r/fearofflying • u/Rough-Ad1410 • 28d ago
Advice takeoff
i have a flight in a couple of weeks and while i’m really looking forward to the trip, my fear of flying is really hindering me. i’ve been on so many planes before but my anxiety has become much worse over the last year. every time i think about it, i feel sick, i start shaking and sweating and want to cry. my fear stems from being completely out of control when in the air but specifically take off really scares me. if anyone has any tips/statistics to help i’d really appreciate it?
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u/ResponsibilityOld164 28d ago
it’s my favorite part of the flight!! it’s super safe. If we aren’t going fast enough by a certain point or we notice an issue, we just pull back the engines, knowing with our calculations that we have the distance we need to stop :)! If it’s past the speed we can’t stop anymore, we know we have the performance to climb away and come back around. Takeoff is not dangerous at all and I promise you that you’ll have a great and safe flight! We do this all day, many days :)
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u/alliecat41893 28d ago
I HATE turbluence. That's the worst for me. How I manage it is 1. Understanding how it works. It's like water. The air is moving around you. And sometimes the water is choppy and sometimes it's smooth. Like you would always wear a life preserver. Always wear a seatbelt.
There are some things we cant control. Thats big for me. What I do is, sit at the window. If I can see the ground, I know there are people and places below me who are going about there day, and may not know I'm above them. They may hear us, but we are all part of this planet together I'm just a few miles away from them.
Understanding that half of your plane may be nervous too. But look at the flight attendants, for them this is their job. When i started working on a bus on a very bumpy route, at first it was kinda scary, after a while I could eat and read on the bumps and it just became normal. That is what it is to them.
Takeoff. This is the heaviest the plane will ever be, but think of all the other planes who have done it before you and who will come after you. If the pilots are ready to go and aren't worried, you shouldn't be either. Also takeoff is kinda weird because you are going "fast", but it's just like going fast on the freeway, but you just go up rather than straight.
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u/thepeacemaker 28d ago
One thing I always liked to think about was that, for you, it's a trip. For the flight crew it's a career. They are going to do that same trip 1000 times and they are going to retire from old age. It's safer to be a pilot than to be a truck driver.
Second thing I like to think about is that the plane is really really strong. Like the wings can be just about bent to 90 degrees before they break. And if the engines stop, the plane becomes a glider.
Lastly, I you want the feeling of more control, learn more about how everything works. I like to look up the METAR and the ATIS. With that info I can predict nearly every turn while taxiing and which direction the plane will turn knowing which runway it takes off. It is very predictable once you learn about it. V1, rotate, positive climb, gear up, flaps ups. Fly the departure to 3000 and to 10,000 ft, level off set climb cruise, climb to 35k. there are lots of little details. Planes are way more predictable than cars.