Fear of fall?

WannFly

WannFly

Final Approach
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Priyo
Alright, like every kid out there, I always wanted to fly a plane, finally sorted everything out and enrolled in flight school, got my SI medical done. here is the thing, I have a fear of fall from great heights and that's right now taking a toll on me. I have 4 hours of flight time in a 172S and all I can do is 10-12 degree bank turns and forget about landing or even take off and lets not even talk about turbulence.... anyone out there who is or has been on the same boat? how do I overcome this? all I am doing these days is going out, flying around and doing coordinated turns, ascend, descend etc but no turn over 12 degrees and no climbing over 5 degrees and yes I have a death sweaty grip on the yoke and the throttle
At this rate it will take forever to learn anything else.....
right now I am flying 1-2 times a week... weather gets in the way.
I am open to suggestions/ book/ videos .. whatever could help. I tried skydiving to get over this, think it made it worse...cuz u know.. I actually fell from a great height :d
 
I'm don't have this fear but my first thought is to see if you can find a low-wing aircraft like a cherokee/warrior/archer and see if the feeling of sitting on a wing vs hanging from one makes it better.

Other thought is the only way I've ever gotten over fears is to just push myself and do it until I'm not afraid anymore.
 
Have your CFI demonstrate the maneuvers a few times while you get used to the feel.

You've been flying for 4 hours. The plane has probably been flying for a thousand hours or more. It knows more than you about flying.

I'll fly 13,500' in a home built airplane but you'll never catch me on 12' ladder.
 
thanks all. height is not the problem, i can look straight down adn dont get dizzy or sick.. i will see if the flight school has a low wing and also ask my CFI to do some crazy turns (my definition of crazy is probably a medium bank 30 degre turn!!)
 
The low wing suggestion is a good one. Something about looking down and seeing the landing gear on a high wing doesn't sit right with me. I don't necessarily have a fear of heights, I have a fear of edges. I work in a tower that is 110' above the ground. I don't mind looking out the windows but put me on the cat walk and I get the heebie jeebies. Your problem isn't uncommon at all.
 
The fall won't hurt you, you should be scared of quick stops at the end of the fall, that'll ruin your day.
 
Have your CFI go over the engine out procedures. It'll probably make you feel better to know that even if the engine suddenly quits on you, you're not going to "fall" anywhere. You'll glide.
 
Yeah its the sudden stop at the end of it that I am worried about o_O
 
All good advice given above.

Don't worry about sweaty palms on the stick or yoke. We all do it in the beginning. What you'll learn is that a white knuckle death grip on the controls won't change a thing and, if anything, will make things worse as you introduce pilot induced oscillation. Once well trimmed, the plane will fly itself with very light touch on the controls.

I think the more time you spend flying, the more you'll be focused on flying and the in flight responsibilities (e.g. scan the gauges, keep eyes outside, scan the sky for other aircraft, navigation by looking a certain points, back to scanning the gauges, etc.) Given enough time, you'll be focused on the activities required for flight and will worry less about any kind of "fall" (which really is a descent, and not a free fall).
 
It sure was that way with me! Maybe have the instructor do the things you fear a few times with you. I think in time it will not bother you much. Hang in there. Your inner ear is rebelling. Doesn't like weird attitudes! I threw up twice the first and second time up, very embarrassed. Many years later I still am not cut out for real aerobatics. I envy those that are!
 
Thanks all for the suggestions. checked with my flight school, they dont have a low wing trainers... another flight school is 100 miles away, guess i am stuck with 172. i think i am just going to keep flying till i get used to this and hoping eventually i get over it.
 
WannFly said:
Thanks all for the suggestions. checked with my flight school, they dont have a low wing trainers... another flight school is 100 miles away, guess i am stuck with 172. i think i am just going to keep flying till i get used to this and hoping eventually i get over it.
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I'm tellin' ya... try engine out procedures. Then when you're brave enough, falling leaf stalls. Once your brain understands that the plane will carry you to safety, everything else will sort itself out.
 
Do an hour or two of aerobatic training w/ spins. It would require an undie change for you, but your fear will be cured.
 
I think it will sort itself out. I don't have a fear of heights per se, but I do distinctly remember early on (about 4-5 hours in) getting absolutely freaked in the air. Turbulence mostly and I just felt like I was about to fall out of the plane. I started to think about how vulnerable and fragile my situation was being up in the air in a little plane, every bump in the air made me feel like I was not in control of my own fate and that was the most disturbing thing. After a while, I got used to the bumps and learned to feel what is normal in the air, how the plane responds, how the engine sounds, what the wind sounds like going past the airframe. Once those senses became familiar I became much more comfortable.

The only other time I've felt like I was going to fall was when my CFI did a 60 degree steep turn, all I could see out my side window was trees, rocks, and hills. They seemed much closer than they really were, I swallowed the lump in my throat and trusted the plane is probably better at flying than I am which is usually true of the 172.
 
ircphoenix said:
I'm tellin' ya... try engine out procedures. Then when you're brave enough, falling leaf stalls. Once your brain understands that the plane will carry you to safety, everything else will sort itself out.
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Wilco

labbadabba said:
I think it will sort itself out. I don't have a fear of heights per se, but I do distinctly remember early on (about 4-5 hours in) getting absolutely freaked in the air. Turbulence mostly and I just felt like I was about to fall out of the plane. I started to think about how vulnerable and fragile my situation was being up in the air in a little plane, every bump in the air made me feel like I was not in control of my own fate and that was the most disturbing thing. After a while, I got used to the bumps and learned to feel what is normal in the air, how the plane responds, how the engine sounds, what the wind sounds like going past the airframe. Once those senses became familiar I became much more comfortable.

The only other time I've felt like I was going to fall was when my CFI did a 60 degree steep turn, all I could see out my side window was trees, rocks, and hills. They seemed much closer than they really were, I swallowed the lump in my throat and trusted the plane is probably better at flying than I am which is usually true of the 172.
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thats exactly my feeling, its like you feel every bump there is. no doubt u feel the same in a car, but then you are not really floating 4000 ft up in the air. good to know there are other people out these who went through the same and got over them and are now actually enjoying flying. i enjoy flying too when my CFI has control :p
 
Ryanb said:
Do an hour or two of aerobatic training w/ spins. It would require an undie change for you, but your fear will be cured.
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now that would need a couple of diapers too. i rode a helicopter once few months back, those damn things that doesnt have doors (cant believe i willingly paid for that ride) and the guy did a 45% bank on the left and i was 200% certain the seat belt wont hold me up there, but now i realize it was a coordinated turn and i didnt even feel the seatbelt (which was much scary when he was turning)
 
WannFly said:
thats exactly my feeling, its like you feel every bump there is. no doubt u feel the same in a car, but then you are not really floating 4000 ft up in the air. good to know there are other people out these who went through the same and got over them and are now actually enjoying flying. i enjoy flying too when my CFI has control :p
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Yeah, on the flights where that happened to me I just gave up the controls to the CFI and let him fly back and land, all the while talking through what I was experiencing. It really shocked me that I felt that way because I love flying and had dreamt of being a pilot. So when all of the sudden I got legit scared in the airplane for what seemed to be little things it really shook me. Maybe I didn't like flying after all? Maybe I'm not supposed to be a pilot? But like I said, once the environment became more familiar to me the yips subsided.
 
Grab a copy of "Stick and Rudder" by W. Langweische, your CFI probably has it, or on Amazon. You'll feel a lot better knowing more about how a wing flies, wants to fly , and will do about anything it can to keep flying if the pilot would just stays the heck out of the way.
 
Timbeck2 said:
put me on the cat walk and I get the heebie jeebies. .
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LOL guess you never had to go out there and wash the windows? Did it once, at Columbus, because this prick WSup an ass.
 
WannFly, if you have access to a simulator, I would encourage you to try that first. You have enough hours now to know how to operate the rudder, elevator and ailerons. While not the "real thing", you can practice pulling power and proving to yourself (at least mentally) that the plane isn't going to instantly fall out of the sky. Instead, you'll see for yourself that the plane will continue to fly at its glide ratio and that you can control the descent. I know it's a simulation, but it may help put you into a certain mindset to understand that you are in control.

When flying with your CFI, you can ask him if he would demonstrate a no power landing. He may ask you to follow-along on the controls and you'll see that landing without power is nothing more than energy management. You have velocity and the plane will fly... you just need to manage that energy (speed) down to the ground at the best glide speed.

I know turbulence can be difficult. I was fairly well soaked with sweat after training on a moderately turbulent day. Just know your CFI won't take you up if he/she doesn't think you can't handle the situation. Or if it gets bad, they'll take control and fly you back. But whatever the situation and despite turbulence, the plane will fly. Just assert yourself mentally in the cockpit and make it a point to remind yourself that you are in control, and not a passenger on the flight.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
Grab a copy of "Stick and Rudder" by W. Langweische, your CFI probably has it, or on Amazon. You'll feel a lot better knowing more about how a wing flies, wants to fly , and will do about anything it can to keep flying if the pilot would just stays the heck out of the way.
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Thanks much... on its way from Amazon
 
Go skydiving, or have your CFI do some spins with you.
 
rtk11 said:
WannFly, if you have access to a simulator, I would encourage you to try that first. You have enough hours now to know how to operate the rudder, elevator and ailerons. While not the "real thing", you can practice pulling power and proving to yourself (at least mentally) that the plane isn't going to instantly fall out of the sky. Instead, you'll see for yourself that the plane will continue to fly at its glide ratio and that you can control the descent. I know it's a simulation, but it may help put you into a certain mindset to understand that you are in control.

When flying with your CFI, you can ask him if he would demonstrate a no power landing. He may ask you to follow-along on the controls and you'll see that landing without power is nothing more than energy management. You have velocity and the plane will fly... you just need to manage that energy (speed) down to the ground at the best glide speed.

I know turbulence can be difficult. I was fairly well soaked with sweat after training on a moderately turbulent day. Just know your CFI won't take you up if he/she doesn't think you can't handle the situation. Or if it gets bad, they'll take control and fly you back. But whatever the situation and despite turbulence, the plane will fly. Just assert yourself mentally in the cockpit and make it a point to remind yourself that you are in control, and not a passenger on the flight.
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Thanks rtk11. unfortunately the flight school here doesnt have a simulator with actual flight controls. i have a flight sim at home, but havent invested in a yoke, rudder set up yet. i will if it comes to that. i am still looking around if there is a school with a real sim around here.
 
Bryan / 6PC , post that photo from Willis Tower again.... :D
 
WannFly said:
tried that already, think it made matter worst :(
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It sounds like you have a fear of thrills to me. I think just about everyone gets a chill, or thrill or heart skips a beat or whatever when you look over a cliff or a high altitude, its a survival mechanism. Being more intelligent than say a cat, we are able to rationalize that there is a railing, or in the case of an airplane, a seatbelt, window and door keeping you from falling out therefore you are safe. I'm a believer in mentally walking through fears like this, understanding that while the fear or thrill is real and will happen, avoiding it prevents you from doing something you love and avoiding is really not warranted. I think this might work for you. Enjoy the thrill while it lasts, eventually it will be like meh...
 
that could be it too. i am not very good with roller costers or any theme park rides. i do them anyway. surprisingly when i plunged from stratosphere, it didnt bother me a bit. it was night and vegas is mesmerizing from 900ft
 
If it doesn't scare you, you need to bigger engine
 
mscard88 said:
LOL guess you never had to go out there and wash the windows? Did it once, at Columbus, because this prick WSup an ass.
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I cross-trained as a SSgt so I didn't have to do that but I did anyway. It wasn't fun.
 
Timbeck2 said:
I cross-trained as a SSgt so I didn't have to do that but I did anyway. It wasn't fun.
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Cross-trained too, think was TSgt when I did that. Had to also. Guess I could have told him to fk off.
 
I'm always worried I'll fall out... okay, not really!
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I'm not a heights guy either. But flying has never given me any problems, my discovery flight was the first time I was in a small airplane and I spent most of that flight staring straight down at the sights (172). Maybe, once you get some more experience at controlling the airplane, you'll feel better. I know that some people have problems with airsickness unless they are PIC and that sense of "being in control" overcomes the airsickness feelings.
 
After flying for over 45 years I too share your fear of heights. It still hits me now & then when I'm flying. Not long ago I was returning from my CFI reinstatement ride & was crossing the Cascade Mts. I was over a rather steep mountain side & suddenly as I looked down I got that "fear of heights" feeling. I stuck my head on my instruments & concentrated on staying at a constant altitude & heading. In a few minutes the feeling passed.

I love to fly but gawd help me if I have to climb a ladder. You'll do fine.
 
I probably know more people in this business that are scared of heights than anywhere else. Good buddy of mine was so afraid of the Burj Khallifa that he wouldn't leave the lobby level, while all of us, his wife included, all went to the observation deck without him. Same guy was bombing ISIS in Iraq/Syria immediately prior/after.
 
Timbeck2 said:
The low wing suggestion is a good one. Something about looking down and seeing the landing gear on a high wing doesn't sit right with me. I don't necessarily have a fear of heights, I have a fear of edges. I work in a tower that is 110' above the ground. I don't mind looking out the windows but put me on the cat walk and I get the heebie jeebies. Your problem isn't uncommon at all.
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I just tried a Cessna again yesterday, but they aren't for me. I agree - something about looking down and seeing the landing gear is weird.

Fear of heights and/or fear of falling from heights is actually a very common phobia in the aviation community. I think there was a thread polling pilots on here once about it. Heights make my stomach do flips, but I'm not scared of them so much as the idea of falling from them or being pushed. I can't stand at the edge of a building or along the railing of a lighthouse, but I can fly a plane without issue. Flying is different and when I'm in a plane I don't have those fears.

Try a low wing. Maybe it will help.
 
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