Christmas Trip--12/20 and 12/27

[navel_gazer]

Hi all,

Just 3 weeks after my last flights, I'm going to be back at it this Saturday! I'm trying a new airline--Midwest Airlines--thanks to a fare sale they had going when I was looking to book. Supposedly I'll be enjoying all-leather seating and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. (Not sure if they will be serving those up at 7am, but I guess I'll see!)

Here's my flight info:
12/20 NYC to Milwaukee:
Midwest Airlines Flight YX2
New York, NY (LGA) Sat, DEC 20, 2008 7:10AM
Milwaukee, WI (MKE) Sat, DEC 20, 2008 8:40AM

12/27 Milwaukee to NYC:
Midwest Airlines Flight YX5
Milwaukee, WI (MKE) Sat, DEC 27, 2008 3:45PM
New York, NY (LGA) Sat, DEC 27, 2008 7:00PM

Feeling pretty calm two days beforehand, I'd put my AA at about a 2-3 on a 1-10 scale (10 being high).

[Kimmar]

Fresh baked cookies???!! That's not fair!! We only get these teeny tiny bags of pretzels...(Stale at the best of times! LOL)

Glad you are feeling good about this flight. It's nice to see progress isn't it? Makes you believe in yourself more with every flight!

So what are your goals for this flight? (Besides trying a new airline.)

I usually try and achieve at least one new goal per trip. Last time I decided to do the trip without meeting the pilots. I think my next goal may be to fly alone (with the other 120 people on board!:D)

[navel_gazer]

That's a good idea, making some goals for myself.

Well, one goal that I don't have control over, but I'll make anyway, is that this will be the first trip I've set off on without my lucky charm. I actually lost it, probably on the plane, during my last trip. I figured it out after going through security for my trip back and it upset me, but I had no choice.
So I know I don't "need" it to fly but this is the first time I'll set off without it knowingly (since I was a teenager). Maybe a goal could be to not let it bother me that I don't have it.

For a "real" goal--I will try to look out the window in air, and not just while landing--perhaps in the first 20 minutes of the flight. Usually I can only look during the descent, when it's almost over. I have been too nervous and scared earlier on to peer out.

If we get turbulence, I am going to try to not ask the flight attendant: "Is everything okay?!?!?" like I have been doing reflexively. It's good to talk to the crew, I know, but I think by now I should try to calm myself using the Jell-O metaphor and what I know about how turbulence (and planes!) work.

[Kimmar]

Sounds great! If you manage just one of these goals you've made more progress! You can always save another one for the trip home. Is this a trip to see family for Christmas?

[navel_gazer]

It is a trip to see the family! Looks like I lucked out on the date I picked--MKE was closed today due to a massive snowstorm, and NYC has a nasty ice-and-snow storm going on right now. My fingers are crossed that things clear up by morning so I can avoid cancellations.

[navel_gazer]

I was really lucky today--I managed to have a flight scheduled in the snow-free window for NYC to MKE (MKE is getting hit with an additional seven possible inches this evening).

So my flight itself was great--a little slow, due to what the pilot described as an "180-mile-per-hour headwind," but almost no turbulence. It was certainly slow getting out of LGA, even so early on a Saturday. A lot of people were stranded trying to get back to MKE yesterday, and Midwest was understaffed at the gate to boot. We ended up taking off about 3 hours late, I think, thanks to delays and de-icing and the usual traffic jam at LGA.

As for my goals--there wasn't ever a need to get nervous about turbulence (cool!), and I successfully watched out the window during our takeoff. I generally don't like flying in snowy weather, so it was good to see how smooth it went (in terms of the flight itself, not the delays).

Hopefully I will have similar luck in terms of avoiding weather delays on my way back next Saturday!

[Kimmar]

Good for you for looking out the window!! You are making tons of progress this year!

Hope you have a great time with your family!

How'd it go without your "lucky" charm? (And actually, you were lucky about the weather without your lucky charm, so you see how much it really worked huh?:D)

What terminal does Midwest fly out of LGA? I was there in November and was in the Air Canada terminal (C I think...)

The airport wasn't quite as huge as I expected it to be for some reason. I don't know what I thought I'd get, but it seemed fairly manageable. Perhaps I only saw a tiny bit of it...LOL

[navel_gazer]

Well, I'm getting ready for my return trip today. The weather is a bit dicey. After lots of snow and bitter cold this week, it has warmed up and we're getting some rain across the state today--so there is dense fog. I am getting pretty nervous because the fog has been so bad--but I am trying to remind myself that 1) my flight's at 3:45 CST, so there is plenty of time for it to clear out and 2) the people at the airport are probably the experts, and if conditions make it unsafe to fly, they will address it. I am probably not the best judge of what "safe conditions" are.

Midwest at LGA flies out of terminal B usually, I think. LGA is a small airport for all of the traffic it gets! I like how it is manageable now. The new security checkpoints in the American Airlines terminal are pretty easy to use, too.

No lucky charms this flight! I think my goal for this one is to manage my anxiety about the weather during the day today, before the flight. Specifically, to not catastrophize about it and the fog.

[navel_gazer]

Home already!

It was a tense morning, if only because I was flying out of Milwaukee and that is a bit of a drive from my parent's home, and the weather was TERRIBLE. Fog was thick like pea soup and it was raining. The last thing we wanted to do was make a somewhat-treacherous drive to the MKE airport only to find out flights were cancelled due to the weather (that's been happening a lot lately) and have to make the trip back at some point. Yes, I correctly realized that the most dangerous part of my day was definitely the drive to the airport on very wet, very foggy roads.

Still, I got to MKE with plenty of time. I had checked in online, so I just breezed through security and went to my gate. Surprisingly, the flight (Midwest #5) was very much on time. We boarded, and I was in the first row (Midwest doesn't have a first class, although the first 15 rows are "signature," or larger, seats). I was feeling nervous, and I had been all day. It was partly the weather, but also the fact that I always get a little emotional when saying goodbye to the family.
I reassured myself that the airline and pilots know what is safe weather, and it was not my job to think about that. I debated taking half of a Klonopin (Dr-prescribed, of course) but decided I could do this on my own; I knew I had the tools. I settled in with my book.

We pushed back on time and only taxied for a few minutes. Take off was very, very smooth. Smoother than what I usually have at LGA--perhaps because it is a much less congested airport? Maybe they can climb up a different way because of the lower volume of flights. . . . Anyway, we were at cruising altitude in no time. I did look out the window again as we took off, which I am happy about.

The flight was very short. No turbulence to speak of. I enjoyed Midwest's hot chocolate-chip cookies and watched a few episodes of "30 Rock" on my laptop. I was in good spirits. Shortly into the 3rd episode I was watching, we started our descent. We landed very quickly, and again--it was very smooth. A few bumps coming in through the clouds, but nothing bad.

There was no cab line at LGA, so I didn't even have to wait there! My parents beat me back to their house by only 11 minutes (driving). Ha! Pretty incredible, if you think about it.

I think what I learned from this flight was that while I am on a plane, I generally like the experience. It's kind of a rush, getting over the anxiety of take-off. I feel proud of myself. I am always calm after we are in the air, and usually pretty content--maybe even excited sometimes. For me, what is negative about flying is truly the time prior to the flight when I worry. At this point, I've gotten from spending weeks imagining my own "impending death" on the plane to mild nervousness for about 24 hours prior. I'd like to get rid of that eventually, too. I will keep working at it! I know I have a trip to San Fran coming up in June, if nothing prior (thanks to the economy!).

[aerobat]

This is a great report, navel_gazer! :thumbsup::tiphat::cheers:

You're doing really well! If all there is of the AA is a bit of an edge for a day, then that's really not much, considering what a monster AA was for you (and for most of us) in the bad old days. Your fear is transforming into excitement and well-deserved pride. :woot:. That will probably continue, though you may see your "improvement" curve flatten out a bit now because the big push is well behind you. Expect to enjoy every flight from now on, and also to be ready if you hit a rough patch of turb or something every (rare) little once in a while.

Beating the fear of flying feels so good. It's a sense of accomplishment that almost makes it all worth it. :lol:

[Barb-SAN]

Congratulations on your success! I like your idea of having specific goals for each flight. :thumbsup:
Here's the Google Earth track of your landing at LGA (it's still on Google Earth in case you want to go in and take a look at your flight path yourself. It usually stays up for awhile, maybe until tomorrow's flight?)

[sirux]

Barb how did you do that with google earth?

[Barb-SAN]

Barb how did you do that with google earth?

I went to www.fboweb.com (http://www.fboweb.com/), then went to the "quick track" on the left side of the page, and entered the airline and flight number of the flight I wanted to track. Then you get a map with radar, and a plane icon, showing where the plane is enroute (or if already landed), with flight details on the right side of the page. If you click on "Track in Google Earth", you will be able to see your plane in relation to terrain (landmarks), and you can "tilt" the image to more realistically visualize the plane flying above the ground. The above image has been "tilted".

The tracking service is free, but you do need to register (provide your email address and a password). You also need Google Earth downloaded to your computer.

You can see lots of examples of Google Earth tracking over in the TF tracking forum (as well as the links to the tracking websites). :thumbsup:

Why not give it a try? If you want to find a flight to track, go to www.flightaware.com (http://www.flightaware.com) , then put an airport code in the little box in the lower left of the page, then click "airport activity". You'll get a list of flights that have arrived and departed that airport, as well as others scheduled to arrive or depart. Pick one of those flight numbers, and then go to the fbo/Google Earth tracking, and use that number to find a current flight to track.
If you get stuck...just post your question, several of us know how to do this, so hope we can help.

[navel_gazer]

Thanks for all of the positive feedback! It's amazing how the support from the site has helped me. Seeing other people tackle this (and their bravery and determination) really helped me see that FoF does not have to be a fact of life.

I love the Google Earth track of my landing--that's so neat.

I even started looking for fares for my June trip to San Francisco yesterday. :)