get over it?

[boulder19]

I'm working on my PPL and absolutely love it. However, I am still a little apprehensive about flying. Maybe I've seen too many movies or just haven't learned enough about flying yet, but, it is always on my mind that something will go wrong up there.

Does anyone else feel the same? How do you get over it? Do you ever get over this kind of fear? I'd like to make flying a career but I'm not sure about having these types of feelings. Any help or stories are appreciated.

 

[Dep676]

Not Bashing You

I hear this crap all the time. Aren't you scared you will die? NO!!!!!!! If your number comes up it's your time. Just look at how many people die in car crashes a day. Of course when a plane goes down a lot of people die. There are a lot of people dying everyday from car wrecks, falling down in the shower, falling down the steps, driveby shootings, hit by car a stupid a$$ drunk driving home from the bar, fall off a ladder. I will stop there otherwise I would be all night typing. Just think of it that way. Don't let it stop you from pursuing your dream of flying. To many people don't do something out of fear. Then they regret it later.

My wife has a friend that used to call her everytime she heard about a plane accident. She finally got sick of hearing it and told her. She finally quit. That's just like calling everytime there is a car wreck. Ridiculous huh?

Again I am not bashing you. Just giving you another way to think of it. Don't let this fear or worry from pursuing your dream. I can't stress that enough.

Good luck and fly safe.

 

[cessna_driver2]

Life is to short to worry about dying. Just fly. The more you fly, the less you will think about flying. Just think when you started drive, The very first time. You were a little scared, but the more you drove... Look now, you get in the car and go right?

No worries man. Live a little.

 

[Rvrrat]

Learning new things

Bolder,

Perhaps your apprehensions stem from the amount of time your instructor is drilling you on stalls, unusual attitudes and emergency procedures??

Mastery of all three of those training items are necesary prior to doing your cross country trips. All three of them can be intense as they demand focus, knowledge and demonstration of acquired skills. The doing of them incites new/different/strange sensations in the body particularly in those folk who are not avid motorcyclists or roller coaster enthusiasts. It would be a good time to take a ground session to talk with your instructor about the apprehensions, strange sensations, effects of visual illusions and how to effectively deal with them.

All the best to your success.

 

[Dep676]

That brings out a good point. I used to take my primary students up and put them in a spin. I only did it if they wanted to and that out that ease about stalls. It helped them realize the plane wasn't going to fall out the sky.

Keep the dream alive and go flying.

 

[abenaki]

You know what Bolder? After thinking about your questions for a few minutes, one thought stood out that's perhaps a bit different from the sound thoughts of the other replies that you have received ......My guess is that you will make a **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED**ed fine pilot because you ARE a little scared. That says to me that you recognize the risks that are inherent in this business and will educate yourself as to how to manage those risks.....And believe me, the way you stay alive in this business comes down to risk management and all that it entails.

Being a little "paranoid", (and I don't mean enough to be debilitating by any means) for lack of a better term will keep you asking the questions that need to be asked like HOW IS THE WEATHER TODAY AND MIGHT IT CHANGE? WERE THOSE TANKS REALLY FILLED BY THE LINE GUY? MAYBE I'D BETTER CHECK THEM MYSELF EVEN IF IT MEANS CLIMBING UP ON THAT WING IN 10 DEGREES WUTH BLOWING SNOW! DID THE MECHANIC REALLY FINISH THIS JOB? IS THE RUNWAY LONG ENOUGH TODAY WITH THE 100 DEGREE HEAT AND THOSE TREES AT THE OTHER END?

Bolder, I could go on and on with the gazillion questions that a good pilot keeps asking him/herself. And don't take me wrong, this DOESN'T DETRACT from the joy of flying, it ADDS to it knowing that you're doing it right. There is NOTHING like flying (well, OK, maybe not quite nothing). It's a bloody hoot. It's different ever time that I jump in the seat and I've seen places and things that I would NEVER have seen had I been stuck at some pitiful desk job somewhere. Try the freakin' HUGE thunderstorms in Florida and the lightening show they put on or the Rockies in the winter or LA at night. Man, there's no end to it. And learning the skills to do this job and then seeing how you've developed over time is incredibly satisfying. Ten years ago I was in a hanger looking up at a big turboprop wondering if I had what it takes to fly something like that. Now I'm a captain zipping around at .92 in a screamin' jet have more fun than should be legal.

And to think that not just anyone can do this job. You're joining the ranks of a relatively small group and the comraderie here is just wonderful (despite the B-----ing you see on this site).

You kow the pilots that scare me? It's the one's who show zip fear/concern and have a completely cavalier attitude toward the whole thing that I don't want to fly with. It's the guy who says, "Hey, watch this!" that you have to look out for.

Like the old saying says, "There are old pilots and bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots".

My guess is Bolder, that you will live to be an old pilot.

Best wishes......

 

[Wings Level]

A little bit of fear is normal when you just begin flying. Personally, I'm always a little bit fearful of things. It get better all the time though as I become subjected to more complicated situations.

When I was Private pilot, I would get nervous about going anywhere that I had not flown to before. This is normal.

Having a some fear indicates to me that you will likely become a very good pilot. It's a good quality to possess, and it implies that you also have a respect for the level of proficiency required to fly commercially in the future.

Your going to be just fine.

 

[bobbysamd]

Murphy's Law

If anything can go wrong, it will. However, we as pilots learn to deal with these situations. That is one reason why flying is as safe as it is.

For example, loss of the engine. That can happen. It has happened. We learn to minimize that risk as best as possible at the beginning, by making sure we have enough fuel for our flight, that it is the right fuel, and ensuring the fuel is free of contamination. Hopefully, your instructor conveyed these points to you when he had you turn on the master to check the fuel guages, had you uncap the tanks to check fuel visually, and had you sump the tanks to check for color and drain off sediment. Also during the preflight, we inspect the prop blades to ensure they are free of nicks, because a blade can fall apart if vibration gets to a nick. If there are nicks, we get a mechanic to dress them out with a file before we start the engine.

Then, on runup, we check the mags to ensure both are operating and neither is grounding. We check carburetor heat to ensure we have an antidote to carb ice. We check for proper power on takeoff (and abort the takeoff if the engine is not developing the proper power). We make sure the fuel is switched on the proper tank(s) for takeoff. We treat the engine carefully during the flight. So, we take great pains to eliminate the possibility of an engine failure in flight beforehand, because the items I enumerated above are the major causes for engine failure in flight.

Despite all this, the engine fails. So, we receive training to deal with it. We learn that the airplane will not fall out of the sky if we lose power. We learn that we will keep flying the airplane at its best rate of glide speed and turn to the most suitable place to land. In the meantime, we'll try to troubleshoot the engine failure. If we cannot get a restart, we will complete the emergency landing checklist, make an emergency landing and survive the catastrophe.

So, yes, if something can go wrong, it will. We do everything in our power to prevent it from happening, such as good preflight planning. But, if something does go wrong, we, as pilots, are trained to deal with it, bearing in mind that safety is always first.

Hope that helps a little. Have fun and best of luck with your training.