Flying experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once heard that an airplane in turbulence is like being in jello. It feels like you’re being jostled all over the place, but it’s more like wobbling in jello. Visualizing that (knowing it’s not just going to fall out of the sky) helps.

But I still get really anxious flying. It’s not death per se that I fear but having to experience immense fear before dying or knowing my family is about to die that terrifies me. Like those horror stories about planes going into a flat spin or nose diving or a suicidal pilot taking over, etc. scare me way more than a sudden explosion. Both are awful, but if I’m going to go while I’m in a metal tube in the sky, then I’d rather not have forewarning. Especially if my kids are flying with me. I would like to think I’d find the strength to stay calm and lie to them that we’d be ok, but I think I’d likely panic.

Lift is generated by the airflow on top of and underneath the wing. The air moving over the top of the wing moves faster than the air underneath it creating a pressure differential. The pressure underneath the wing is higher than it is on top, which keeps the wing in the air. As long as there is constant airflow over the wing, the plane will fly. But air is not always smooth - like water, it has ripples such as from wake turbulence from other airplanes, air bouncing off terrain or mountains, downdrafts/updrafts from clouds etc.

I also used to be nervous about crashing and those final moments beforehand. But after watching dozens of episodes of Air crash investigation I've realized most crashes involve something catastrophic happening and its usually over pretty quickly. So I think in our minds we have this hollywood version of falling from the air screaming and being terrified for like 10 minutes straight when it reality it would probably all be over in a matter of seconds. That's actually given me some comfort knowing it'd probably be over quickly and I wouldn't suffer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I HAVE been through severe turbulance -- sometimes so bad we've had to divert or do go-arounds. Now I remind myself that each time, the plane landed safely.

Op here
That must have been scary.

Was it when in clouds/ Rain? Or what kind of weather was it?
What was the plane flying over at that time?

I don’t think it was even raining- just super windy and bumpy. Flying through the clouds. We were on approach and tried to land twice before diverting.
But again- we landed and all was fine.