I was on the verge of turning back after dropping off my instructor. I still have to remind myself to breath out there.
Once I do breathe it call comes flooding back,the training ,the ability , the confidence.
What you have done is truly amazing. Learning to fly in itself is a phenomenal achievement , learning to fly when you have been so scared adds a whole other level.
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You have to confront any fear to beat it ! There are two ways one is gradual exposure to that fear. Understanding more about your fear subject and being familar with your fear subject!
The other way is saturation exposure ie in the case of stalling stalling in every config and beyond until you no longer fear the manoeuvres!
I believe in the Second World War they had no time to teach people to swim so dumped them in a swimming pool and only pulled them out when they sank to the bottom
Most swam got over their fears and swam
Pace
The other way is saturation exposure ie in the case of stalling stalling in every config and beyond until you no longer fear the manoeuvres!
I believe in the Second World War they had no time to teach people to swim so dumped them in a swimming pool and only pulled them out when they sank to the bottom
Most swam got over their fears and swam Pace
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Originally Posted by Pace
The other way is saturation exposure ie in the case of stalling stalling in every config and beyond until you no longer fear the manoeuvres!
Originally Posted by localflighteast
I think I could have written 90% of what you've written myself. Yep I too have gone from being too scared to get on a plane to flying one on my own.
Even now, after far too many hours , I still get anxious when soloing. Even last week I was on the verge of turning back after dropping off my instructor. I still have to remind myself to breath out there.
Once I do breathe it call comes flooding back,the training ,the ability , the confidence.
Even now, after far too many hours , I still get anxious when soloing. Even last week I was on the verge of turning back after dropping off my instructor. I still have to remind myself to breath out there.
Once I do breathe it call comes flooding back,the training ,the ability , the confidence.
I am starting to get used to it now
The 172 spins quite nicely and predictably. You'll know you've conquered your fears when you go solo-spinning for fun.
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Overcoming my fear of flying was the reason for my doing my PPL - I have to fly all over Europe on Business and was in a bag of nerves before (and after) each flight. I'd registered for the Lufthansa "fear of flying course" but was told this wouldn't help me, my issue was more a psychological issue, the thought of the pilot making a mistake, a lack of control and was advised to learn to fly, or at least take a few lessons to see whether that would help.
So I took a lesson and although it was hardly "pleasure", I signed up, thought "I can do this" even though every nerve was screaming at me to get out of the plane. I was fighting my fear all through the early lessons, would step out of the plane drenched with sweat - partly from the effort, partly from the fear. It didn't help me that my instructor was nearly 80 and on a few occasions I thought: would I be able to land the plane if he suddenly became unconscious? Only when I felt comfortable with the landing phase did I stop thinking that, however wind was the next issue to contend with - when I had a lesson booked, I would look out the window and see how the trees were moving and hope it would die down before I got flying.
Even now, I can still recall the flight where the wind was no longer something I feared but suddenly flying became something I enjoyed - it was a nasty day, overcast at 2000 feet with winds blowing around 15 knots, around 30 degrees from the side. Nowadays nothing serious, but back then.... I had reached the stage where I had gone solo, now I was due to do solo circuits at 3 different airfields I'd not practiced at and the one I was lined up for was known for it's slope....
The flight there was bumpy as hell, plane being blown all over the place... Finally landed at the airfield, my instructor walked me through what he was expecting me to do and I said "first I'll have a coffee with you". My instructor looked me in the eye and said:
"Steve, I can't force you to go up solo in this weather but if you don't face it, you'll duck out the next time too. Sooner or later, you'll be ducking out more than flying and eventually you'll give up flying. All I can say is that you can handle this and more."
I thought: He wouldn't send me up if he didn't believe I can handle it, so I went up, was planning to do 3 circuits and each one was better than the next, on the final circuit I heard my instructor call out "ok Steve, this one's the last one, so full stop landing please" to which my reply was "must I? can't I do one more circuit?" After that, no more sweaty palms or white knuckles, passed my PPL without further hassle....
Since then, flying is a real pleasure for me, am glad I did my licence, even flying commercial airliners is much more relaxing for me.....
So I took a lesson and although it was hardly "pleasure", I signed up, thought "I can do this" even though every nerve was screaming at me to get out of the plane. I was fighting my fear all through the early lessons, would step out of the plane drenched with sweat - partly from the effort, partly from the fear. It didn't help me that my instructor was nearly 80 and on a few occasions I thought: would I be able to land the plane if he suddenly became unconscious? Only when I felt comfortable with the landing phase did I stop thinking that, however wind was the next issue to contend with - when I had a lesson booked, I would look out the window and see how the trees were moving and hope it would die down before I got flying.
Even now, I can still recall the flight where the wind was no longer something I feared but suddenly flying became something I enjoyed - it was a nasty day, overcast at 2000 feet with winds blowing around 15 knots, around 30 degrees from the side. Nowadays nothing serious, but back then.... I had reached the stage where I had gone solo, now I was due to do solo circuits at 3 different airfields I'd not practiced at and the one I was lined up for was known for it's slope....
The flight there was bumpy as hell, plane being blown all over the place... Finally landed at the airfield, my instructor walked me through what he was expecting me to do and I said "first I'll have a coffee with you". My instructor looked me in the eye and said:
"Steve, I can't force you to go up solo in this weather but if you don't face it, you'll duck out the next time too. Sooner or later, you'll be ducking out more than flying and eventually you'll give up flying. All I can say is that you can handle this and more."
I thought: He wouldn't send me up if he didn't believe I can handle it, so I went up, was planning to do 3 circuits and each one was better than the next, on the final circuit I heard my instructor call out "ok Steve, this one's the last one, so full stop landing please" to which my reply was "must I? can't I do one more circuit?" After that, no more sweaty palms or white knuckles, passed my PPL without further hassle....
Since then, flying is a real pleasure for me, am glad I did my licence, even flying commercial airliners is much more relaxing for me.....
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Great thread guys.
I'm struggling with steep banking at the minute, my head isn't allowing my hand to move.
I've come to the conclusion exposure therapy is the way forward until it sinks into my head that the aircraft simply isn't going to flip!
I'm struggling with steep banking at the minute, my head isn't allowing my hand to move.
I've come to the conclusion exposure therapy is the way forward until it sinks into my head that the aircraft simply isn't going to flip!
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I would highly recommend some "gentleman's aero" in an aerobatic taildragger in the first 100 hours or so for everyone.
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I found being "current" helped me relax more when flying. Not doing long flights, just flying often, and getting to the point where becoming a pilot becomes like being a driver of a car - jump in, checks, power, lets go...
We dont think twice to jump in the car and hurtle 70mph down the motorway, with many things to hit, but yet we are fearful of flying and controlling a plane (even after 100 hours total time!) and currency is the key (or at least it was for me!).
Also doing the ATPL Ground school - knowledge = confidence (not cockiness, more a knowing)...
We dont think twice to jump in the car and hurtle 70mph down the motorway, with many things to hit, but yet we are fearful of flying and controlling a plane (even after 100 hours total time!) and currency is the key (or at least it was for me!).
Also doing the ATPL Ground school - knowledge = confidence (not cockiness, more a knowing)...
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I am about to board a commercial jet for the first time since I started my training. Guess what? Still got the nerves, how pathetic is that?
Oh dear
Have you thought of going on a course of cognitive behavioural therapy.My ex wife suffered badly with Agraphobia leaving shopping trolleys in supermarkets etc with feelings of panic and being trapped.
CBT helped her a lot.
Every time you feel nervous it will be negative thoughts or how you felt in the past boarding an Airline kicking in you have to identify those thoughts and negate them with positive ones.
Face the fears and do it anyway. Good luck
Pace
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Not pathetic at all. It took me a handful of flights on commercial planes to get comfortable with the idea.
It comes gradually, not all at once.
I'm still a little but nervous but once I settled into my last flight I actually became able to enjoy the view. Although I will admit to spending some of it scoping out possible sites for a forced landing. PPL habits don't die easily.
Give it time and concentrate on the positive. For me it came in steps. One flight I was able to read a book , because I wasn't hanging onto the arm rests with a death grip. The next I was able to doze off and so on.
Concentrate on the improvements!
It comes gradually, not all at once.
I'm still a little but nervous but once I settled into my last flight I actually became able to enjoy the view. Although I will admit to spending some of it scoping out possible sites for a forced landing. PPL habits don't die easily.
Give it time and concentrate on the positive. For me it came in steps. One flight I was able to read a book , because I wasn't hanging onto the arm rests with a death grip. The next I was able to doze off and so on.
Concentrate on the improvements!
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All good. Once I got onto the plane I was right at home! Here in lovely New Caledonia at the moment and a have booking with the local aero club to go up in a Cessna 172S in a couple of hours. Can't wait!