if i could do a hiro from heros, i would, not keen on take off, landing is ace.... but the bit inbetween i dont like , i get in a real state befor geting on,

I love being at the airport, in departures and looking around the shops
but as soon as they call the flight thats it , i get all panicky , eyes fill up , feel sick
hate take off and landing but ok once i'm up there. I wont and dont let it put me off tho
.

i dont love or hate it, i dont like queueing , check in, passport control etc all hassle, but the actual flight, take off & landing doesnt bother me, but i do sometimes suffer from swollen ankles which annoys me

The first time I flew I kept my seatbelt firmly clipped on and my hands gripped the seat arms so tight you could see white knuckles, I didn't want to move even to use the loo (I only flew to Tenerife). Since then, I have got more used to it. I don't mind the take off and the flight itself but I am not too keen on the landing, going so fast I always think we will run out of runway I think all the earlier flights to Goa via Bahrain probably cured me, 2 take offs and 2 landings both ways...just had to get on with it
ellie_meg, I agree, the swollen ankles annoy me too (even though I usually wear flight socks). Don't like the popping ears syndrome either.

I absolutely love the power that you feel as you roar down the runway for take off. Not so keen on landing as it makes my ears pop and sometimes it makes me feel as though my head is caving in if i can't clear them quick enough.
I am not keen on all the queuing etc before the flight itself..but I do love flying in general. It fascinates me flying over land when I can see plenty of stuff below knowing I am thousands of feet higher and it all looks so tiny. Flying over the sea is pretty boring though...

I am petrified I dont like any of it. Been on a fear of flying, course had hypnotherapy and seen a psycologist and i'm still terrified. i'm off to florida in nov and already having nightmares. Spoke to the captain when I went to goa in april he said 'turbulence was like driving on a bumpy road!!!' well if i was in a bl--dy car I could just jump out

I'm not at all nervous of flying and I take lots of flights every year but I hate the whole hassle, queuing at the crowded airport, often officious employees, awful airline food, cramped seats, people slamming their seats back as soon as the flight takes off, etc.etc. I have a 11hour flight coming up next month and I'm dreading it, I won't be able to stop looking at my watch every five minutes, I'm getting annoyed just thinking about it. The only way to travel is business/first class which is a totally different experience but you need to take out a mortgage to pay for it.

If God had wanted me to fly, then he'd have given me wings.

I hate it, I hate the whole airport experience and I've got worse as the years have gone by.
But funnily enough, I don't mind the take-off which is supposed to be the most dangerous part, but I don't like landing, it seems to go on forever and a day and I'm thinking to myself "for sake get this bird down"
The bit in between is torture, I'm bored out of my brains, I can't read because I would suffer with sea sickness (this happens because your ears detect movement, but your eyes are not in co-ordination) and if we hit some turbulence, then I'm scared.

I think I must suffer with a mild form of claustrophobia and being amongst all those people in a confined space makes me quite agitated, I can't stand the noise and being sat next to a screaming child is pure purgatory"¦.actually my worse nightmare.
I try and get an aisle seat because this gives the illusion of having more space, but if I'm truthful here, some of the general public are so lackadaisical, that they put the "fear of god" into me.

I stick my headphones on and try and snuggle down under a baby blanket that I take, which also comes in handy when the aircraft is freezing cold and people are going into the overhead lockers for their coats.....
Then, I just suffer in silence, counting the minutes away....it's a means to an end and not an enjoyable experience for me.

On a "normal" flight, I wouldn't say I was frightened because I've come to accept the possible consequences of being 35,000 feet up in an aluminium tube....you just have to quash those thoughts from your brain, otherwise you'd be a walking nervous wreck.

Sanji

I quite enjoy flying but don't enjoy the airport experience, particularly at Gatwick. Once I've got rid of my hold luggage it's not too bad but it all seems such a hassle. I usually read or doze on a flight and have slept all the way back from New York and also from Hongkong until we were going over Germany. Waiting for the bags to come off on arrival is another pet hate, then getting through passport control and immigration.

I don't mind flying really, certainly don't have fear of it, I do, however, have an irrational fear of motorways, so the worst bit for me is getting to the airport ! We have a 10 hour flight next may, which I'm hoping to sleep for as much of it as I can, keeping my 7yr old amused will be a challenge !

The worst thing for me is the sheer boredom. The novelty value for me of flying disappears as soon as we are above the clouds and I can see naff all..then I am bored. Generally, it was always down to me to amuse the kids so that wasn't so bad, I would play cards with them etc but flying cattle class always restricted the room..and they always put me on the inside near the window as i am the family midget now.. so I have the least room of anyone (but the best view!)

These days, I try to read, watch tv, listen to music..owt...but I can never sleep. Don't know how I will cope on the 10 1/2 hour flight to the Maldives...

i hate flying, i'm usually awake 24 hours before my flight just thinking about getting on the plane, and each year the fear is getting worse

good job i dont have any fears of flying as we go abroad around 6 times a year inc next week and are going to madeira end of nov and the runway is next to a cliff, so i will love the landing there looking over the cliff etc, but i should imagine anyone frightened of flying this would be their worst nightmare , ill try and take some pics if i can

I too have found that the older I get the more I hate flying. I also seem to becoming more nervous in any type of transportation, which is a real pain in the rear end However, if you need to get from a to b and the b is Australia in February then there is not a lot I can do about it except grit my teeth and get on with it. If I want to go to these foreign places there is not a lot of choice of how to get there. Still hubby has done a hypnotherapy course so maybe I'll get him to zap me just before we set off and see how that goes. Failing all else, a couple of whiskies might do the trick
Rosalyn

and the b is Australia in February

I've had a postcard from Sydney this morning from the youngest lad telling me to "get that flight booked".
I broke out in a cold sweat

Sanjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

I have no problem with flying itself just the boredom of the journey. Worse for me is the hours you spend on the airport waiting for the flight. I'm sure that the only reason they want you there 4 hours before take off is so that they can prise more money out of you in the airport shops. Heathrow is more like a shopping mall than an airport!

I find it really boring. When you are a kid its the most exciting thing in the world but now its purely a form of transport. I do enjoy take off but landing can sometimes get to me if my ears start to suffer - I think it can depend on how recently the door seals have been changed as to how bad your ears are. Landing is the most dangerous part of the journey, considerably more so than take-off but the risk is still so low its not really worth giving it a second thought.

What I also find is that it doesn't matter if I'm on a short flight to somewhere like Reus or on a four hour flight to Tenerife, they both seem to take just as long as each other - don't know why it feels like that to me?

And Sanji, get the flight to Australia booked, its not as bad as you expect - I remember when I went to Sydney and thought my god this time tomorrow I still won't have landed and started to question my sanity for doing it, but it was nowhere near as bad as I expected, certainly didn't feel like 24 hours. We did stop to refuel in Bahrain and Singapore where I smoked as many cigarettes as I could stomach in the one hour that we had

I flew with Airtours on an aircraft with 28" seat pitch, sounds like utter hell but the time really did fly by (I hate puns).

I'm so glad I did it and sometimes I look back and think how did you do it but at the time it really isn't that bad.

And as take-off and landing are the most dangerous part, long distance flying is not really any less safe than short haul. (Unless you have to stop twice like we did )

Mark

I must be a real oddball, as I actually rather like being in the airport - not the check in & security - but I enjoy the shops, the duty free, the drinkies in the bar etc. I neither love nor loathe flying. It is a means to the end for me. The longer flights are boring, & I have to get up and stretch my legs.

Hi all,

I hate the take off, not too keen on the landing, and as long as I can't see the wings moving am not too bothered about the in between bit. I never remove my seat belt and I wouldn't dream off moving from my seat whilst in flight. Each time we have flown in the last twelve months there has been a plane crash!

Julie