Trial flight
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Trial flight
Hello,
I have just taken my first light aircraft flight(since I was 16 - am now 25) with a view to doing my PPL asap. I really enjoyed it, however I have to admit I felt really ill(didn't throw-up though).
Is this something you can grow out of or get over with experience, or am I just not up to flying?
Has anybody had similar experiences on the first flight & got over it or is that it for me?
I have just taken my first light aircraft flight(since I was 16 - am now 25) with a view to doing my PPL asap. I really enjoyed it, however I have to admit I felt really ill(didn't throw-up though).
Is this something you can grow out of or get over with experience, or am I just not up to flying?
Has anybody had similar experiences on the first flight & got over it or is that it for me?
Join Date: May 2001
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Mosfet,
My girlfriend had the same problem, I could never take here flying in anything small but as time went along it has seem to get allot better. It's the old thing about familiarity breads content or something like that. Just hang in there . . .
SX
My girlfriend had the same problem, I could never take here flying in anything small but as time went along it has seem to get allot better. It's the old thing about familiarity breads content or something like that. Just hang in there . . .
SX
Safety First!
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Over a few flights you usually get used to it, a desensitisation period if you like. then you experience aerobatics and you go through it all over again...
Kermie
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Quite normal, and it is something that goes away with time and exposure. Every little movement of the aircraft seems a million times magnified and most disorientating for the first few trips, just try and relax and if you feel ill then for christs sake tell your instructor you've had enough, you won't be learning anything if you're only focussing on trying not to throw up!
Flies for fun
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I have to admit that the first flight that I did prior to doing a PPL, I felt queezy, Since then, I,ve been through hell and back without feeling ill effects. I think on the first flight I was resisting being airsick so much that I made myself airsick. 
Dir. PPRuNe Line Service
On my first flight in a light aircraft I didn't feel so good but otherwise enjoyed it so much I just had to continue.
When I started the stalling exercises again I dind't feel so good but now really enjoy them. I'll be honest - in this case it was more apprehension than the physical effect as the PA-28-161 has an incredibly docile stall.
My last lesson was steep 2g/60-degree turns and the "avoidance maneuver", i.e. change flight direction by 90 degrees as quickly as possible. I didn't feel so good after doing these either, but still had enough mental and physical capacity left to handle a practice engine failure and then get back to the airfield (White Waltham) and land. I know the next time I do steep turns it won't be anywhere near as bad, and then I'll really start to enjoy them.
As Kermit 180 says, it s a desensitisation process, and seeing/feeling it in action is actually quite interesting!
Mik Butler
aka PPRuNe Dispatcher
When I started the stalling exercises again I dind't feel so good but now really enjoy them. I'll be honest - in this case it was more apprehension than the physical effect as the PA-28-161 has an incredibly docile stall.
My last lesson was steep 2g/60-degree turns and the "avoidance maneuver", i.e. change flight direction by 90 degrees as quickly as possible. I didn't feel so good after doing these either, but still had enough mental and physical capacity left to handle a practice engine failure and then get back to the airfield (White Waltham) and land. I know the next time I do steep turns it won't be anywhere near as bad, and then I'll really start to enjoy them.
As Kermit 180 says, it s a desensitisation process, and seeing/feeling it in action is actually quite interesting!
Mik Butler
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You have to remember Chuck Yeager was sick on his first flight. You get used to it.
I have a bit more than a few hundred hours and I felt a bit iffy in the back of an aerobat the other day (the pilot was going for it).It did make me realise how easy it is to put someone off flying forever especially on a first trip.
If I am taking someone up for the first time I alway limit the flight to a short one (20-30 minutes) and keep it levelish. If they say it was boring when they get down I'll happily take them up again and roast the sky.
You'll fight through and get over it then join the rest of us in ripping up £50 notes.
I have a bit more than a few hundred hours and I felt a bit iffy in the back of an aerobat the other day (the pilot was going for it).It did make me realise how easy it is to put someone off flying forever especially on a first trip.
If I am taking someone up for the first time I alway limit the flight to a short one (20-30 minutes) and keep it levelish. If they say it was boring when they get down I'll happily take them up again and roast the sky.
You'll fight through and get over it then join the rest of us in ripping up £50 notes.
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I was in the exact same position as you not very long ago.
My first ppl lesson in a Tiger Moth made me feel a bit barfy and had it been longer the results would have been messy. I got worried and there was talk of it taking 5 hours to get over it, even that some people never get over it(but most do). 2 days later on my 2nd lesson I felt completely fine. 2 weeks after that, my 3rd lesson I also felt fine so I think Ive got over it and I only actually felt sick on my first lesson: it may go away sooner than you think. The main reasons for this seem to be:
- Looking out of the plane and forwards helps rather than in the aircraft all the time
-as you become less of a passenger and more of a pilot, as you fly the plane more you will feel less sick. For example some people are fine doing aeros but when they are a passenger to someone elses aeros they feel sick. Even if you arent doing much flying concentrate and pretend you are.
- Travel sickness tablets. On my first flight I took one. It didnt work at all. The next flight I took a different one and felt fine, however it could be because I had flown just 2 days before so got used to it. I used it the third time and felt ok so I will be using it for a while yet but I dont know if it is actually working, it might just be me getting used to it naturally as it didnt work on someone else. I just dont want to risk being sick again. Anyway you might want to give them a try. The good ones are called "Joyrides" and I got them in Boots. Make sure they dont make you drowsy(they say they might but they dont for me)
- Distance between flights. I think this is very important. If you have a flight a month you are giving yourself more time to get "unused" to flying and it will take more flights to get over it. If you had 2 or 3 a week you would get over it a lot quicker. Sometimes even experienced pilots who have been away from flying for a while feel sick when they come back to it.
- I have also been told it helps to not go flying on an empty stomach
Hope it gets better
My first ppl lesson in a Tiger Moth made me feel a bit barfy and had it been longer the results would have been messy. I got worried and there was talk of it taking 5 hours to get over it, even that some people never get over it(but most do). 2 days later on my 2nd lesson I felt completely fine. 2 weeks after that, my 3rd lesson I also felt fine so I think Ive got over it and I only actually felt sick on my first lesson: it may go away sooner than you think. The main reasons for this seem to be:
- Looking out of the plane and forwards helps rather than in the aircraft all the time
-as you become less of a passenger and more of a pilot, as you fly the plane more you will feel less sick. For example some people are fine doing aeros but when they are a passenger to someone elses aeros they feel sick. Even if you arent doing much flying concentrate and pretend you are.
- Travel sickness tablets. On my first flight I took one. It didnt work at all. The next flight I took a different one and felt fine, however it could be because I had flown just 2 days before so got used to it. I used it the third time and felt ok so I will be using it for a while yet but I dont know if it is actually working, it might just be me getting used to it naturally as it didnt work on someone else. I just dont want to risk being sick again. Anyway you might want to give them a try. The good ones are called "Joyrides" and I got them in Boots. Make sure they dont make you drowsy(they say they might but they dont for me)
- Distance between flights. I think this is very important. If you have a flight a month you are giving yourself more time to get "unused" to flying and it will take more flights to get over it. If you had 2 or 3 a week you would get over it a lot quicker. Sometimes even experienced pilots who have been away from flying for a while feel sick when they come back to it.
- I have also been told it helps to not go flying on an empty stomach
Hope it gets better
High Flying Bird
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Although I've never felt sick when I've been flying, I've often felt a bit queer, and sometimes my head has spun. I guess if you tend to suffer from airsickness you should make sure you get plenty of sleep the night before, and a light meal before you fly. Plus what Tiger Moth said is true. If you fly regularly you'll suffer less, but if you give it a break and go back to it, the airsickness will return. Maybe David Clark should design an attachment like a nosebag to their headsets for those people who just can't get over it... 
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On my 1st flight I felt so Ill we had to cut the trip short. I was at the time gutted thinking that I wouldn't like being a pilot. I have now been flying for 8 years and that has been the only time I have felt queesy.
Trust me you get used to it!!!!
Trust me you get used to it!!!!
