Aviation nightmares?

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Mtns2Skies

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Mtns2Skies
We've all heard of or had the epic dreams of flying while we sleep, but any nightmares?

I have a recurring nightmare where at a controlled airport I forget to call ground and just taxi to the runway and that feeling of dread when I've realized I did something very wrong.

Anyone else?
 
Going thru airline training no nightmares, but wife said I was making call outs in my sleep and calling for emergency checklists. :)
 
Not really a nightmare or a re-occurring dream, but every now and then I have a dream where I am flying, and suddenly the floor of the plane falls away. Nothing falls out, the plane keeps flying, just the floor falls away and I can look straight down and see the ground. Then I think to myself.... "Boy it is sure going to get windy in here now..."
 
Zeldman said:
Not really a nightmare or a re-occurring dream, but every now and then I have a dream where I am flying, and suddenly the floor of the plane falls away. Nothing falls out, the plane keeps flying, just the floor falls away and I can look straight down and see the ground. Then I think to myself.... "Boy it is sure going to get windy in here now..."
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That would be setting you up for a Fred Flintstone landing I presume...:)
 
I dream of flying on most nights. The nightmare starts when I wake up and realize it was a dream.:mad:
 
I recently had a dream that a recalcitrant student fought for the controls of the gyroplane near a power transfer station and when I regained control of the aircraft we were beneath the wires. There were wires and towers everywhere and I felt trapped. The student continued to fight for control of the aircraft as I tried to maneuver around the towers and search for a place to get above the wires. I found it disquieting until I became aware that it was a dream.
 
I have this type of dream, not often, but probably every couple of months.

The basic plot always goes that I take off and can barely climb out. I end up zigzagging around trees as I try to get some altitude. There always seem to be powerlines nearby too, that I have to dodge, flying between the wires and such. And I never seem to be able to climb above them. The dreams wouldn't quite reach the level of nightmares, I don't wake up in a cold sweat or anything, mostly during the dream I would say I'm "annoyed", not scared.

I posted this on another aviation forum a few years ago and several other pilots said they have had similar dreams, so apparently it's reasonably common.
 
I used to get the "power line" dream every once in a while, so yeah, it seems common. I'm glad I'm a fixed wing pilot...couldn't hack flying a chopper at 500' AGL.
 
The funny thing is that my wife and I both had the same nightmares after our first flights at night: We fell asleep while flying and only woke up after the engine had died and everything was pitch black and quiet around us. No moonlight, no cockpit lighting, nothing. All we knew was that we were still in the air... :eek::confused: Gladly, we finally realized that we we laying in bed and just had a weird dream.

Interestingly, we love flying at night, it is one of our favorite times to be up in the air. :rolleyes::)
 
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RussR said:
I have this type of dream, not often, but probably every couple of months.

The basic plot always goes that I take off and can barely climb out. I end up zigzagging around trees as I try to get some altitude. There always seem to be powerlines nearby too, that I have to dodge, flying between the wires and such. And I never seem to be able to climb above them. The dreams wouldn't quite reach the level of nightmares, I don't wake up in a cold sweat or anything, mostly during the dream I would say I'm "annoyed", not scared.

I posted this on another aviation forum a few years ago and several other pilots said they have had similar dreams, so apparently it's reasonably common.
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Ah yes, the aviation equivalent to not quite being able to outrun the monster. I get that one too.
 
I've had to dodge powerlines as pilot and also have dreamt of being a passenger on an airliner in which we inexplicably flew the entire flight at 100 feet AGL.
 
Yes, I have aviation nightmares! I have recurring variations of the following panicky scenarios:

- I realize I've violated controlled airspace after landing, so I try to scheme a way to take off from a field or road in order to fly away without being noticed. However, I can't find a clear way to get out - there're trees, wires, vehicles, high winds, etc., impeding my way.

- I find myself surrounded by towers, guy-wires, powerlines, and I'm frantically maneuvering, trying to keep from hitting them. I'm yanking n' cranking all over, but they're everywhere I turn.

When I have these, my wife will tell me I was sure talking in my sleep a lot.
 
I just had a bad dream the other night where I was called on to fly my 170 off a CVN with some other GA birds (I don't recall why), but couldn't because the annual just expired.
 
I have never actually had a nightmare of any sort, let alone one involving aviation. I've had some weird dreams and some that might be considered bad dreams but none in which I was actually frightened that much or woke up frightened. Not sure if that says anything.
 
I had a nightmare that I had been sick for 3 weeks and haven't been able to fly for over a month. Oh wait, that was reality and not a dream. :mad:
 
GA is closed down and we are all forced to fly commercial.

The airplane is completely shut down but the Hobbs meter won't stop, and it is spinning at a crazy rate!

On every handoff, I get "I have a number for you to call" and it goes on for 8 sectors, approach, tower, ground etc....all different numbers!
 
Never had an aviation nightmare. Have woke up thinking I'm falling off of a radio tower a few times, though.
 
Just 3 nights ago I dreamt I had just taken off and the tower called to inform me I hadn't been cleared to. I woke up worrying about how much trouble I was in. Its kind of a recurrent theme.

Much like ETres, I also sometimes dream about flying too low and tangling with wires and/or towers, but good news there is I never get hurt.
 
I used to get lots of dreams of me being on an airliner, as a passenger, and us flying through a sea of wires .

Just the other night I was flying in a 4 seat plane and all seats were occupied. It was very pitch sensitive and out of balance. We dipped behind trees in which at that point I was on the ground flying it like an r/c plane. Then I was back in it where it stalled and dropped tail first to the ground. Then I was on the ground holding a remote and asked if we all died. Then we all came walking up until hurt. Strange dream and first of its kind.
 
Vance Breese said:
I recently had a dream that a recalcitrant student fought for the controls of the gyroplane near a power transfer station and when I regained control of the aircraft we were beneath the wires. There were wires and towers everywhere and I felt trapped. The student continued to fight for control of the aircraft as I tried to maneuver around the towers and search for a place to get above the wires. I found it disquieting until I became aware that it was a dream.
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I would be packing if I were you.
 
dmspilot said:
I also have dreamt of being a passenger on an airliner in which we inexplicably flew the entire flight at 100 feet AGL.
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I've also had that one a few times. Flying up and down hills hugging the ground.
 
Since I fly mainly ultralights these days, my aviation-related nightmares usually feature birds of prey.

Rich
 
I have two flying dreams that recur:

- I'm trying to takeoff from a road, but there are so many overhead wires, I can't lift off.

-I'm flying over a high pass somewhere out West and get the C-152 I'm flying caught and suspended by wires several hundred feet up.
 
FastEddieB said:
I also sometimes dream about flying too low and tangling with wires and/or towers, but good news there is I never get hurt.
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I've also had dreams about dodging wires. When I was a kid I would have dreams about watching airliners crash (they did so much more often back then).
 
A friend and I were talking about the "stuck low" dreams a while back...he said he wakes up in a cold sweat. I wake up smiling.

Different perspectives, I guess.
 
I always dream about flying a P-51, but that's a dream, not a nightmare. Carry on.
 
Mine usually takes place while I'm deadheading and there is anything from a total crew incapacitation, rapid decompression, or cabin fire, down to the mundane like a broken coffee maker (not kidding :dunno:). Oddly, these always happen on a Waterski flight...
 
HighFlyingA380 said:
Mine usually takes place while I'm deadheading and there is anything from a total crew incapacitation, rapid decompression, or cabin fire, down to the mundane like a broken coffee maker (not kidding :dunno:). Oddly, these always happen on a Waterski flight...
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That isn't a dream, it is reality.
 
I know some members have a constant nightmare.....
s-l1000.jpg
 
I had a nightmare that I had been sick for 3 weeks and hadn't been able to fly for over a month. It was awful. Oh wait minute; that is my reality right now and it is a nightmare! :mad:
 
I had a nightmare night before last that I was to fly a Citation with a man and women to a non-extradition country.
I was going through the pre-flight list when I explained to the couple I didn’t know how to fly a Citation.
The woman shrieked at me that I was a commercial pilot and I could fly anything she wanted.
The man said it depends on what flying is.
I found the dream disquieting.
 
I grew up flying with my father, who was a great pilot...I was just along for the ride.
When I went to school to learn electronics, it was pretty math intensive and I learned a lot but I had a recurring dream a few times that me and dad were up in his Cessna 172 flying and I was calculating with my new math skills and showed him my work, which proved that airplanes cannot in fact fly, it was definitely proof that it was impossible at which point we start "not flying"...
 
This pretty much sums up the dreams I have.





RussR said:
I have this type of dream, not often, but probably every couple of months.

The basic plot always goes that I take off and can barely climb out. I end up zigzagging around trees as I try to get some altitude. There always seem to be powerlines nearby too, that I have to dodge, flying between the wires and such. And I never seem to be able to climb above them. The dreams wouldn't quite reach the level of nightmares, I don't wake up in a cold sweat or anything, mostly during the dream I would say I'm "annoyed", not scared.

I posted this on another aviation forum a few years ago and several other pilots said they have had similar dreams, so apparently it's reasonably common.
Click to expand...
 
Occasionally I have those wire/tree dreams but few and far between. My fiance says I talk gibberish in my sleep though.

"I am going to go pay... for the money. You're welcome"

"The webpage. Its gonna kill us in 10 days".

Strangely enough, sometimes I am barely awake enough to think I am making total sense and get frustrated thinking "she just won't understand" and go back to bed.
 
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