How do you deal with Turbulence

[Disney fan]

How do you make friends with turbulence???? I remember Debbie once saying she had made friends with it.

How do you cope when it gets bumpy???

The jello thing does nothing for me.


Lynda:hamster

[MarcoAviator]

I don't have help for you (sorry) but I do have a puzzle:

How do I deal with it? As a pilot I go "Yeeehhhh Haaaawwww!!" and I imagine I have cowboy hat, cowboy boots and my airplane is a wild horse ...

As a passenger on an airliner: I crap my pants and whimper senselessly until we are back on the ground.

The only re-assurance I have now is that I have a lot more pilot hours on my back now than I had when I did my last flight as a passenger on an airliner.

I saw my plane take some wild beatings by turbulence and both me and her ... were fine in the end.

I can tell you that planes are a lot tougher than you or me are. They can take one hell of an ass kicking and still fly fine.

Nothing you will experience will even come close to dangerous for the planes you will fly in (the pilot in the cockpit will make sure of all that).

I haven't flown in more than one year as a passenger. I am almost looking forward to try if all my recently acquired knowledge (as a pilot and on this board) will help me ...

... looking forward to a flight as a passenger on an airliner. Me. Listent to me. Can you imagine? I must be going crazy.

:blink

[WillFlyToDisney2]

Turn up the music and go with the flow, Lynda. Let the bumps lull you to sleep (sounds crazy but it is possible).

Try the visual of riding in a bus over a bumpy gravel road with lots of potholes (try to forget you are up in the air).

And just remember that each bump brings you closer to your friends in the US :usflag and to your vacation :mickey :hamster .

Kelley

[ChiefAtHeart]

My technique is to try to concentrate on something else. Bring a book that you just can't put down. I'll be reading along and a bump will hit and then another and I will try to concentrate that much harder on what I am reading. Soon it will be awhile and I notice that HEY - I haven't felt a bump in awhile. I still hate turbulence but having something to occupy my mind helps me not to focus on when the next bump may happen. That, in itself is nerve-wracking to me!

Good luck! Enjoy your trip!

[xiknal]

... looking forward to a flight as a passenger on an airliner. Me. Listent to me. Can you imagine? I must be going crazy.

*******************

ah, 'tis but the neuro-electricians busily rewiring your passenger-paradigm. It won't hurt a bit. Try a practice flight on Southwest. Come on over to Austin for some aerobatics.

Marco; you are doing fine!
:thumbsup

[Barry11702]

I run up and down the aisle screaming "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!"

OK, I don't really do that. I always take FOF stuff with me that I've printed off. It helps me remember that turbulance really is no big deal to the aircraft. I also write down what I'm feeling at the time. By concentrating on writing it gives my mind less time to think about the turbulance. And deep breathing always helps relieve the anxiety.

[beaugest]

And I would be the crazy lady right behind Barry yelling "I agree. I agree..." :wired OK. Not really. But I do also print out posts that are reassuring and bring them along. And I know I'm starting to sound like Ray is giving me a kickback but I think reading his book while on the plane really helps.

[icesk8er31]

I look for the "ups." Seems to me I remember reading somewhere that all the down bumps on a flight had corresponding up bumps. By looking for the "ups" I can remind myself we're not falling.

Of course, I may just be full of it....

all the best,

Ice

[Passenger Mark]

I just make up my mind that the turbulence is no biggy for the plane. That we may go down... (a bit) but we are going back up. That the plane is going to land just fine... with me on it, and therefore I am going to be fine.

Once I do that, I just become one with the plane, where it goes... I go... and just ride with it!

[Debbielevis2]

Lynda

As you know, turb was my BIGGEST enemy. The thing that scared me the absolute most.

I honestly believed that what's happened to me is that I finally just got (argh!!) used to it.

F'rinstance -- I know you read my trip reports (the old ones from the "other" board), and you can probably recall that many, many of my flights over the past couple of years have been very turby.

What finally happened was that one day "up there", it started getting "wiggly-jiggly" (Ray's words), and I thought, "Oh **** - here we go again!" Then I stopped myself and thought, "Hey, this happens EVERY time, and every time, we land, and every time it just annoys the hell outta me, so why am I letting it SCARE me?!"

That's the key, Lynda. I'm not telling you to make friends with it. It's not "someone" you'd like, so don't bother. It's more like a Jehovah's Witness. They're annoying, but you can deal with them, and you can get rid of 'em!

I've only had ONE flight in the past two years that's been pretty much turb-free, and that was the last one coming home at night from PHX. Even Ray's flight (bless his heart, and he knows I love him) had some pretty good bumps in it.

It's a FACT OF LIFE, Lynda. Turb Happens:tada

Debbie

PS - Have you just closed your eyes, let your body entirely relax into the seat? Rather than tensing and fighting the turb, let your body just "go" with it. You know that when you're tense, it "hurts" more. Relax, breathe deep, keep your eyes closed (not slammed-shut!) and rock with it, Baby!

[beaugest]

Deb, excellent post. I think some of what helps the fear go away is a combination of facts combined with acceptance. The more we try to fight the anxiety the bigger it gets. Of course, this is easier said than done. But I think one can practice accepting things than scare the hell out of us.When I give up the illusion of control, settle back and take that 'turb happens" attitude it makes a huge difference.

[LesliePHX]

I just wanted to reinforce what Debbie said about relaxing into the turb. Physically tensing up against it makes it feel worse. Deliberately relaxing the muscles -- going with it, as it were -- really does make it feel less threatening.

I remember thinking in my really bad FOF days, during a turby episode, "Even if I weren't scared, I would still hate this because it feels awful!" It felt violent, like a physical assault. But later I realized that I had created that "assault" feeling on my own with my tensed-up resistance to the motion. Relaxing the muscles, letting the turb rock you rather than fighting it, makes a big difference.

Leslie

[Disney fan]

Thanks everyone,

I will really try to let go this time. You are correct that I do tense up. I also find I am sometimes holding my breath.
The odd bump or two does not bother me. It is the constant rocking that makes me feel nauseated. I really do not know why because most of the time you feel the same movement on a train.

Debbie I think you are right with the assumption that there is turb on every flight!! I thought it was just me that attracted it for some reason.

This time next week I will be getting ready to board that big 747 and I will try!

Lynda:bigplane

[Passenger Mark]

Lynda,

You will do just fine...

In no time at all you will be with the dolphins :hamster swimming along.

I am excited that you are going on Virgin Atlantic! Since Southwest does not fly to or from England, Virgin Atlantic is my second favorite! As their slogan goes.. "Go jetset go!"

You are going to be in PE this trip... right? I think you will like it...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Los%20Angeles%20to%20London/JCabin.jpg

and the 747 is a great plane...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v132/mark9091/Aircraft/tubular_belle.bmp

You can spend the entire trip exploring the plane!

Have fun, and post your tracking info!

Mark

[Debbielevis2]

Lynda --

Truly, once you've become accustomed to the fact that EVERY flight is going to have some kind of turb, the rest just falls into place. I swear that was my turning point.

Remember how we used to think scary thoughts about weather? Not a second glance now. If it's gonna happen, it'll happen. Whether or not I want it to.

NONE of it is dangerous. ALL of it feels like s*** to us. The best we can do is accept it, live with it, and treat it as what it is -- annoying!

Debbie

[WillFlyToDisney2]

That "relaxing into the turbulence" reminded me of horseback riding. You have a MUCH rougher ride :dragonslayer if you are tense and move against the horse thant if you relax and move with the horse... :mountie

Kelley

[Disney fan]

Oh Yes Debbie The Weather!! already done it when I promised myself I would not! Forecast for Orlando on Thursday is isolated Thunderstorm:thundercloud

We land around 3 pm EST. I expect this is prime time there for thunderstorm activity!

:cry

Lynda

[WillFlyToDisney2]

Lynda,

I lived in Central Florida for 7 1/2 years. The afternoon thunderstorms :thundercloud are common in the SUMMER months but not really an issue in the winter.

You'll be fine!

Just keep chanting - Mickey :mickey and Dolphins :hamster . Mickey :mickey and Dolphins :hamster . Mickey :mickey and Dolphins :hamster .

Kelley

[noflyingfan]

I have found a great new way to deal with turbulence. :hamster It's also good when dealing with takeoff.

I name all 50 of the United States in alphabetical order. Very good way of taking your mind off of things, and educational too. Now, if you're from England, that's probably not going to be something you want to do, but maybe you can try naming something you have a lot of over there.

And now that you're on this board, you can look on the bright side when encountering turbulence. The more turbulence you get, the more you can use this guy :hamster in your trip report!

[Disney fan]

Ok then! Give me the list of states and I will try to learn them!!! I like a challenge LOL


Lynda