Are you concerned about flying?
Discussion
hillbob said:
This is no joke but I know somebody who carries googles with them on a plane, just incase it crashes into the sea. I told him probably wouldn't be alive by the time reaches the sea. But carrying them works for him to ease (some of) the nerves
Searching something on Google helps does it? 
I used to feel sick about just the thought of flying and had horrible nausea for days leading up to the 'doomed journey'. Then in the airport I'd be at full tilt, taxiing even worse, belting down the runway, then it takes off and all those noises, movements and I'm about passing out with fear...
I remember telling my self I needed to get my head to that place where the rational arguments suppress the irrational thoughts that made no sense yet terrified me so much.
Many fun holidays/breaks later and I now look back and laugh at how idiotic I was being and I feel very glad that my head is in rational mode whenever it comes to flying. I'm even a bit of an aviation geek and know most planes and the 'impending death sounds' they all make that you can hear onboard.
It takes some doing to panic about every single revolution of a high bypass turbofan engine and I'm glad I don't do it any more
I remember telling my self I needed to get my head to that place where the rational arguments suppress the irrational thoughts that made no sense yet terrified me so much.
Many fun holidays/breaks later and I now look back and laugh at how idiotic I was being and I feel very glad that my head is in rational mode whenever it comes to flying. I'm even a bit of an aviation geek and know most planes and the 'impending death sounds' they all make that you can hear onboard.
It takes some doing to panic about every single revolution of a high bypass turbofan engine and I'm glad I don't do it any more
mattdaniels said:
There's no point worrying about flying.
It's crashing you want to worry about.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-19...
Hate the media with a vengeance when it comes to reporting stories like this. It's crashing you want to worry about.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-19...
'Plane skids off the runway - err... no one injured'
No f
wonder no one was injured seeing as nowt that could cause f injuries happened! Scaremongering ts! 
I don't mind flying, per se, I just find it very, very tedious. Which isn't ideal considering I travel rather a lot on business - although not as much as some on PH do...
Friday morning's flight back from a meeting in Paris was somewhat eventful. I was ill due to food poisoning from a crap hotel (everywhere else booked up due to conventions season) and was eager to get off the plane asap, so what happened? fking wind shear on approach to landing, that's what.
We were literally a few feet from touch down (admittedly drifting sideways and bobbing around a bit) when Captain Sensible bottled it and decided to give it full beans and take us back up. Cue me groaning out, somewhat loudly, "Oh for fk's sake!" above the muffled squeals and screams from some of the other passengers. It was another 20 minutes before we finally landed. Bloody pilot should have grown some plums and put us down first time (in my ignorant opinion 
.)
Friday morning's flight back from a meeting in Paris was somewhat eventful. I was ill due to food poisoning from a crap hotel (everywhere else booked up due to conventions season) and was eager to get off the plane asap, so what happened? f
king wind shear on approach to landing, that's what.We were literally a few feet from touch down (admittedly drifting sideways and bobbing around a bit) when Captain Sensible bottled it and decided to give it full beans and take us back up. Cue me groaning out, somewhat loudly, "Oh for f
k's sake!" above the muffled squeals and screams from some of the other passengers. It was another 20 minutes before we finally landed. Bloody pilot should have grown some plums and put us down first time (in my ignorant opinion .)not to worried about flying ,unless they start using these..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feloymjEcGo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feloymjEcGo
Trevor450 said:
I don't mind flying but could have done without being told on approach into Leeds by a Jet2 first officer that as they couldn't see the runway for the fog, the autopilot was landing the plane!
I'm sure a pro will be along to correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, autoland relies on ILS. There is a radar beam horizontally along the centreline of the runway & another vertically rising at about 3 degrees. The aircraft's radar captures the beams & flies down them on autopilot. It can't fail to make a perfect landing provided the pilot flying has set up the aircraft in terms of speed & the other bits of landing configuration.Justin Cyder said:
Trevor450 said:
I don't mind flying but could have done without being told on approach into Leeds by a Jet2 first officer that as they couldn't see the runway for the fog, the autopilot was landing the plane!
I'm sure a pro will be along to correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understand it, autoland relies on ILS. There is a radar beam horizontally along the centreline of the runway & another vertically rising at about 3 degrees. The aircraft's radar captures the beams & flies down them on autopilot. It can't fail to make a perfect landing provided the pilot flying has set up the aircraft in terms of speed & the other bits of landing configuration.Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Even using ILS autoland, if the runway doesn't come into view at a certain distance from touchdown (can't remember the exact distance) then they're not allowed to land.
Indeed. ILS is a very clever system, but even it cannot verify that a runway is clear of obstructions.
Ok, but supposing the airfield's fogged in, the captain elects to perform an ILS landing, surely the rt between the flight deck & the airfield will at some stage prior to the decision point confirm that the runway is available? I'm open to information, but struggling to believe that ILS hinges on the captain's ability to see out the window.
They have enough fuel (or should) to make a diversion to another airport that should be outside of the weather, but autolanding isn't bothered about fog, if they have to either land with no visibility or crash, they will land, and will do so perfectly safely if there are no obstructions on the runway. The minimum visibility rule is a bit belt and braces, i.e. the pilot is doing a visual check to make sure the runway is clear and that it really is right in front of them, but there's nothing physically stopping the software from landing the plane in heavy fog. It's just an extra safety check.
Heavy wind, on the other hand, could well leave an aircraft with nowhere to land easily.
Heavy wind, on the other hand, could well leave an aircraft with nowhere to land easily.
Bradgate said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
Even using ILS autoland, if the runway doesn't come into view at a certain distance from touchdown (can't remember the exact distance) then they're not allowed to land.
Indeed. ILS is a very clever system, but even it cannot verify that a runway is clear of obstructions.
Now, I alway used to joke that if ever I heard his name being announced as one of the flight crew I'd be demanding to be let off the plane - I've seen how he drives, so if his flying was anything like that, I for one wouldn't want to be on the plane !!!
Anyhoo, he managed to get some time in a simulator (a proper $20M all-singing, all dancing one) for a couple of us, and after a bit of familiarisation he set us up for a flight across Lake Geneva (at 200'...) and up to an airport somewhere up in the mountains which had a tricky approach (frankly, to a total newbie like me, they were ALL tricky !!).
As I was on approach with a nice rate of descent and a everything all lined up, the simulator's computer decided that we were either in cloud or fog, and the screen went grey. My immediate reaction was that we could carry on with instruments, but before I'd had a chance to ask whether that was OK, Mike had taken control, applied more power and we we climbing and turning away from the approach with him calmly asking me to take the wheels back up and sort the flaps out.
Now, in those few seconds, my attitude to what it meant to be a pilot in charge of a plane filled with passengers changed considerably - the way his training and instincts kicked in straight away to deal with the situation was impressive to watch.
Still wouldn't get in a car with him though...
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