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To fasten your seatbelt, insert the flap into the buckle

30dayflight.com

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Re: To fasten your seatbelt, insert the flap into the buckle

#31

Post by davidw »

scott_s wrote: post #23
davidw wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, there is no parallel at all, at least in my experience. Fear of striking out on your own is something that everyone should have a little of - it's healthy. But my fear of flying/heights is completely irrational and very strong.

You might be able to get a prescription from a doctor for Xanax. It's an anti-anxiety drug and it's addictive, but one for each flight won't cause any problems. A friend of mine does that for his flights.

See my reply to rms. It wasn't xanax, but something in that family of substances. It didn't really seem to do much for the anxiety.

Re: To fasten your seatbelt, insert the flap into the buckle

#32

Post by scott_s »

davidw wrote: post #31
scott_s wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might be able to get a prescription from a doctor for Xanax. It's an anti-anxiety drug and it's addictive, but one for each flight won't cause any problems. A friend of mine does that for his flights.

See my reply to rms. It wasn't xanax, but something in that family of substances. It didn't really seem to do much for the anxiety.

Sorry to hear that - I suppose mileage varies. My friend has a real fear of flying, and Xanax makes him not care at all (or about anything else, really - it's a good thing his wife was around to keep in line).

On the flip side, I sat next to a woman who had taken two Xanax and drank two screwdrivers during a three hour flight, and still gripped my hand (a complete stranger) during landing.

Re: To fasten your seatbelt, insert the flap into the buckle

#33

Post by ErrantX »

lutorm wrote: post #30
davidw wrote: post #9

Ugh, I know exactly how that guy feels. I hate flying with an abiding passion (indeed, I view their 30 day trip as about as much fun as hitting myself in the nuts with a hammer over the course of a month). It is completely and totally irrational, but there's not much to be done about it. Drinking helps, some, but they don't serve drinks during takeoff, which is the worst part (I usually manage to relax a bit after ab…

I don't hate "flying". I went halfway to getting a pilot's license just because I've always wanted to learn how to fly (for real, not in simulators). It's not the flying that makes me hate flying on airliners; it's being locked up in a cramped, uncomfortable, jetlag-inducing space that makes me feel like a pig on a CAFO, where I always emerge to my destination with a splitting headache due to an old neck injury. I do…

I dont mind flying at all - but sometimes the claustrophobia hits me and I immediately have a sudden vision of wrenching open the door and falling thousands of feet.

It passes in a few seconds but it's pretty scary!

Re: To fasten your seatbelt, insert the flap into the buckle

#34

Post by harpastum »

aaronz3 wrote: post #5
gcb wrote: post #3

it's not irrational. it's fear off lack of control for ones live. I do not know how to fly an airplane. I do not know the commander. I do know how to pilot a bike. I ride a bike in heavy traffic at high speeds. Despite the death rate for the bike case is higher, i crap myself on an airplane. because i'm not in control.

A friend of mine flies 737s for one of the major airlines, and he once told me, "When I'm up in the air I don't give a damn about the 150 people behind me. I'm sure as hell going to take care of myself though, and if I make it through they don't have much choice but to follow me." You may not be in control, but the pilot is, and he wants to make it to his destination just as much as you do.

That reminds me of the story a couple months ago in Britain [1]:

"One passenger then identified himself as a qualified aircraft engineer and offered to try to remedy the fault. He was successful, and the plane landed in Glasgow only 35 minutes late...It was reassuring to know the person who had fixed it was still on the aeroplane."

Normally I'd be very worried that my plane was fixed by someone that didn't actually work for that company, but the fact that he trusted his own life to his fix would go a long way to reassuring me.

[1]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1198058/Is-engineer-...

Re: To fasten your seatbelt, insert the flap into the buckle

#36

Post by dimas »

ulf wrote: post #4
gcb wrote: post #3

it's not irrational. it's fear off lack of control for ones live. I do not know how to fly an airplane. I do not know the commander. I do know how to pilot a bike. I ride a bike in heavy traffic at high speeds. Despite the death rate for the bike case is higher, i crap myself on an airplane. because i'm not in control.

This concept of control is a _very_ irrational one. Of course you steer and pedal your bike by yourself. But by taking part in traffic you give up at least as much control as flying by plane. Some guy hitting you with his car from behind is not exactly in your control.

It is irrational but it shows how our mind work(what is sometime is irrational and does not always work according to statistics). On the bike you feel like you have more control because you can control one factor is yourself directing the bike and possibility avoid the accident(in your mind). On the plane you have no control in any directions. No matter what happens you are helpless and bets you can do is pray

Re: To fasten your seatbelt, insert the flap into the buckle

#37

Post by run4yourlives »

harpastum wrote: post #34
aaronz3 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A friend of mine flies 737s for one of the major airlines, and he once told me, "When I'm up in the air I don't give a damn about the 150 people behind me. I'm sure as hell going to take care of myself though, and if I make it through they don't have much choice but to follow me." You may not be in control, but the pilot is, and he wants to make it to his destination just as much as you do.

That reminds me of the story a couple months ago in Britain [1]: "One passenger then identified himself as a qualified aircraft engineer and offered to try to remedy the fault. He was successful, and the plane landed in Glasgow only 35 minutes late...It was reassuring to know the person who had fixed it was still on the aeroplane." Normally I'd be very worried that my plane was fixed by someone that didn't actually w…

In the Canadian Army, the people who re-pack parachutes for soldiers (riggers) have a similar safe guard to ensure quality.

At any given time, a commander can select any particular chute that they've packed, and they have to jump using it. Needless to say the quality control is near perfect.

Re: To fasten your seatbelt, insert the flap into the buckle

#39

Post by gcheong »

rms wrote: post #20
davidw wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried that, and it had zero effect. Then I had another one, and something to drink, and that worked, but was probably not a bright idea. I did manage to sleep just a little bit, which was a first for me, flying. I was still terrified for the first half hour, though, so I wouldn't really say the anti-anxiety stuff had any effect at all.

Oh, they work for me. They mainly work on the physical side effects of anxiety -- the muscle tension, pain in the chest, etc. I need to also take a melatonin to be able to sleep. The mental fear is still up to you. Usually I just embrace it and take the moment of takeoff as a time to reflect on my own mortality -- if you can come to terms with the chance of your early, violent death then there is no need to panic.

It's been theorized and shown in various studies that a lot of a drug effectiveness due to the placebo effect, so it may be that if you don't think it will help you it's likely not to.

Re: To fasten your seatbelt, insert the flap into the buckle

#40

Post by psnj »

ulf wrote: post #4
gcb wrote: post #3

it's not irrational. it's fear off lack of control for ones live. I do not know how to fly an airplane. I do not know the commander. I do know how to pilot a bike. I ride a bike in heavy traffic at high speeds. Despite the death rate for the bike case is higher, i crap myself on an airplane. because i'm not in control.

This concept of control is a _very_ irrational one. Of course you steer and pedal your bike by yourself. But by taking part in traffic you give up at least as much control as flying by plane. Some guy hitting you with his car from behind is not exactly in your control.

Agree.

When I was getting my pilot's license, I learned to be hyper-aware of another airplane that was less than say 1000 feet from me. But the strangest part of those lessons was getting back into my car afterward and getting onto the 417, where I was a couple of feet away from other cars, also going 75mph. I was completely at these other drivers' mercy: I had effectively no time to react to them, and knew from experience that lots of drivers are just plain awful (and this was really before you'd see people driving while texting with one hand and changing their kids' DVD in the other.)

It was very, very scary. Total loss of control — far more than in an airplane, where to a much greater degree if things go sideways, it was probably your fault anyway.

The other interesting thing about the scary drive was how long it stayed scary: maybe ten minutes, tops. After that — business as usual. Didn't even think about it.

It's interesting what we can get used to.

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