Are you concerned about flying?

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

Ari said:

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

I listen for 'gear up', and then try to call when the flaps are brought back in, and the engine power reduced from take-off power.

Hate that! You've just been hurled into the air at 200mph, can still make out the models of cars below, and suddenly the engine power winds back...! WTF!

Getting more used to it now...

You'll be even more worried then when I tell you that the 'EPR' (engine power ratio) on take-off is NOT to just mash the throttle controls as far as they'll go for 'full power' - oh, no.

The pilots work out what will be ostensibly 'enough' power to get the bird off the ground depending on the weight of the passengers and baggage, the wind and the length of the runway.

They're constantly badgered by the airlines to save fuel, and take-off EPR is a part of that.

So - you're relying on something (ok, a little more sophisticated, maybe) that is essentially a 'back of a fag packet' sum on how much power will get us all safely off the ground

Scared yet?

[TallbutBuxomly]

Love flying but of late have had a few jitters leading up to and for a few minutes during take off but thereafter i settle down and am fine.

Not sure why never been a nervous passenger and understand the dynamics of planes which was part of what helped me not be scared of flying.

Watched videos of planes being stress tested helped.

[Justin Cyder]

It's well known that the theory of lifting surfaces is based on passenger willpower and duct tape.

[Ari]

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

You'll be even more worried then when I tell you that the 'EPR' (engine power ratio) on take-off is NOT to just mash the throttle controls as far as they'll go for 'full power' - oh, no.

The pilots work out what will be ostensibly 'enough' power to get the bird off the ground depending on the weight of the passengers and baggage, the wind and the length of the runway.

They're constantly badgered by the airlines to save fuel, and take-off EPR is a part of that.

So - you're relying on something (ok, a little more sophisticated, maybe) that is essentially a 'back of a fag packet' sum on how much power will get us all safely off the ground

Scared yet?

I'm ok with that. Too much power, take off faster. Not enough power, just give it more throttle.

[Justin Cyder]

In fact there are all sorts of factors influencing take off parameters. Loads of airports will have SIDS ( standard instrument departures) rules that affect how much power, climb rate, heading etc. to satisfy things like irritable residents, wildlife, inconvenient mountains etc. It's all very carefully worked out & not at all a simple matter of turning the key, sticking it in 1st & giving it the beans.

[Viperzs]

rumple said:

but i did fly to Africa on a Galaxy Transport plane, the seats in it faced backwards and we did midair refueling

That sounds positively AWESOME!

I love planes and I love flying. The more lively rhe take-off or the landing the better, it's great fun.

I also quite enjoy winging up those who seem to be scared. I remember laughing a LOT during a side wind landing when I heard the shock of the people behind me when they saw the runway out of the RHS windows

The only thing that has worried me was when a passenger collapsed recently on a flight to Germany. That made me realise how helpless you would be in that situation. Fortunately he came round pretty quickly but as far as I can imagine if it was something serious he would have been fooked!

[SomeMinorTrouble]

ditchvisitor said:

I love flying! Probably a good thing as I fly helicopters for a living! However when I fly airlines I do really wish I was flying.. something to do with not being in control I guess!! That and watching 3 experienced Air France pilots kill over 200 people after a negligable nothing emergency turned into an absolute goat!!

Flight 447?

[DrTre]

I love flying.
I particularly love the fact that if something does go wrong, like a screw falling out, or a wire chafing through, or a completely undetectable flaw in one of the turbine blades causing catastrophic failure then you're absolutely, totally and utterly fked. fked like Jenna Jameson's minge (which actually fell off because it was fked so much, and had to be glued back on).
Completely beyond help.
I find that quite a liberating thought tbh.

[N8CYL]

You're right to be concerned though OP, statistically the world is due a couple of crashes

[ditchvisitor]

SomeMinorTrouble said:

Flight 447?

Yes, watched it last night and the CRM or lack of it was somewhat troubling! Also fault diagnosis was non existant!!

[McSam]

Bradgate said:

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

Lots of very knowledgeable and well-informed things.

I agree with and endorse every word.

+1, I'm not as experienced but getting there.

I also echo what was said earlier about fault trees and the like - you have absolutely no idea how much engineering effort goes into making sure that any possible risk is removed as completely as is possible, with commercial aviation it's insane. Airliners really are extremely safe places to be.

And if you're worried about someone coming on board with a bomb down their trousers, then think how much bloody easier it is to do that anywhere but on a jet. Even if you were going to be killed by a terrorist, your chances of doing that on a commercial flight are almost zero compared to other means, too!

[kiteless]

I remember my first flight back in 1982 as a nipper: DC-8 from Cardiff-Wales to Majorca, and take-off had me whooping and a hollerin' like a loon . At the time, the acceleration felt awesome and I loved the in-flight announcement from the Captain which mentioned 40,000ft and 400kts.

As I've got older, I do have some apprehension boarding an airliner. Totally unfounded, I know, and based nothing more than "what if", and I'm happy with rotation speeds / flaps 'n slats noises / turbulence and such like.

But what has really helped me over the last year or so is loading up the European map on FlightRadar24, and looking at all the air movements on it. Every day there must be thousands of flights over mainland Europe, and I'm comforted by the fact that major incidents - despite those crowded skies - are very rare indeed.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

So - let's have our first lesson, shall we, on what's safely possible, despite it appearing suicidal?

Huge, multi-engined 'Heavy' aircraft on final approach, laughing in the face of such trivia as 'wind shear'...

One linky of many on You Tube

[dfen5]

Cheerful thought but we all have to go some time. I sort of made peace with this and it helped me with flying - I actually can sit there now and when the turbulence starts or I hear a creak I just think fk it, whatever..

Sure, it wouldn't be nice to be chucked out of a fusalage at 550mph and have your clothes ripped off (probably the least of your worries but it would be a bit chilly). However, there are tens of thousands of people dying right now, slowly and painfully in a soft hospital bed, no control of it for them either. What's worse?

[Ari]

kiteless said:

But what has really helped me over the last year or so is loading up the European map on FlightRadar24, and looking at all the air movements on it. Every day there must be thousands of flights over mainland Europe, and I'm comforted by the fact that major incidents - despite those crowded skies - are very rare indeed.

Funny you say that. I bought Plane Finder for my iPhone, and that had the same effect on me. Seeing thousands of planes in the air at any one time rather puts it into perspective!

[Ari]

dfen5 said:

Sure, it wouldn't be nice to be chucked out of a fusalage at 550mph and have your clothes ripped off (probably the least of your worries but it would be a bit chilly). However, there are tens of thousands of people dying right now, slowly and painfully in a soft hospital bed, no control of it for them either. What's worse?

I'm not sure it'd be that toasty with them on!

You're right though, it'd be over in minutes.

Just a long, long way down...

[Ari]

N8CYL said:

You're right to be concerned though OP, statistically the world is due a couple of crashes

Many thanks!!

[SomeMinorTrouble]

ditchvisitor said:

Yes, watched it last night and the CRM or lack of it was somewhat troubling! Also fault diagnosis was non existant!!

Its awful how they just panicked while other pilots have saved alot worse situations, but thats humans for you...

The one that got me most was the Uberlingen mid-air collision, seeing all of those promising children die needlessly because of two or 3 minor mess ups is harrowing, plus the reconstruction of the children flying through the air, lifeless

[Fatman2]

I'm a structural engineer and have spent time, along with large teams of like engineers, assessing bird strikes, engine failures and other such things that can tear shreds through wings. It's people like me that make sure a wing is able, despite being cut almost in two, to get you home safely and in one piece; even if the plane isn't. Hand on heart you can rely upon the many engineers that make the planes we fly on today.

Am I concerned about flying. fking hell yeah. I've worked for Arbus and they are a bunch of absolute muppets. I didn't much like flying before but I hate it now.

I've just spent 12 months having to fly out of England but fortunately it was on a Boeing so wasn't too bad. The wife has started to call me BA but that's got nothing to do with British Airways. Its because I've turned into BA fking Barracas, hence all the road trips to Europe all of a sudden.

It may be irrational but I still hate flying.

[ditchvisitor]

There is another one where a very very minor snag caused an airliner to circle whilst they tried to fix the problem, they promtly ran out of fuel and crashed into a mountain, I think it was a Greek airline in the 90's.