Question to all pilots, cabin crew and anyone else who flies regularly

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rob87615274

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rob87615274
Hi Everyone,

I would like to ask a question to all pilots, cabin crew and anyone else who flies regularly.

For the past 2 years I’ve been working to cure my fear of flying and have made great progress! I’m flying again and have been on more than 10 flights during this time!

Surprise, surprise the only thing that bothers me about flying now is turbulence- though I’m yet to fly in any turbulence.

I absolutely hate stomach drops on rollercoaster rides and this is what worries me about turbulence.

So my question is:

What does turbulence feel like? Is it like riding big rollercoasters with the stomach drop feeling?

Thank you for your help,

Rob.
 
In the aircraft I fly moderate turbulence is a fairly gentle rocking and rolling.

At first I found it disquieting but not so much anymore.

I go on high alert as the gust spread increases and I am preparing to land. For me high alert is not related to fear. I am simply focused on the task at hand.

Oddly I still find moderate to severe turbulence disquieting if I am higher above the ground than I typically fly (1,000 feet agl). The feeling I have is that I am still and being shaken around. It is irrational because I have more time to recover at altitude than I do flying low and it is usually less turbulent up higher.

When I am teaching clients to deal with moderate to severe turbulence I encourage them to relax and let the aircraft do what it wants to do. I encourage them to have a wider tolerance for altitude, airspeed and heading divergence. I demonstrate sort of herding the aircraft rather than trying to be precise in while flying in turbulence.
 
Maybe I've been gettting more and more lucky since I started flying small planes, but I think it's more likely that as I experience turbulence more I notice it less. It's been At least 100 hours since I've had the "stomach drop" feeling.
 
Vance Breese said:
In the aircraft I fly moderate turbulence is a fairly gentle rocking and rolling.

At first I found it disquieting but not so much anymore.

I go on high alert as the gust spread increases and I am preparing to land. For me high alert is not related to fear. I am simply focused on the task at hand.

Oddly I still find moderate to severe turbulence disquieting if I am higher above the ground than I typically fly (1,000 feet agl). The feeling I have is that I am still and being shaken around. It is irrational because I have more time to recover at altitude than I do flying low and it is usually less turbulent up higher.

When I am teaching clients to deal with moderate to severe turbulence I encourage them to relax and let the aircraft do what it wants to do. I encourage them to have a wider tolerance for altitude, airspeed and heading divergence. I demonstrate sort of herding the aircraft rather than trying to be precise in while flying in turbulence.
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Yep, I describe turbulence to my PAX as being on a boat in the ocean. Same basic concept.
 
The boat on the ocean analogy is a good one. Sometimes it can feel like that. Sometimes it can feel more like hitting a pothole on a bad road.

Either way, it should not concern you. The planes are designed to handle it. Believe me, I've flown through some truly rotten turbulence.
 
Go skydiving, or do spins, pull he band aid off, don't pussyfoot around it :)


Seriously though
 
Ted DuPuis said:
The boat on the ocean analogy is a good one. Sometimes it can feel like that. Sometimes it can feel more like hitting a pothole on a bad road.

Either way, it should not concern you. The planes are designed to handle it. Believe me, I've flown through some truly rotten turbulence.
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I started using the potholed road analogy after riding the aluminum tube into Denver a few times. This was long before I started flying little planes.
 
Clark1961 said:
I started using the potholed road analogy after riding the aluminum tube into Denver a few times. This was long before I started flying little planes.
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This. More like a bumpy road than a roller coaster.
 
Seriously: Don't be embarrassed about it. Everyone is afraid of something. Anyone who says they aren't afraid of something is a liar or a psychopath.
Light turbulence: Sway from side to side (about 3 inches either way) and go up on your toes and drop down on your heals.
Moderate turbulence: Sway farther and jump up and down about six inches.
Sever turbulence: Sway a lot, jump up and down and smack your body and head against the wall.

I have a friend who can not fly in a Cessna or other high wing plane. She just can't do it without going completely to pieces.
Put her in a low wing plane and she is perfectly OK. Something about having the wing below her makes it all right.

Good luck
 
It's mountain wave that I don't particularly care for especially when you run into conditions that mimic it out over the middle of the ocean.
 
Types of turbulence:
1. A wing drops suddenly.
2. The plane makes a sharp bounce, like hitting a speed bump.
3. There's a smooth rise or drop like a high speed elevator.
4. You have to grasp the instrument panel and walk your fingers to the radio to change frequencies
5. You are knocked senseless as your head hits the cabin ceiling, or you have a ring of bruses around your waist from being restrained by the seatbelt
 
Contrary to popular belief, you don't usually lose thousands of feet of altitude.
 
I don't mind turbulence too much. We were on a 767 headed into DFW in heavy thunderstorms. One of the roughest rides I'd been on. People were freaking out and we got a big downdraft and I go "Wheeee!!" Margy hit me and told me I can't go "Wheee!" when people are freaking out around us.

The other interesting one is flying formation in turbulence. I thought that would be problematic, but what happens (if you're close enough) is that all the planes go up / down in the turbulence together.
 
tinerj said:
Types of turbulence:

4. You have to grasp the instrument panel and walk your fingers to the radio to change frequencies
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Can someone tell me what genius decided that touch-panels for airplanes is a good idea?
 
paflyer said:
Can someone tell me what genius decided that touch-panels for airplanes is a good idea?
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He or she is related to the Mensa member that decided high dollar boat MFD's would all be touch screen. My current model is a hybrid (still has a knob, and a few hard-key's) and even with that, when it's sporty out there I end up mashing the wrong button, or spot on the screen, about 50% of the time.
 
Maybe an absolutely asinine question but .... if you have a fear of flying, WHY do you want to go and fly??
Is your employer/husband/father making you fly places?
Best solution is avoidance. *shrug*
 
BigBadLou said:
Maybe an absolutely asinine question but .... if you have a fear of flying, WHY do you want to go and fly??
Is your employer/husband/father making you fly places?
Best solution is avoidance. *shrug*
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Disagree. I would love to overcome my fear of heights. Keeps me from going some places I really want to see. Half dome, Angels landing etc.
I hear they have virtual reality programs for phobias now. You might look into that. Don't know if it would help with turbulence though.
 
flyingron said:
People were freaking out and we got a big downdraft and I go "Wheeee!!" Margy hit me and told me I can't go "Wheee!" when people are freaking out around us.
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I've done that. You hear a bunch of gasps and I'm going wheee!!
 
I hate turbulence and I own a plane. It's not so much a roller coaster - more like getting slammed by the hand of god in random directions. Bang (up), Boom (left), Konk (down), etc.

On the way home from SC as a newly minted pilot (~90 hours) I hit "moderate turbulence". It scared me silly (read: death grip on the yoke). I found an airport in KY with a runway straight into the wind, landed uneventfully, found a hotel, and spent the night. I rose at 6am the next morning and was airborne by 7 and there was still turbulence but much less.

It's totally okay to hate turbulence. Some pilots (me!) avoid it like the plague. Not always easy but since that event in 2011 I've probably only dealt with it twice.
 
The one who really hates turbulence is my parrot. Her feet get tired holding on to the perch in bumpy weather.
 
pkuhns said:
I hate turbulence and I own a plane. It's not so much a roller coaster - more like getting slammed by the hand of god in random directions. Bang (up), Boom (left), Konk (down), etc.

On the way home from SC as a newly minted pilot (~90 hours) I hit "moderate turbulence". It scared me silly (read: death grip on the yoke). I found an airport in KY with a runway straight into the wind, landed uneventfully, found a hotel, and spent the night. I rose at 6am the next morning and was airborne by 7 and there was still turbulence but much less.

It's totally okay to hate turbulence. Some pilots (me!) avoid it like the plague. Not always easy but since that event in 2011 I've probably only dealt with it twice.
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Different aircraft handle turbulence err, ummm, differently. I think I've only hit the overhead twice in 700+ hours in the 'kota. I have experienced rapid roll and yaw on occasion. As a contrast in about 80 hours in a 172 I must have hit the overhead a half dozen times.
 
I was on a flight a long time ago, probably Braniff and probably from KC to DC. It was a night flight, and we hit some major stuff. I had a cup of ice with Sprite, but I couldn't drink any of it because it was too rough. As I was holding onto the cup[ and watching that drink, we dropped a few inches - it was really cool, the drink and ice stayed in space, and the cup dropped out from underneath. The drink stayed cup-shaped until we bounced right back up. Didn't spill a drop. Oh, and the two ladies sitting next to me were asking if I was "saved", so I have that going for me which is nice.

My youngest daughter hates, hates, hates roller coasters. But,for whatever reason, we've bounced through summer convection that's lifted her out of her seat and never had a problem with it.
 
There are at least some bumps almost every time I fly. Normal. If the road is smooth, the ride is smooth. If the road is bumpy, so is the ride. Just ride it, enjoy the flight. About ten days ago, during climb, we encountered moderate to severe turbulence, lasting from right after take-off until climbing through flight level 300 or so, then it started getting better, and only after leveling off at fl 360 it smoothed out. I have not seen this kind of turbulence for about 15 years. It was moderate all the time, then wham! a severe jolt lasting about a second or two, momentarily throwing the airplane out of control, displacing items on the flight deck. Was I scared? No. Caught off guard, but maintained rough air airspeed, and just kept on riding, till it subsided. :p
 
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