Fear of flying

[derekliston]

I am fortunate (thread drift again!) spiders are not a phobia of mine, particularly huntsmen. I used to have one that lived in my Mini-moke and I had it sit on my shoulder and once drop on my head and run down my face! Redbacks I’m not scared of but am wary of!

[Jabiru7252]

You might find this amusing...

 

[Old Koreelah]

My wife’s uncle had a fear of spiders. During the Vietnam war a big terantula-type suddenly appeared on the screen of the Iriquois he was flying, so he pulled his pistol and shot it.

 

[facthunter]

Huntsmen are the least of your spider worries. The ones that get under loose bark can be very LARGE and coloured to match the background..  Nev

[planedriver]

Many years ago on a return trip via Singapore, I bought my then wife an outfit which was identical to what the Singapore Airline hosties wore.

For our anniversary I took her to Centrepoint Tower in Sydney for a meal and requested a table right by the windows and she looked stunning wearing that outfit i'd bought her.

She absolutely froze at the height and we had to change to a table further back away from the windows.

As we were about to leave, the lady by the lift looked at my wife and said "i'm intrigued that you seem scared of heights, how are you when you're flying? to which my wife replied " i'm terrified and and do nothing but eat and eat till it's time to get off"

The lift arrived and down we went, and I said that poor girl will probably never ever fly with them, I think you've just done them big a dis-service with those comments!.

Edited February 20, 2023 by planedriver

[spenaroo]

On 19/02/2023 at 7:58 AM, Kenlsa said:

I was listening to a psychologist a while back who said that nature has developed and reinforced the fear of heights for our species survival .  If we stand at the edge of a cliff, we need to protect ourselves so adrenaline kicks in, the ‘Fright’ part, to stop us there before taking action or to back away.  Same with being at the top of the tree.  
Apparently we are physically connected to the ground (safety) through our senses - we see the potential problem, but we feel the solution because we still keep our feet on the ground/tree keeping us based. This has been passed through the generations for ever.

 

BUT , flying (not falling) has not been implanted in our DNA as unsafe, as it is not a naturally occurring situation.  Children won’t be afraid of it as it only becomes a learned fear, through their own experience or relayed information from others.

 

It was an interesting article 

 

Ken

that's interesting, as it fits with my mentality.
I am terrified of heights. whether it be tall stairs or windows in high rises. send my mind into panic. don't dare stand near a ledge
But I am mostly fine about flying, occasionally the fear creeps in when thinking about consequences of sudden failures etc... but mostly its a meditative thing.
always found it difficult to explain the disconnect, whether its because my whole focus is on the present actions, knowledge of the physics. or the different setting being in the cage (one of these days ill have to try an open cockpit)

[RossK]

I don't have a fear of spiders, which is fortunate as my wife is petrified of them. Any spider in our house dies, no ifs, no buts.

Best experience with a huntsman was going in to the kids bedroom one evening and turning on the light, a huntsman had placed itself on the light switch 😬.

Having been disturbed, it ran onto the top bunk bed and turned around facing me, 5 seconds later it ran directly at me, front legs flailing like swords, yes, it was on the attack. It reached the edge of the bed and lept at me, I kid you not!

A deft side step and the huntsman missed me and landed on the floor, where it quickly met my shoe sole.

 

I do have a fear of sharks - I'm not a fan of anything that can eat me alive. Not great considering my other hobbing is sailing small boats, and I do sometimes take short swims in deep water when things haven't gone the way I planned 🌬️⛵

 

The ground also has me concerned when I'm flying.

From height it looks very hard and unforgiving to me. I've decided to take approach of sneaking up on it very slowly and trying to touch it gently, hoping it won't hit back, seems to be working so far...😉

[red750]

Why are airport buildings labelled "Terminal"?

[Carbon Canary]

On 19/2/2023 at 8:28 AM, Kenlsa said:

I was listening to a psychologist a while back who said that nature has developed and reinforced the fear of heights for our species survival .  If we stand at the edge of a cliff, we need to protect ourselves so adrenaline kicks in, the ‘Fright’ part, to stop us there before taking action or to back away.  Same with being at the top of the tree.  
Apparently we are physically connected to the ground (safety) through our senses - we see the potential problem, but we feel the solution because we still keep our feet on the ground/tree keeping us based. This has been passed through the generations for ever.

 

BUT , flying (not falling) has not been implanted in our DNA as unsafe, as it is not a naturally occurring situation.  Children won’t be afraid of it as it only becomes a learned fear, through their own experience or relayed information from others.

 

It was an interesting article 

 

Ken

After a number of previous family holidays involving commercial air travel without incident, my older teenage son had a massive screaming panic attack during the takeoff roll on a Jetstar flight leaving Brisbane some years ago.  He is now 24 and still won’t go anywhere near aircraft.

I’ve explored the fear of flying programs the airlines offer, but he simply won’t budge.  I suspect the fear now is more about having another panic attack rather than a fear of flying per se.  I can see it will become quite limiting for him if his career eventually requires interstate travel.
I understand specific counselling and de-sensitisation is the way forward, but any other suggestions are welcome.

Here I am waiting patiently for my new aircraft to be built but know my son is unlikely to ever be one of my passengers.

[spacesailor]

'' unnerves me is those eight legs ''

What Not worried about those Big fangs !, dripping poison .

 

''  it looks very hard and unforgiving to me.''

Fly Higher , it makes the ground a soft pastel colour . ( Roundtrees Pastels are the softest ) .

spacesailor

 

 

[ClintonB]

Many don’t believe I am petrified of heights, when I fly planes, I can only use a step ladder, not the tall leaning ones, I don’t like windows or edges of buildings though I can stand on a cliff and look over, somehow I figure it’s been there for a million years or more what can go wrong. I cannot ride show rides, coasters etc. I have done aeros ( with someone else flying) and loved it. My brain knows planes don’t fall, ( unless catastrophic failure happens, then you are just sh#t outta luck) and I treat where I am sitting as zero height.

when I was a kid I couLd climb trees, and we used to walk along the top of the water pipe in the cataract gorge in Launceston from our suburb right into town wheeling our box bikes, fairly high up. It came along later, maybe a health fear of splat!

Edited February 20, 2023 by ClintonB
Missed word

[red750]

This photo is of a footbridge over a six lane highway with service lanes on either side. It services a church and a primary school. My wife would not cross this bridge, due to the open sides, she would rather tangle with the traffic at ground level.

 

 

A few years  ago we attended a performance of the Military Tattoo. The seats we were allocated were on an upper level, quite a few rows back from the front. Once seated, my wife froze, and we had to get medical assistance to get her out and down. The stadium kindly arranged alternative seating for us on ground level.

[Bruce Tuncks]

My father had no fear of huntsmen spiders....  he used to pick them up and they would run up his arm to his shoulder.

He said they didn't bite but I reckon he was wrong but lucky.

[Bruce Tuncks]

I myself have a fear of heights which appears when I haven't been up high too much . When I was building a house on stumps then the roof was high enough to scare me till I got used to it.

Ever seen the skyscraper guys eating lunch at 1000 ft? There is a famous photo of them. Apparently when one did fall, they would have a minute of silence before continuing.

[red750]

It's the high level window cleaners swinging in a cradle that get me. Wouldn't catch me doing that.

 

[Old Koreelah]

57 minutes ago, red750 said:

It's the high level window cleaners swinging in a cradle that get me. Wouldn't catch me doing that.

 

The buggers caught me up there in 1972; as builder’s labourers, we were sent to chip formwork imperfections off the blank 18-storey side of 220 Pacific Highway, Crows Nest. All went well until smoko time, when some bast@rd unplugged our platform’s extension cord so he could boil the billy.

Fresh-off-the-boat Irish workmate and I were stranded up there for hours until people across the road in the Mater Hospital heard us yelling out.

[facthunter]

Glad it was you and not me, Gungha Din. Stuck with an Irishman . There IS NO Dog. Nothing is sacred.   Nev

[Old Koreelah]

Nev he was a top bloke, but I never understood a word he said!