planes and turbulance
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- senseg
hey guys, just noticed i hate flying.
I loved it sometime ago and now every flight for me is a huge stress...
I dont know what happened, but it scares me a lot now :(
Had a worst ever turbulanceHow about you?
- lowimpakt0
you are sitting in a chair, in the sky, travelling at 500 miles per hour.
six feet from your face there are powerful jet engines.
- spl33nidoru0
when you're younger there's a certain carelessness about everything.
as you grow older you hopefully have more to lose and you're more aware of the kind of situations lowimpakt mentioned..- Once you get REALLY old, you have very little to lose.nb
- sureshot0
recently flying scares the shit outta me too. I watched too much Air Crash Investigation + I'm fucking claustrofobic.
- vaxorcist0
My grandfather was an engineer at Boeing....
He said he hated flying DC-8's and DC-9's and anything by Douglass because of the bumpier ride, "all that turbulence transmitted to your spine" as he called it... this was due to the way the wing spars were made in those airplanes, straight, without damping....
He loved flying Boeing, of course because he worked for Boeing, but also because, as the engineers joked the wings went "Boing" on a Boeing, as they were designed to flex and absorb the turbulence....
Ironically Boeing bought Douglass, and I'm sure the engineers of both companies had a few conversations....
I know nothing of Airbus's wing design...
Supposedly the new Boeing 787 has even more flex built into the wing design, but I don't know much about it other than the composite materials in the airframe allow for more humidity in the cabin, so your nose isn't so dried out.....
- senseg0
hate when people are screaming, when its shakin
- WeLoveNoise0
Statistically you are less likely to die in a plane crash than you are to spontaneously combust.
- Jacque0
This is how far the 787 wings can flex before breaking (click for much bigger picture).
Turbulence isn't so much of a danger as an annoyance. Those planes are engineered to hold together. You're more likely to fly out of your seat, hit your head and get killed before turbulence shakes apart the plane.
Now, actually flying planes yourself is fun as hell.
- CygnusZero40
Im scared to death of flying. I knew a guy named Rich Coburn who died on SwissAir 111 off Halifax. When you knew someone who died in a horrific plane crash where they found no piece larger than a car door and no human bodies in tact, it hits very close to home and you will never feel comfortable flying again because regardless of statistics. You have a much better chance of surviving a car crash, and the fact is it can always happen to you. You could just end up on that one doomed plane.
It doesnt stop me from flying, but there are few things I hate more. If that didnt happen to Rich it wouldnt be as bad as it for me now, I never liked flying, but before he died it wasnt nearly as bad as it is now.
- I really do feel a shit load better walking around in a lightning storm or getting into a car.CygnusZero4
- My ex's niece was in that SwissAir crash...so awful.monkeyshine
- mg330
When I'm flying by myself, it's the one time I have complete focus on how much I love my wife (and her as my girlfriend and fiancé over the last 10 years until we got married in June). I'm sure that sounds strange... It's just that anything could go wrong on a plane and you're probably not gonna make it if something bad does happen. That feeling of wanting to protect her, to keep her safe, to never see her sad - that all comes full force on flights. Say whatever you want about religion, but I always say a prayer during takeoff and landing that we get where we're going safely, and that I get back to her safely. I've done that for 10+ years, every flight.
If we're together I still do the same thing, but I at least take comfort in the fact that if something bad did happen, we're together. Heavy thoughts.
- senseg0
pills????
- good advice for long haul. If it's a 2hr flight, depends on the drugs..
Fax_Benson - and what your plans are when you landFax_Benson
- good advice for long haul. If it's a 2hr flight, depends on the drugs..
- lowimpakt0
I'm not so good as distancing myself from my surroundings or using typical distractions (sleep/reading etc) so each flight is full of fear and doubt.
I am usually mentally writing the text message to my partner or family if the plane goes down.
I'm always mulling over my poor engineering knowledge (as a trained product designer) and the relationship between this lack of knowledge and the fear triggered by every odd noise, jerk and bump the plane makes.
Although, the fear I have of flying is proportional to the awe I have of the fact I am flying.
- CygnusZero40
The whole thing with those statistics is everyone who hates flying knows the chances of them dying in a plane crash is so slim, but the fact remains that its not impossible for it to happen to you.
Every one of those people that died on all these major commercial flights never thought it would be them either. You get in a car, and yeah your chances of being in an accident are much higher, but you just feel like your chances are a lot better on the ground in vehicles doing under 100mph, not 30,000 feet in their air doing 500mph.
- kota0
You guys don't really understand probability...
- lowimpakt0
if we lived by rational statistical constructs such as probability we wouldn't be human.
- senseg0
so we all have to fly, but how to handle that fear? i cannot do that anymore and i dont want to drink lots of alcohol.
- Jacque0
One the plus side, in a plane crash you're more likely to die instantaneously than have live the rest of your life as a quadriplegic.
- uan0
Ativan, a prescription anti-anxiety drug, should help.
- lowimpakt0
embrace the fear
- Beeswax0
Captain of a major airline:
The truth is, we're exhausted. Our work rules allow us to be on duty 16 hours without a break. That's many more hours than a truck driver. And unlike a truck driver, who can pull over at the next rest stop, we can't pull over at the next cloud.Jack Stephan, Captain, US Airways:
Some FAA rules dont make sense to us either. Like the fact that when we’re at 39,000 feet going 400 miles an hour, in a plane that could hit turbulence at any minute, (flight attendants) can walk around and serve hot coffee and Chateaubriand. But when we’re on the ground on a flat piece of asphalt going five to ten miles an hour, they’ve got to be buckled in like they’re at NASCAR.John Greaves, former airline Captain:
It’s one thing if the pilot puts the seat belt sign on for the passengers. But if he tells the flight attendants to sit down, you’d better listen. That means there’s some serious turbulence aheadPilot, South Carolina:
There’s no such thing as a water landing. It’s called crashing into the ocean.Jack Stephan, Pilot:
What’s the scariest thing that’s ever happened to you?’ I tell them it was a van ride from the Los Angeles airport to the hotel, and I’m not kiddingRegional Carrier Pilot, Charlotte NC:
I’ve been struck by lightning twice. Most pilots have. Airplanes are built to take it. You hear a big boom and see a big flash and that’s it. You’re not going to fall out of the sky.Patrick Smith:
The smoothest place to sit is often over or near the wing. The bumpiest place to sit is in the back. A plane is like a seesaw. If you’re in the middle, you don’t move as much.Jerry Johnson, Pilot, Los Angeles:
If you’re a nervous flier, book a morning flight. The heating of the ground later causes bumpier air, and it’s much more likely to thunderstorm in the afternoon.Jim Tilmon, Pilot:
People don’t understand why they can’t use their cell phones. Well, what can happen is 12 people will decide to call someone just before landing, and I can get a false reading on my instruments saying that we are higher than we really are.Patrick Smith:
Most people get sick after traveling not because of what they breathe but because of what they touch. Always assume that the tray table and the button to push the seat back have not been wiped down, though we do wipe down the lavatory.Pilot:
"One of our engines just failed.” What they’ll say instead: “One of our engines is indicating improperly.” (Or more likely, they’ll say nothing, and you’ll never know the difference. Most planes fly fine with one engine down.)Pilot:
"Well, folks, the visibility out there is zero.” What they’ll say instead: “There’s some fog in the Washington area.”
- inv0
When people ask me why i dont like to fly and start talking about probability I ask them if they have ever bought a lottery ticket. Most lotteries have less prob of winning than the prob of dying in a plane crash, yet people buy them.
My point beeing, thinking you will die in a plane isnt any more absurd than thinking you will win the lottery.