So, who hates to fly???

[Yeagermeister]

I have been in airplanes, in one way or another for a very long time. I don't mind flying so much as I do traveling. I am in the air a lot these days and it really is a grind IMO. I don't enjoy the traveling at all, to be honest. The longer flights are a bit of a drag and the way airlines pack you in is not comfortable at all. I don't typically fly first class so it can be a pain. It's a part of my job so I accept it and move on. Having said that, the best vacations are ones where I don't have to get on planes to go anywhere. JMO.

Being a large fellow I know how you feel about being uncomfortable. Luckily I get to book my own flights.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Being a large fellow I know how you feel about being uncomfortable. Luckily I get to book my own flights.

It's a pain.

 

[FloridaRob]

my wife is terrified of flying to the point of getting panic attacks even thinking about it. A couple of years ago she surprised me with a trip to Green Bay for my birthday. When I met her at the airport I asked her if she was really going to fly. Her Dr had given her some knock out medicine so that she would not know she was in the air.

An hour before takeoff, we walked up to the service desk and told them my wife was terrified of flying so would be taking some medication and would that be ok. The service people and the flight attendant at Northwest said that would be no problem so about 45 minutes before the flight she takes the pills with two advil PMs and goes night night.

My brother in law and I pretty much have to walk her onto the airplane and get her seated. The flight attendant who was at the desk sees her and thinks she is drunk. I told her that "I asked you about this an hour ago and you said it would be ok". She looked panic. We put the wife in her seat and strapped her in. She has no clue where she is. She is out.

A couple of minutes later the pilot comes out of the cockpit and tells me that he will not allow my wife to fly if she does respond to his command. I then start to panic because I know that my wife is out. I got right in her face and said, "Mary, if you don't wake up and talk to the pilot we are not going to Green Bay". She opens her eyes, stands up out of her seat, looks dead on into the pilot and tells him, "My name is Mary, I am a nurse, I took some pills to knock me out because I am terrified of flying-I know what I am doing." The pilot looked at me and gave his approval. My wife flopped back down in her seat and went back to sleep.

She woke up in mid flight to Detroit and I started to worry thinking she was going to have a panic attack. INstead she talked like a person on pure speed and never even reacted to flying.

The rest of the trip she was a trooper. No pills-no knock out medicine. I worried more about her flying than she did after the first leg of the trip.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Going on a trip next week...I hate flying with a passion. Just wanted to see who shared the same dislike...and if not, why.

A while ago I made the mistake of being on a plane and thinking of how a plane looks flying WAY up in the sky when you're looking from the ground...and then realized, that's how I looked to people on the ground at that moment.

OH MY.

Just curious Juke. Is it the heights you're bothered by, or is it the being in a mechanical device, hurtling through space at sometimes 100s of mph?

Do you like going to observation decks or scenic overlook type places?

FWIW, The VERY first "flying" experience I recall. I was about 6 and my dad's friend was a glider pilot. We met him on a Sunday afternoon in June, and went up 1 at a time. I was the first to go while my folks and sister waited under the wings of the small planes, tied down on the tiny "grass" airstrip trying to avoid the hot sun.

I couldn't see over the fuselage of the glider, just out of the canopy, starting at 12 o'clock, down to probably 3, so I had no sense of the horizon except on steep turns, which we rarely did.

Mr Lataskie kept explaining through the headset, how after the tow plane cut us loose, we'd begin descending in wide, sweeping turns and figure-8s, until we hit a thermal. Then we'd begin making tighter and faster turns in the warm rising air, until we were "really spinnin'!".

Now, not being able to see the ground at all, and the sky being cloudless blue, all I could picture was us spinning on an axis, kind of like a merry-go-round. And oh yea. IT WAS HOT! And the four little vents in the cowling, pouring in humid Tx-summer air, probably made it worse, especially inside a thermal where you could feel the temp increase as you entered it.

After about 15 mins of climbing in our first thermal, I'd had enough and let fly in the supplied barf-bag. We immediately landed.

I was drenched in sweat, white as a sheet, and felt like I'd just gotten off the most bad-ace playground, spinner thingamajig ride, every devised.

I spent the rest of the afternoon under a wing, with my head on my dear mother's lap, and a wet towel on my forehead. MAN, I'd never felt so sick.

Even with all the hours I've logged as a passenger or pilot, to this day, I still get some degree of motion sickness 1 out of every 4 times I fly in something smaller than commercial jet.

I know it's because of that day. It's chiseled on my medulla!

My advice, Valium.

 

[theebs]

I dont even consider it at this point. I drive all over the country.

My wife is ready to kill me over it too.

 

[StanleySpadowski]

I hate to fly.

I'm a control freak and can't stand the fact that I'm under someone else's control for x number of hours. I hate the subway, trains, limos... I'm just not a "passenger" in my mind I guess.

Not saying I won't fly because I do several times a year when time constaints mandate it, but I hate it nonetheless.

 

[Pokes12]

Going on a trip next week...I hate flying with a passion. Just wanted to see who shared the same dislike...and if not, why.

A while ago I made the mistake of being on a plane and thinking of how a plane looks flying WAY up in the sky when you're looking from the ground...and then realized, that's how I looked to people on the ground at that moment.

OH MY.

Its not flying that you should be afraid of, its crashing. Flying is great!!! As long as there are the same number of take offs and landings you will be just fine. It is far safer to fly than it is to drive on a highway in Texas or anywhere else for that matter.:laugh1::laugh1:

 

[Juke99]

I hate to fly.

I'm a control freak and can't stand the fact that I'm under someone else's control for x number of hours. I hate the subway, trains, limos... I'm just not a "passenger" in my mind I guess.

Not saying I won't fly because I do several times a year when time constaints mandate it, but I hate it nonetheless.

On the nosey.

I also have a theory about "collective karma"

See, I'm a swell fella...if I was on the plane by myself, I'd be fine because I have good karma. But what happens if I just happen to get on a plane with several bad karma types. The karma totals are tallied and the plane ends up with a negative karma number at the bottom line.

 

[Mavs Man]

I used to hate airplanes, but when I was 17 I had an interest in learning how to fly R/C planes. Somehow it got confused that I wanted to take private plane lessons (still unsure how that happened).

Anyways, I agreed and showed up for an intro flight to see if I wanted to do this. It is my understanding that I am to ride along and watch the instructor and get a feel for riding in a small plane (my first time, and at the time I had only flown roundtrip commercially once).

We get in this two-seater Cessna and taxi to the runway. I'm all ready to go when the instructor tells me "okay, take off". I look at him blankly ("Isn't that what YOU'RE supposed to do?!").

But it turned out to be pretty easy. On a later flight my door flew open as I was banking left (so I'm looking straight down with nothing but a seat belt and 3,000 ft of air between me and the ground). I reached over to shut the door and my instructor tells me not to worry, there is no risk of me falling out.

I knew that, but shutting the door made me feel a whole lot better.

:laugh2:

I ran out of money before I could get my private pilot license, but I did a few solo flights. You do a couple of those and I assure you that commercial flight will no longer be a problem.

 

[Mavs Man]

I will add that what I hate the most about commercial airplane travel now are my ears. It never fails that my ears get completely stopped up in midflight and I'm mostly deaf until we land.

 

[Hostile]

Juke, tell them where you get to go and what you get to do.

 

[CoCo]

I have struggled with motion sickness all my life. As a kid in upstate NY the winding roads and limited panoramic views in routine car rides often made me sick.

Plane rides are hit and miss. Its largely dependent on how much turbulence we get. I still remember the pilot proudly declaring "that ride would have cost you an E ticket at Disneyland" as I wretched in my seat. Other times I've been just fine.

The risk part of flying is always on my mind but, but not paralyzing or debilitating in any way. BTW - that crap about "safer than driving"... brings me no comfort. If I'm driving I at least have some control.

Now that I live in Colorado, and am predominantly the driver, I rarely get motion sick. But on a recent road trip through the southwest I chose the scenic route through Moab Utah. Absolutely gorgeous, while I was upright. The roads were fairly straight - limited back and forth stuff. Problem was it was very hilly. Lots of quick ups and downs. I was even the driver but it probably took 15 minutes before I could no longer function and had to lay down in the back. Sicker than I'd been in quite some time. Got some meds in the next town and bounced back surprisingly well as those episodes can often linger for days with me. Of course the roads at that point were mostly straight and flat.

Motion sickness is a real drag. I actually got wiped out one day by motion sickness generated by me water-skiing!

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Never flown so I can't say one way or the other how I'd feel about it.

 

[Juke99]

Juke, tell them where you get to go and what you get to do.

Ya think?

 

[Hostile]

Ya think?

Sure, it's a celebration.

 

[Juke99]

Sure, it's a celebration.

Maybe I'll address when I get back...so that I dont put the whammy on myself.

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Just curious Juke. Is it the heights you're bothered by, or is it the being in a mechanical device, hurtling through space at sometimes 100s of mph?

Do you like going to observation decks or scenic overlook type places?

You CAN see this, right? 'Cus I'm SURE, as a Mod, and a representative of this site, you wouldn't BLATANTLY ignore a DIRECT QUESTION.

Then again.......

 

[Juke99]

You CAN see this, right? 'Cus I'm SURE, as a Mod, and a representative of this site, you wouldn't BLATANTLY ignore a DIRECT QUESTION.

Then again.......

and maybe it's just POSSIBLE I didn't see it, ok?

OY.

Death. Death is the fear.

And no, I hate observation decks....

In fact, I have a problem being tall.

 

[Gooch]

Totally hate flying. Have to travel quite a bit for work. Short flights are the worst. No time to get comfy. On the longer flights, I at least get tired of being uneasy after a while. Sominex helps a lot.
Still, I not sure about planes. I'm afraid that one day they're gonna find out that Bernoulli was wrong. Not even sure how something that big gets off the ground. Must be witchcraft.....

 

[Rack]

I don't fear flying. I do, however, fear crashing from 35,000 feet to my death, and in today's world the only way that can happen is from an airplane.