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I had a fear of flying, which I overcame completely by accident: I started playing a realistic flight sim for a while. Because it was realistic, I had to learn the basics of how to actually fly a plane. It taught me two things: what some of the noises, the vibrations, and the movements were; and how hard it is to actually crash a plane. Once you made it in the air, you'll want to try crashing your plane in the game (…
I was on a plane that experienced an "uncontained, catastrophic turbine engine failure" (Delta 1288) that killed two people a few rows behind me. It was traumatic, and I rented a car and drove home instead of flying, but it wasn't long before I was regularly flying again. Physically, I was completely unharmed, and I got to experience safely leaving a plane through an over-the-wing exit. I learned that even in a worst-case scenario, people can and do survive.
If you can stomach it, take some flying lessons. You'll be less scared of processes you understand. Start with a bunch of ground school, so you understand how the aircraft works, meteorology and the effort that goes into aircraft maintenance. Then, take a discover flight on a small aircraft and discover the love of aviation!
I also had a fear of flying, one that lasted 3 years. It came on because of 3 terrible flights in a row. It was bad to the point where I could not even think about stepping on a plane. I ended up missing weddings and job opportunities because the fear of flying was so intense. I now fly regularly, and without issue. It took a long time, but I've found a few things that worked for me: 1. No caffeine on a flight day. T…
In addition a couple strong cocktails right before the flight goes a long way to help me relax during take off. That's when I tend to be the most anxious.
Also getting a couple big bottles of water at the airport and bringing them on the plane helps me stay hydrated/comfortable and forces me to stand up and stretch in order to get to the restroom a few times during the flight.
Step 2: Drink a large beer or whiskey on-the-rocks. Repeat until well-buzzed.
Step 3: Enter the plane and get yourself doing something to take your mind off of it, like music, movie, or book.
Cheaper alternative would be to get little sample shots from your local liquor store before you fly - those are allowed past security, and you can toss it in your orange juice while in-flight. Its a standard part of my carry-on now.
Benadryl will also work if booze isn't your thing.
The thing is, fear of flying is not a rational fear, which you already know. In my experience, irrational fears are best conquered by either chemical means, or embracing the fact that we can't always pick when we die, and for that reason you should always live life to the fullest. The chemicals also help with that idea.
I had a fear of flying, which I overcame completely by accident: I started playing a realistic flight sim for a while. Because it was realistic, I had to learn the basics of how to actually fly a plane. It taught me two things: what some of the noises, the vibrations, and the movements were; and how hard it is to actually crash a plane. Once you made it in the air, you'll want to try crashing your plane in the game (…
Any recommendation for a flight sim? Always been interested, I think we owned a copy of the MS flight sim back in the 90s, never played as an adult.
Flight Simulator X is more than a decade old but it's still decent and has an unbelievably large third party library of aircraft, scenery, and other add-ons. The Lockheed Martin developed Prepar3d is an attempt to update the FSX code base and by all accounts is quite good but i haven't tried it myself.
A proper flight sim isn't much fun without at least a stick and it's worth buying one even if it's cheap and doesn't have a throttle.
I had a fear of flying, which I overcame completely by accident: I started playing a realistic flight sim for a while. Because it was realistic, I had to learn the basics of how to actually fly a plane. It taught me two things: what some of the noises, the vibrations, and the movements were; and how hard it is to actually crash a plane. Once you made it in the air, you'll want to try crashing your plane in the game (…
xanax!!!