Zooooooooom! (How safe do you feel about flying?)

Member Name: mreyre

Product:	How safe do you feel about flying?
Date:	16/02/02 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: get from A to B fast!, aerospace engineering is quite interesting, really

Disadvantages: in-flight food, claustrophobic feelings, so, how DO planes fly, anyway?

Flying – aaargh! You either love it, or you don’t! Unfortunately, due to the atrocities of the September 11th tragedy, the fear of flying has taken on a whole new meaning. As a result, BA are laying off even more workers, therefore the events of September 11th have affected the lives of even more people.

Anyway, that’s by the by – so why do so many people share the fear of flying? In simple terms, one could argue that if God had wanted us to fly, he would have given us wings. However, in this day and age, we need a more scientific viewpoint. One never knows, if genetic scientists get their way, we may all be flapping our genetically grown wings by 2050.

Unfortunately, we don’t possess the ability to flap our arms and raise off the ground. Therefore man had to invent a way of propelling himself across the ground by some other means. As history tells us, we have the Wright brothers to thank for the prototype aeroplane designs. Now, I can understand how a few bits of balsa wood can be propelled by a couple of elastic bands and be enlarged a few times to take the weight of a (very brave) person. However, what I fail to understand is how 300+ people inside a very heavy metal structure can be zoomed through the air with the greatest of ease.

One of my best friends is an aerospace engineer – he actually designs jet engines. He gets paid about three times as much as me, but luckily doesn’t get a company plane (or car, either!). He has explained to me how planes fly, from an engineers point of view. After much explanation, I’m afraid I still don’t have a clue. Perhaps that’s why I’m a primary school teacher and not an aerospace engineer. However, I think he’d have difficulty controlling a class of 30 kids, but that’s another story.

Until the age of 25 I had never even been inside an airport, let alone inside a plane. However, I had to confront my fears as my wif
e and I had booked our honeymoon to Tuscany. This obviously meant that I had to get on a plane. I desperately wanted to go and see the sights, so that was that – I would have to get on a plane.

We flew from Heathrow, which is a huge airport. We actually stayed over in the nearby hotel the night before we flew out, which was an amazing experience. I was able to have a good look around the airport and I must admit, I was quite distracted from the “flying” thing, as there were hundreds of shops to look around – the fact that it was an airport seemed very secondary!

On the morning of the flight, I was very nervous – we waited in the departure lounge and inevitably there was a slight delay, which made matters worse. I must say, I did feel very claustrophobic on the plane – I think the feeling of being strapped in, with no way out was a difficult one to cope with. I didn't sit near the window, on purpose! When we were getting ready for take off, it felt like a bus going a bit too fast, and when the plane left the ground I was initially amazed with the fact that it had taken off, then scared as there was no way back now. We must have only been in the air for just over an hour, but it seemed like weeks – I did not enjoy it at all. We flew through some turbulence at one point, which felt like a roller coaster, but with no wheels underneath. I couldn’t face any of the in-flight plastic food at all – it made me even more sick-y.

The landing part was also terrifying, but satisfying at the same time, as we had arrived safely and were in a completely different country with lots to explore. I tried hard not to think about the journey back again.

I did enjoy the flight home a little more, as I had had such a fantastic time and saw so many amazing sights, which I would never have experienced if I had not made that journey. I have never flown again since, but I do want to take my daughter to
Disneyworld when she is older, so I will have to face my fear again.

I wonder whether dooyooers have any hints / tips on making the fear of flying easier?

Summary: