to a uk pilot

[vickie]

Hello

Im going to Bulgaria from Newcastle airport on Friday 30th september and have a really bad phobia of the flight. I will be taking Diazapam to help me but after the kind words on the general site, they have urged me to talk to you. Taking flight and the links I have seen associated with this site seem to be American and they all say that their piolets welcome people to come forward and let them know of their fear, are uk pilots the same? Not that Im undermining uk piolets because im not its just all I have seen and heard about is the american network. Can I track my flight too as it really seems to help people.
All the people that have spoken to me are fantastic and helped alot, I am so glad I found this site as now I have people to talk to and it would be great to hear from a pilot in the uk too. I hope you can answer xx

Yours
vickie xxxxxxxxxx

p.s do I have to let anyone know I will be on Diazipam? ( not sure what I need to do at all hehehe xxxx) Dont go is my ultimate feeling! xxx

[Lynda]

Vickie,

I am sure our UK pilot will be along shortly, He is an active commercial pilot so may be flying around Europe at this time.

I went to Bulgaria many many years ago.

UK pilot's will cetainly talk to you if you let the agent know before boarding time.
Do let the Cabin crew know that you are nervous, they will look after you.

What airline are you flying with????

[vickie]

its thomas cooks own I think..Im not sure! when we were booking it i was just thinking .."run ...run now" so didnt really take alot in xxxxxx I know its 1st choice holidays and thats about it.....aprt from the wingy thing being involved xxxxxx

[Falcon]

Thursday night I'll look at the weather and we can knock that problem on the head. Tracking flights to my knowledge can't be done here. The CAA were going to set it up and charge a monthly fee but it all went quiet qhen their new system over ran. The route will be straight forwad. Youll start heading south but wl quickly head over the sea over Holland then Germany with nice views.

[vickie]

OK thats great although I wouldnt be looking at views...getting to the airport early so I can have a isle seat. I have been told that sitting in the middle would be a smoother flight even in turbulance is this true? Do I tell the crew I am on Diazipam ? and now ( like Im not frightened enough) we have gale force winds all week, does this mean take off will be hairy? please let me know as I think Im about to loose my mind!

Yours Vickie xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[vickie]

p.s also I have been told the weather in Bulgaria is bad too...why am I doing this? hehehe xxxxxxxxxxxx

[Lynda]

Vickie

Ring Thomas Cook airline, you can book your seat numbers. This helps to reduce the anxiety of not sitting where you want to on the plane.
I don't like turbulence and I find it better when sitting forward of the wing or at the front of the plane.

[vickie]

Hi lynda


Thank you I will take note of that xxx I did get my partner to ring and they said that they book on arrival due to it not being a "long haul" flight. So I guess its up to the gods...the way my day has been haha thats not looking good but never mind what will be will be ( I have calmed down a bit now). Mind you if its towards the tail ..Im OFF! was being there the last time that has made me this way ( Lanzarotte almost all the way back turbulance BRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrr!)

Thank you for talking to me all of you mean alot to me at the moment 4 days and counting. How are you at flying? Youre in the uk right? Im in teesside but although we have an airport Im flying from Newcastle, I think the exit and entry from here is a bit more bendy and windy than teesside but hey Im on there, makes no odds xxx :0)
Do you or have you had trouble flying? was it bad experience or just first time expectations?
I am going to let the crew know im frightened ( as embarrassing as it is) just dont know if I should ( or my partner-, if, he snaps out of his deniel of my fear) tell them about the diazipam? Would they need to know?

Thank you for youre answers on the board... they help me greatly xxx
Yours
Vickie xx

[Lynda]

Vicky


I am unsure what happened re the Thomas cook airline seating.

I know that they book seats on short haul, I did it a couple of months back.
Did BF ring the airline not the Travel agent.
The airline have always been very helpful. They do charge a small fee for seat booking.

I used to be very afraid of flying, I cried at the airport and all the way on to the plane.
If you asked me what I was afraid of I could not tell you.
Through facing my fear with the help of others like myself and talking to the pilots I am now ok. I do not like Turbulence, but I accept it for what it is. It is uncomfortable for me but the plane does not mind it!
Learn as much as you can about flight. Post all your questions and keep reading.
Captain Ray's book helped a lot.

[aerobat]

Hi, Vickie,

Royd can confirm this, hopefully, when he checks in next, but to my knowledge you will not need to tell anyone you are on Diazepam. You are very likely to seem quite normal under its influence, though you may feel somewhat abnormally subdued yourself, in a positive way. :thumbsup:

I know you are concerned about the winds, and Royd is going to check them for you on Thursday--at which point, as he promised, he's going to put your concerns to rest (knock them on the head, he said :) ). Strong winds are no big deal at all for these large aircraft--they have so much mass that they are imperturbable. Yep, you'll likely have a bumpy takeoff if there are strong winds. Can you think of it as like being out in a small boat on a windy day (if that scenario doesn't frighten you)? Air is a fluid, and the plane swims just fine through it, but if the fluid is in motion, you will feel that motion until you climb past it. It's really OK.

Barb

[vickie]

OH MY WORD!not sure how I will handle that then! IM having to pack tonight ( with taking Diazipam on Thursday and need tomorrow to remember things I might have forgotton!) and its hard to bring myself to do it..its like its really happening then! Got the suitcase in the house at least ( it was at my partners from buying it ..again to hide it away from view) So thought I would pop on here for a bit just to calm down a bit...its feels like im burning up on the inside which is odd! And the tops of my arms are a bit fuzzy numb kinda like butterflies in my arms! Guess this is my brain trying to shut me down, so will have a couple of hundred cigarettes hahaha then face it. I do hope a captain in UK gets to message before I go the winds are quite strong here and Have noticed ( on the ones coming into land at airport near my town) that the planes are ( or seem to be ) alot slower is that because they are riding the wind ?
Also one of my customers from work was telling me when they came back from Italy into Liverpool the plane ( on descent) seemed not to go forward but drop down ( this guy loves flying but was telling me what made him think woops!) but he said it didnt seem to glide in as usual , then out of nowhere the engines started up again and everything going off ( i pressume the bing bongs and stuff) and the plane lifted right up again while turning. I was thinking while he was telling " oh really well cheers for that" I had told him about my Phobia....why do people do that? you tell them youre scared then they tell you incidents with them or say " dont worry you will only blow up once" or "you will only crash once" bla bla bla. I think in an abstract way they tell you these to show things happen but they are still there to tell the tale ..but really ..NO THANKS. So just for checking sake, maybe a pilot could explain that occurance?
HAHAHA BARB, right now I wish someone would knock me on the head! xxx They call me B.A Barracus at work saying ( in his voice ) " I aint gettin on no foo" Thats ok though it quite makes me laugh too. xxxxxxxxxx
Hope you are all well by the way and had good days at work xxxxxxxxx

Yours Vickie xxx

[vickie]

P.S that was supposed to say "I aint getting on no plane foo" ...see brain even shutting the name of the thing now! xxxxxxxxx hahaha

[Falcon]

Looks a good day over Europe. France is in the clear. Holland, Germany towards Bulgaria have light turbulance but at 21,00 feet or below. So you will only come into brief contact if at all on the descent. Should have some nice views.

[vickie]

THANK YOU SO MUCH THAT IS SO KIND OF YOU TO REMEMBER. IM SURE IT WILL BE FINE. You are the best


will mail when I return...wish me luck!

yours
vickie x

[vickie]

Hiya Im back!
You were right...decsent was quite bumpy but remebered what you said and handled it ..although it was quite bump through what my partner said was some mountin ranges on the way back it was quite turbulant but ...like you said...the plane was fine xxx

THANK YOU :tiphat:

VICKIE:hyped: ( I did it!)

[Falcon]

My pleasure. Hope you enjoyed the holiday.

[vickie]

I read on another page that you used to fly from / into newcastle could you answer a question ...not out of fear of it just general.

Going out from newcastle was straight up and out but on the return the plane really turned on its side so out of the window all you saw was ground, then straightend but the engines went up like accellerating then down like slowing down about three times in a row, funny enough I was ok with it and it was my partner that looked a bit worried ( although he loves flying) we landed ok but the engines went up and own quite alot close to landing why did it do that..been into newcastle before and remembered the turn but not the engine part could you ( when you have time) answer this for me.

Hope you are well

vickie :pompoms:

[Falcon]

Can you remember what the aircraft was?

[Falcon]

Right. Aircraft normally bank at about 30 degrees, perhaps at lower speeds for approach from base to finals this looked more severe than it was in the cabin.

When aircraft are on approach they descend down a three degree slope. The rate of descent is dictated by ground speed which on a windy day can change at a moments notice. A change in ground speed will necessitate a change in rate of descent which in turn will demand a change in power setting to maintain the same airspeed. Small aircraft are more susceptible than larger ones to this and even a 737 on finals in to Luton will require power changes. 60 tons it appears is not quite heavy enough to allow me to do the Boeing text book approach every day ( Flap 30 settle, don't move thrust lever until 20 feet). Jet engines don't grip the air anything like as well as propeller engines do, in my 15 ton Shorts 360 on approach into Jersey with all hell breaking loose it is no trouble. Small power corrections through six propeller blades quickly correct the speed. Now in Luton with all the changes in wind speed and up and down drafts we seem to get all the time it is going to be different. I now have 60 tons and if the speed drops it is first going to take much more power, and jet engines take more time to have an effect. This means if I am going to make a power change it is going to be greater, which means more noise.

[vickie]

The thomas cook plane was a 737 - 200 ( i think or 747 - 200, deffo - 200 after one of them) there is a picture of the plane that agne put on the tracking board under "tracking vickie." Im not sure if I understood all the technical wording hehehe but I think you mean it was to get the correct speed to land?
The accelleration and decelleration was quite irratic for about 5 minutes I cant explain without actually hearing but it was all at once in a row like this
uuuuuuupppp,dooooown,uuuuuuup,dooooooown like a weasing sound and changed quite rapidly together and did it quite a few times. It did seem a bit strange as I have flew into Newcastle before and know that the plane turns quite strongly but never heard the engines reverse then forward so quickly and so many times in a row on prep to land. we landed about 5 -10 minutes after all that quite smoothly ( bit of a bounce but nothing major) it was just a bit wierd.
So you think it was to counter act wind and approach speed then? Please forgive my ( what may seem ) stupidity after your kind reply but Im not very technical minded xxx But the plane didnt seem just to get more power it seemed to be reducing it after gaining it and then reducing and gaining again it wasnt just louder it was kind of like reving i up and down in your car.
Hope I have understood some of your kind reply

hope you are well
vickie xx:hamster: :wave:

[Falcon]

Sounds like it yes, changing the power to maintain a speed.