Dreams
 

There's a topic running in the Military section on being scared of flying:
https://www.pprune.org/military-avia...ed-flying.html

A common thread is dreaming of finding yourself under lots of overhead wires(and, in my case, trees) and trying to find a way through them.

I used to wonder if others had these dreams, and now I know that lots do.

So, who on here has these dreams?

I have had dreams (nightmares) of flying into wires.

R:

My dreams, cityscapes and wires, only began AFTER I stopped flying (1999) and went on for ten plus years. Also, I wouldn't describe them as a nightmare - in fact I rather enjoyed the 'challenge'! I never experienced a fear of flying as such, although I was fairly scared on more than one occasion!! :ok:

That's really interesting, actually, that they should be so common. I have those very same dreams on occasion, but they are rare. I've never felt like they were nightmares. More like interesting trips through a labrynth of some sort.

Unbelievably common, and similar.
Flying down a road with the skids inches off the road, overhanging trees and numerous power lines (often in a Jetranger), looking and hopping for a break to allow a pop up to a safe altitude.

I also consider it an interesting and recurring dream, rather than a nightmare.

I have the same dream also. However in some of mine I'm doing the old Fred Flinstone running along and trying to jump and get translational lift!.... other dreams are just as posters have mentioned finding a gap through the trees or wires to pop above them.:ugh:

Wow, isn't that interesting that I'm not the only one. Maybe its a survival mechanism, after all fear keeps us alive. I wonder if Neanderthals dreamt of being chased by sabre toothed tigers?

Very interesting.
Had the dream as well a couple of times years ago, around the time my divorce started.
Guess an alternate way to deal with a daily problem.
With a new wife and a much more powerful helicopter at hand the dream disappeared :-)

Yes, under wires, looking for a way to get up through them, even when seemingly thousands of feet up in the air.

My brother (also a pilot) has the same dreams.

Also recurrent is being about to fly and being totally unprepared, no maps, not in flight suit, aircraft not preflighted, everyone else knows what is going on but I don't. And then I need a wee but can't find the loo....

Been there but unfortunately wasn't asleep. :uhoh:

Flying into controlled airspace without knowing the radio frequency, taking off from a controlled airport without a clearance & hoping no-one sees me, flying along a power line corridor under the high tension wires & between the trees trying to wind my way up through them, flying around under trees trying to find a gap to get up through... all have been repeated many times over the years. I'm hoping that the previous experience will help get me out of trouble should I find myself awake & in those situations!

Strange, never had that kind of dreams. Maybe it's because I did a lot of crop spraying under wires (not in the UK) and it never bothered me.

An auto onto a busy road and having to thread the disk between the street lights. Recurring dream.

Mine is similar to others above: flying at speed down a city street with lots of wires above and no tail space for a fast stop or apparent gaps to climb up through. Only occurred since leaving the cockpit though.

Yeh, I used to work for that outfit, too..!

There is an ex-Bristow guy in the CAE Burgess Hill training centre who has run some fear of flying and familiarisation sessions in the simulators that they have. And I know that he has run sessions in the helicopter simulator.

If anyone is suffering from anxiety from their days flying it might be worth getting in contact and seeing if they can arrange a session to clear the demons out of their system.

Miles

Yes, to both. Not having the correct charts, preflight, etc. was set in China, nobody spoke English.

The wire nightmare typically starts after I dream I've arrived at an HEMS scene, the crew have loaded the patient and I am preparing to depart. I realize I can't go out the way I came in, wires that I somehow missed on the high recon and approach. I see a better path a little farther down the LZ, I hover over, even more wires. Repeats until I wake up.
Or, I'll be landing/departing and wires are everywhere (the wires themselves are easily visible near and far- definitely a dream), I try try to thread my way through.

Here's another specific to HEMS, dispatched by phone at night: I'll be sound asleep, dream the phone rings... Sometimes I just wake up, sometimes I fully awaken and put my boots on before I realize I dreamed the dispatch call.

Retired a year and a half ago, no dreams after the first year.

Yes, had that one as well...and got airborne.

Likewise. In my dreams I would eventually tell myself that it was only a dream.

Yes! And I get the same kind of dream about boating. I am either trying to fly through a maze of wires and tree branches (sometimes in an aircraft I am not permitted to fly), or more often, am skippering a boat and find myself trying to get through a maze of rocks and reefs.

What does this say about us?

30 years flying helicopters although haven't even sat in one for nearly 4 years and haven't missed it at all if I'm honest.

Never dream about wires but still occasionally have one about going IMC without the relevant instruments or recent skill level to come out the right way up. Was fully instrument rated in the Sea King but the dream always involves an R22 and always features a low inertia head somewhere in it.

I've a degree in psychology but I'm :mad: if I can work it out.

Really nice to wake up though and find I wasn't airborne in the first place. :)