hello all, well I made it to San Diego and ready to tell all. From Cleveland to Phoenix, Arizona: 4 hour flight on US Airways Airbus 319. Flight was mostly
uneventful except for some "rocky" turbulence on when we were climbing out of Cleveland which made me look out the window and see wings flexing and
airplane's body shifting sideways a bit (probably a couple of feet). That made me nervous momentarily and look around the plane. Everyone was ok and doing
their business so it had a calming effect. My laptop movie was great and the battery held on for almost the entire flight so it really helped with my anxiety.
It is amazing how all my pre-flight thoughts and imagining the worst dissipated and were replace with thoughts of "what actually was happening".
Amazing difference.
Capt Tom, I understand now of the "psychic equivalence" you mentioned.
Anyway, so then we into our next connecting flight from Phoenix to San Diego. A short 1 hour flight on Airbus 321. So we were all situated and the plane was in line to the runway and turned onto the taking off part how suddenly...
The captain announced that there was a mechanical problem with something and we were turning back to the garage so to speak. That made me uneasy but at least i thought they will try to fix the problem. I was irritated that we stood in line of 15 planes and at the last moment turned back but ok. So we sat and sat and sat and everyone started wondering what will happen. Then the captain cheerfully announced that they identified the problem and he will explain what it is. I turned all my hearing on "high"
The problem was something with one of the elerons on the wing i think that it was UP when it was not suppose to or
wise versa. Something hydrolic and something that helped the plane to turn. So he proceeded to explain that the fixing was on the way and should another 20
"airplane" minutes which turned into 1.5 hr of real minutes. The captain was very nice so I used the situation to my advantage and came up and
chatted with him and told him that I was anxious to fly and that i was concern of the issue with the plane. He was very nice and supportive and explained the
safety and that they were checking everything over and over again to make sure things will not be problematic once we are airborne. I appreciated this very
much and gained much respect for the pilots! That was great!
So the flight was pretty quick as they said albeit delayed. A bit sharp take-off for my taste but at that point I was panicking at all.
So to summerize, I think I did ok. Now I can relax and focus on the task at hand. I must say that pre-flight anxiety has NOTHING to do with reality! Absolutely nothing! But it is not easy to turn it off.
I do have a suggestion fot everyone. At some point, all of us need additional things to help thwart the anxiety. For me, I took a VALERIAN ROOT supplement whiuch is available in US. Not sure where to buy but it has some nice calming effects with no side effects (AT LEAST FOR ME) and without knocking you out (sedative). That helped!
So, I say, go out into the world and fly! Discover the world. I like being in San diego and glad that I had an opportunity to do things and I have to thank commerical aviation for allowing for all this.
Capt Tom, I understand now of the "psychic equivalence" you mentioned.
Anyway, so then we into our next connecting flight from Phoenix to San Diego. A short 1 hour flight on Airbus 321. So we were all situated and the plane was in line to the runway and turned onto the taking off part how suddenly...
The captain announced that there was a mechanical problem with something and we were turning back to the garage so to speak. That made me uneasy but at least i thought they will try to fix the problem. I was irritated that we stood in line of 15 planes and at the last moment turned back but ok. So we sat and sat and sat and everyone started wondering what will happen. Then the captain cheerfully announced that they identified the problem and he will explain what it is. I turned all my hearing on "high"
The problem was something with one of the elerons on the wing i think that it was UP when it was not suppose to or
wise versa. Something hydrolic and something that helped the plane to turn. So he proceeded to explain that the fixing was on the way and should another 20
"airplane" minutes which turned into 1.5 hr of real minutes. The captain was very nice so I used the situation to my advantage and came up and
chatted with him and told him that I was anxious to fly and that i was concern of the issue with the plane. He was very nice and supportive and explained the
safety and that they were checking everything over and over again to make sure things will not be problematic once we are airborne. I appreciated this very
much and gained much respect for the pilots! That was great!
So the flight was pretty quick as they said albeit delayed. A bit sharp take-off for my taste but at that point I was panicking at all.
So to summerize, I think I did ok. Now I can relax and focus on the task at hand. I must say that pre-flight anxiety has NOTHING to do with reality! Absolutely nothing! But it is not easy to turn it off.
I do have a suggestion fot everyone. At some point, all of us need additional things to help thwart the anxiety. For me, I took a VALERIAN ROOT supplement whiuch is available in US. Not sure where to buy but it has some nice calming effects with no side effects (AT LEAST FOR ME) and without knocking you out (sedative). That helped!
So, I say, go out into the world and fly! Discover the world. I like being in San diego and glad that I had an opportunity to do things and I have to thank commerical aviation for allowing for all this.
