lesofprimus
Brigadier General
I personally dont have any problems with heights, vertigo or flying, but its interesting just how many of our members have these fears.... Ive taken more parachute jumps than I can count (as my log book has gone missing) and I never had any fear except those first couple night jumps...
The problems I face are on takeoff and landing.... And I have to agree with the guys, its all about control...
Ive had 3 REALLY close calls while flying and every time I have to go into the air, I feel that since Ive had the proverbial 3rd strike while flying, Im in the air on borrowed time....
As I said above, Im fine while in the air, its getting up and coming down that get the ol anxiety (sweaty hands/bile in throat) pumping... Ive narrowed it down to a couple things:
First off, as Chris said, I question the abilities of the guys who do the pre-flights on the commercial birds... Ive known a few ground personnel in my time and never thought of them as "highly trained" individuals...
Secondly, my faith in the man/woman sittin in the pilots seat.... Was this clown drinking in the pilots lounge??? Did he take a handful of amphetimines to keep awake cause he just flew across the Atlantic and now has to fly my ass down to the Caribbean???
Its about control and leaving my life in the hands of some meatball Ive never met before... Trust in someone I dont know is very hard for me to come to terms with...
Also, and as a few others up above have stated, Ive ruptured both of my ear drums in the past, my left ear twice, and I believe that this also contributes somewhat to my queasiness during turbulence and hard banking maneouvers...
The problems I face are on takeoff and landing.... And I have to agree with the guys, its all about control...
Ive had 3 REALLY close calls while flying and every time I have to go into the air, I feel that since Ive had the proverbial 3rd strike while flying, Im in the air on borrowed time....
As I said above, Im fine while in the air, its getting up and coming down that get the ol anxiety (sweaty hands/bile in throat) pumping... Ive narrowed it down to a couple things:
First off, as Chris said, I question the abilities of the guys who do the pre-flights on the commercial birds... Ive known a few ground personnel in my time and never thought of them as "highly trained" individuals...
Secondly, my faith in the man/woman sittin in the pilots seat.... Was this clown drinking in the pilots lounge??? Did he take a handful of amphetimines to keep awake cause he just flew across the Atlantic and now has to fly my ass down to the Caribbean???
Its about control and leaving my life in the hands of some meatball Ive never met before... Trust in someone I dont know is very hard for me to come to terms with...
Also, and as a few others up above have stated, Ive ruptured both of my ear drums in the past, my left ear twice, and I believe that this also contributes somewhat to my queasiness during turbulence and hard banking maneouvers...