militarymight,

I'm glad you've overcome your fears. You certainly jumped in with two feet, first flight to LAS!! Your next flight will be nothing compared to that, 1/4 of the time in the air. You'll be landing before you know it! You'll find your next flight will be slightly different than your LAS flight. The aircraft (A321) is a lot smaller and only a narrow bodied, single isle jet. The A332 is known for it's smooth ride and has one of the quietest cabins of any airliner. The A321 is still a nice aircraft but will feel less roomy with only having 6 abreast seating rather than 9 on the A332. Most of the time, it's the not being in control of the situation or aprehension of not knowing what is happening that causes most fears. As you discovered, once you were airbourne and found out flying is safe and there's nothing to it, your fears subsided. You'll find even frequent fliers still get a little nervous before flights, it's normal. I'm sure your Monarch flights will be just as enjoyable.

Darren

Darren can i ask you please what sort of seat lay out are the Boeing 757-200 that we will be travelling on next thurs?
one of the reasons i hated flying before was the noise, you were talking about this in the answer above this one.
help

typical spec and layout of the 757-200

wiz

foxymum,

The Boeing 757-200 is a narrow bodied twin-jet configured 3-3 with 41 rows of seats. First Choice don't publish seating plans, but Thomas Cooks aircraft are the same. Noise can be a problem when flying. Not only from the sound of the engines and the general sound of the aircraft moving through the air, but all the little strange noises you hear. Things like landing gears being raised / lowered, flaps extending / retracting. All the noises are normal but if you don't know what they are, your mind sometimes works over time. One of the noises passengers are often alarmed by is the sound of the engines reducing power after take off. Depending on the airport, noise restrictions require engines to be throttled back and in any case, all that thrust isn't required. It just seems un-natural to be reducing power while climbing. Again, sometimes your mind plays games and you think the engines have failed but they haven't, just normal procedures. Noise cancelling headphones can help reduced the drone once airbourne.

Darren

I've never really liked flying, however the older I'm getting the worse I feel. Once I'm up in the air, I'm ok. The take off and landing however is a totally different thing. My eyes are closed, I'm gripping my husbands hand, and sometimes a little tear will roll out. Sounds stupid?? The only thing that keeps me going is knowing what's there when I get to the other side I have to have 3 pints in the airport bar, before I can contemplate getting on the plane. Any suggestions on how I can improve the way I feel? Cheers.

Merged to existing topic in flights section.

Mark

Don't worry - just put the kettle on and enjoy reading through this topic for some tips.

Mark

EDIT: Sorry pat62, but as previously advised, questions about specific medications should be referred to your GP rather than to other holidaymakers, so that advice appropriate to your medical history can be obtained.
David HT Mod.

As part of Virgin Atlantic's fear of flying course, they have a couple of videos and audio of frequently asked questions on their website that are excellent: Flying without Fear.

Darren

hi.michelle .....please take your time and look though the threads on fear of flying .i did and it really worked for me..........i am 6 foot 2 ..and i was really scared of flying till i read all about it............why the aircraft did this or that what the heck was that noise ..why are the cabin crew so calm when i am flapping .....please please please read the thread it does get bettet..and one more thing i have flown over 45 years frighten till i read it..........any thing you want to know please ..p.m.me....i am here to help...
regards...david.....

I am the exact opposite of frightened. I would go to the supermarket by plane if I could. I love flying!!!!

maureen wrote:

I am the exact opposite of frightened. I would go to the supermarket by plane if I could. I love flying!!!!

That makes two of us! Although I can understand where the fear comes from and how people must feel. Phobias are a strange thing. It's like scuba diving, many have a fear of being submerged and breathing under water beacause it's not natural, like flying isn't for us. Given a bit of tuition, some overcome it and start to enjoy it. Some just can't do it no matter what. There is associated risk with anything you do, but sometimes that small risk and the fear of the unknown / not being in control outweights everything else. I'll be trying my luck at a different form of flying next year, it's in the planning stage at the moment

Darren

Daz .. a microlight wont be fast enough for you ..and you know my opinion of people who throw themselves out of a serviceable air frame

brian

Wizard HT MOD wrote:

and you know my opinion of people who throw themselves out of a serviceable air frame

All I can say at the moment is the terminal velocity is 120mph, it's made of canvas and involves an altitude of 14,000ft Any fear of heights will be overcome! All for a good cause

Darren

I am not a great flyer, I tolerate it but can definitely say that I prefer to have my feet on solid ground. I am one of those people that can never sleep on planes as every little bump or noise makes me open my eyes to check that the stewards and stewardesses are not panicking!

So why, I have no idea, did I end up watching this series of programmes on a random sky channel on Saturday afternoon I have no idea. They were called "Final Approach" and were a series of 4 back to back documentaries on airplane disasters!! It was weird as I could not stop myself watching them, even though my rational brain was saying "stop"!

Anyway, the interesting thing about these programmes was even though they told you about all these air disasters (there were 4 but the three that stand out were the two 747s colliding on the runway at Tenerife, a 737 crashing into a river bridge in Washington, and an engine falling off a DC-10 on takeoff in Chicago) were that they all seemed to happen quite a long time ago and all on take off. The programme was good as it said that it is not one contributing factor at all that made any of these disasters happen - and as a result of all of them, measures were put in place to stop them happening again.

It was, in a funny way, a bit of a reassurance that in an age of such huge amounts of planes flying in the sky, the crashes they talked about happened a long time ago. Of course there are risks with everything, and I know when I next fly in December I will still panic lots (in my head) but these programmes were interesting and very informative.

I would suggest that anyone scared of flying goes for the odd short break somewhere like Amsterdam or Krakow, places where you can get budget return flights for under £50. Check in on-line, then go to the airport, with only hand luggage, about an hour before the flight is due to take off. Head straight for security, no need to go to the check-in desk. By the time you get through "security" the boarding gate will be open, so you can go straight there and be on the plane before you've had a chance to think!
From what I see and hear it is the hours of hanging around, at check-in and in the departure lounge, that give people too much time to worry that cause a lot of the problem.
Once you see how bored the regulars look on these shuttle flights, a bit different than a plane full of over-excited kids going on holiday, you will feel a lot more confident!

Just returned from Crete, and our outbound flight ended up being delayed for 2 hours because of a family with a teenage son who was scared of flying and wouldn't get on the plane. After much lengthy debate amongst themselves over whether some family members should go ahead with their holiday and leave son behind with one parent, they all decided they couldn't go without him and all disembarked; and then obviously all their luggage had to found and taken off the plane

ColinWWW wrote:

I would suggest that anyone scared of flying goes for the odd short break somewhere like Amsterdam or Krakow, places where you can get budget return flights for under £50

My advice is, if you think you're going to have a problem flying, don't book a package holiday for the whole family costing a few thousand pounds (I'm pretty sure this family's travel insurance would not cover such an eventuality) and don't put the rest of the people on the plane in a position where they have to wait for you to make up your mind and then the pilot has to miss several "slots" at the destination airport!

hi
husband and i not keen on flying at all hes worse than me took me a few months to persuade him to go leaving in 5 weeks and now all this there have been 5 incidents involving planes within a few weeks i beleive if we were offered a full refund he would take it what a desicion to make do we go do we stay have 3 kids to condiser also and advice or support greatly appreciated

there have been 5 incidents

but only one with serious consiquenses...

the others show you just how well trained and professional flight deck crew are.. yo have more chance being run over by a bus shopping than being injured in and air incident,,

get yourself a cup of tea or a large drink and start reading this thread from the beginning it holds lots of good advice

wizard