I love this piece. I am fortunate to marvel at the wonder of flight without the terror. The cloudscapes, physics and power. I particularly love trying to identify places on the ground, six miles down.
A very memorable return from Ibiza to Manchester when one was able to see the Straits of Dover, the ship wakes and both portals of the Channel Tunnel all lit by the setting sun.
I also marvel at pilots who bring us down safely in Manchester, where they can see nowt but cloud. Maybe a glimpse of Audenshaw Reservoirs or the Pyramid in Stockport.
Beautiful… 100% nail on the head of many experiences out there. My son is an Easyjet Captain who flies out of Luton and his daughter is now stepping on to that same path. He has never wanted to be anything other than a Pilot and has said so many times that if, for whatever reason, he ever had to give up passenger flights he would move over to flying cargo - such is *his* love of flying. He has always hoped to convey something of that love to his passengers and his crew on every trip. I will send your essay to him; I know he will appreciate it
Thank you for your kind words, Dave. I'm delighted and honoured that my article has directly reached a pilot's family! (an EasyJet one too! - actually the airline I cope with best). Please do send the article on to your son!
I hope my account will reverberate with other sufferers, raise awareness for non-sufferers, and let pilots know that, aside from the dread, some of us at least also feel wonder and gratitude for what they do. Cheers.
A wonderful piece of writing. I write with feeling, remembering what happened to my poor ears coming in to land at Gatwick, over forty years ago, having just seen the marvel of the plane's shadow (?) on shining clouds. Wonder and terror, indeed.
Lovely writing. I have my own ways of dealing with the terror. A younger me imagined that we stayed on the ground and a sort of film was rolled past the windows to deceive us into thinking we were moving. These days, a very old me envisions the plane in the hand of God, guided gently and securely to my destination.
Thank you, Pat. I love the idea of pretending you're in a film. I may try that one and see if it works better than my traditional method of pretending I'm in a car :)
You have encapsulated my fear and wonder when travelling by aeroplane so eloquently that I was on that plane (in my mind) going through those emotions. I'm exhausted now and just thankful I'm sitting on my settee and not waiting at baggage reclaim . Thank you
My wife is absolutely terrified of flying. Whenever we happen to be driving past Stansted and one of those big beasts passes over our heads her response is always the same. Basically, "f**k the science, that's not right". Now, should I show her this excellent piece of writing or not?
My sympathies with your wife, Malcolm. On balance perhaps you should show her the article - always good to know one's not alone, the wonder does help to counterbalance the fear and a dread aired is a dread halved (?)
Really wasn't expecting a response but thank you. I have just shown the piece to my wife. After several chuckles she commented that the only thing you left out was after the flight having to prepare oneself for the return journey!
Lovely writing Claire. You are, I think, fortunate to have the Awe to balance at least some of the Dread.
Just a guess on my part, but did the seats in the remarkable VC10s of your childhood face backwards? I only flew in a VC10 once, but it was my first ever flight so the beast has a special place in my heart too. And yes, the seats faced backwards.
As important as the engines are, they don’t really hold the plane up, the wings do that. But given the detail in your piece I’m sure you know that too.
Might I suggest that you seek out your local airfield and take a trial flying lesson?
Several members of Pink Floyd are qualified pilots; apparently they took flying lessons initially to help overcome their fear of flying - which their success meant they were doing rather a lot of.
Trial lessons are often “reasonably priced” and can be a gateway to highly addictive and expensive further lessons. If you want to continue beyond the trial lesson then I guess it helps to be as rich as the members of Pink Floyd.
Thank you, Andrew! I don't recall facing backwards in the beast but I'm sure you're right.
I do recall, as an annoyingly precocious 12 year old, asking to see the pilots flying the Egypt Air jet we were travelling in as we crossed the desert because it was ' too bumpy to sleep'.
I was, in fact, summoned into the cockpit and asked, to my horror, to keep an eye on a row of numbers on the dashboard and make sure they didn't change (not the best task for the numerically challenged!) but it may have turned out to be a music radio station (?) Regs were super relaxed in those days ...
Aside from that, I remember the stunning sight from within the cockpit of a glowing line of sunrise over a seemingly curved world in an otherwise still dark sky with stars above and even below - truly like flying through space. I also recall a faint smell of whiskey in the cockpit. It was a long time ago when things were, like I said, very much more relaxed :)
Bravo to Pink Floyd for such a bold approach to attacking their issues. Might even be worth considering but I don't fly enough to justify it and I can already hear the heart saying ' you must be .... joking'. But who knows? Maybe one day just for the hell of it.
The “backwards facing seats” was, maybe still is, an RAF thing. So many service personnel and families posted abroad would have experienced it. No airline, so far as I know, has ever embraced the idea other than for cabin crew seats.
By the way… Gliding lessons are less pricey than powered aircraft flying lessons and much quieter of course.
I loved flying until I met my husband who was very nervous & fidgety. Fortunately, I haven’t ever experienced really bad turbulence & a Bloody Mary usually does the trick for me & some calming Bach Flower Remedy nowadays.
Brilliantly captured sentiment! It's all about air moving over, and under, the wings to get, and stay, up there... and about auto-application of brakes on the wheels, for the most part, on landing - as explained here if interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1bruKUS-u0
I too am not a nervous flyer though I've lately noticed a tendency to say to myself "up, up!" to when taking off and "down down!" when landing. I think I was never nervous because my dad was an RAF fast jet pilot and I proudly used to watch him most days when growing up in Cyprus. However I can empathise.
This is peculiar because when I did make my first flights to and from England in 1966 having been packed off to boarding school in Sussex aged 7, I was invariably flying in a BEA (that dates me) Comet. They dropped out of the sky for no apparent reason fairly regularly in the 1960s
My goodness, this piece was amazing. Every word and feeling hits home so perfectly. I decided to stop flying about 3 years ago and the relief of that is perched against the envy I feel for missing out on the places I could go now. I still love aviation and the memories of all those places I've visited is bittersweet.
A superb piece of writing: I'm not as extreme (sorry!) but all those feelings are lurking below the surface. Thank you, and look forward to your next contribution.
Once, in 1975, while landing at Heathrow from LA, the plane touched down, lurched suddenly sideways, then continued taxiing to the terminal. I had an immediate panic attack which lasted all the way through the terminal, through customs and passport control to where my parents were waiting. It didn’t get better, and a couple of years later, I actually got to the airport in LA and couldn’t make myself get on that plane so had to cancel my trip home. I eventually got treatment and was able to fly again—which I did, a lot, both to the U.K. and to conferences around the U.S. and Canada. So I completely sympathize with you, and share your trepidation. Now that I’m back living in the U.K., I’ve given up flying entirely and, with things as they are, I’m not sorry.
I'm so sorry to hear your story and I hope my account hasn't made it worse. Sometimes the smallest incidents can have a major impact. I put my accelerated fear of flying as an adult partly down to the fact that I had a minor car crash in my early 20s. I didn't realise it at the time but subconsciously it highlighted my own mortality in a way that spread outward to other activities like flying. At least there are other ways of getting to Europe and beyond.
No, I’m fine with flying now even though I’ve given it up because it’s not fun any more. I saw a psychologist, was treated for over 20 years with an SSRI which allowed me to be a completely normal person.
I’m off it now because I’m not sure my GP here in the U.K. would prescribe it (even though I still have my last prescription bottle to prove it was prescribed before I moved from the U.S.). I’m actually doing ok now without it, to my surprise, because back in 2017, when I was hospitalized, the nursing staff were very concerned that I keep taking it.
I love this piece. I am fortunate to marvel at the wonder of flight without the terror. The cloudscapes, physics and power. I particularly love trying to identify places on the ground, six miles down.
A very memorable return from Ibiza to Manchester when one was able to see the Straits of Dover, the ship wakes and both portals of the Channel Tunnel all lit by the setting sun.
I also marvel at pilots who bring us down safely in Manchester, where they can see nowt but cloud. Maybe a glimpse of Audenshaw Reservoirs or the Pyramid in Stockport.
This piece absolutely describes how I feel every time I fly. Here’s me thinking I’m the only one! Thank you
Beautiful… 100% nail on the head of many experiences out there. My son is an Easyjet Captain who flies out of Luton and his daughter is now stepping on to that same path. He has never wanted to be anything other than a Pilot and has said so many times that if, for whatever reason, he ever had to give up passenger flights he would move over to flying cargo - such is *his* love of flying. He has always hoped to convey something of that love to his passengers and his crew on every trip. I will send your essay to him; I know he will appreciate it
Thank you for your kind words, Dave. I'm delighted and honoured that my article has directly reached a pilot's family! (an EasyJet one too! - actually the airline I cope with best). Please do send the article on to your son!
I hope my account will reverberate with other sufferers, raise awareness for non-sufferers, and let pilots know that, aside from the dread, some of us at least also feel wonder and gratitude for what they do. Cheers.
A wonderful piece of writing. I write with feeling, remembering what happened to my poor ears coming in to land at Gatwick, over forty years ago, having just seen the marvel of the plane's shadow (?) on shining clouds. Wonder and terror, indeed.
Thank you, good to know I’m not alone 😊
Ditto! :)
Lovely writing. I have my own ways of dealing with the terror. A younger me imagined that we stayed on the ground and a sort of film was rolled past the windows to deceive us into thinking we were moving. These days, a very old me envisions the plane in the hand of God, guided gently and securely to my destination.
Thank you, Pat. I love the idea of pretending you're in a film. I may try that one and see if it works better than my traditional method of pretending I'm in a car :)
You have encapsulated my fear and wonder when travelling by aeroplane so eloquently that I was on that plane (in my mind) going through those emotions. I'm exhausted now and just thankful I'm sitting on my settee and not waiting at baggage reclaim . Thank you
A lovely piece of writing, Claire, and thanks for the memories of the VC10s to Nairobi, which I enjoyed in the '60s
My wife is absolutely terrified of flying. Whenever we happen to be driving past Stansted and one of those big beasts passes over our heads her response is always the same. Basically, "f**k the science, that's not right". Now, should I show her this excellent piece of writing or not?
My sympathies with your wife, Malcolm. On balance perhaps you should show her the article - always good to know one's not alone, the wonder does help to counterbalance the fear and a dread aired is a dread halved (?)
Really wasn't expecting a response but thank you. I have just shown the piece to my wife. After several chuckles she commented that the only thing you left out was after the flight having to prepare oneself for the return journey!
Lovely writing Claire. You are, I think, fortunate to have the Awe to balance at least some of the Dread.
Just a guess on my part, but did the seats in the remarkable VC10s of your childhood face backwards? I only flew in a VC10 once, but it was my first ever flight so the beast has a special place in my heart too. And yes, the seats faced backwards.
As important as the engines are, they don’t really hold the plane up, the wings do that. But given the detail in your piece I’m sure you know that too.
Might I suggest that you seek out your local airfield and take a trial flying lesson?
Several members of Pink Floyd are qualified pilots; apparently they took flying lessons initially to help overcome their fear of flying - which their success meant they were doing rather a lot of.
Trial lessons are often “reasonably priced” and can be a gateway to highly addictive and expensive further lessons. If you want to continue beyond the trial lesson then I guess it helps to be as rich as the members of Pink Floyd.
Thank you, Andrew! I don't recall facing backwards in the beast but I'm sure you're right.
I do recall, as an annoyingly precocious 12 year old, asking to see the pilots flying the Egypt Air jet we were travelling in as we crossed the desert because it was ' too bumpy to sleep'.
I was, in fact, summoned into the cockpit and asked, to my horror, to keep an eye on a row of numbers on the dashboard and make sure they didn't change (not the best task for the numerically challenged!) but it may have turned out to be a music radio station (?) Regs were super relaxed in those days ...
Aside from that, I remember the stunning sight from within the cockpit of a glowing line of sunrise over a seemingly curved world in an otherwise still dark sky with stars above and even below - truly like flying through space. I also recall a faint smell of whiskey in the cockpit. It was a long time ago when things were, like I said, very much more relaxed :)
Bravo to Pink Floyd for such a bold approach to attacking their issues. Might even be worth considering but I don't fly enough to justify it and I can already hear the heart saying ' you must be .... joking'. But who knows? Maybe one day just for the hell of it.
The “backwards facing seats” was, maybe still is, an RAF thing. So many service personnel and families posted abroad would have experienced it. No airline, so far as I know, has ever embraced the idea other than for cabin crew seats.
By the way… Gliding lessons are less pricey than powered aircraft flying lessons and much quieter of course.
I loved flying until I met my husband who was very nervous & fidgety. Fortunately, I haven’t ever experienced really bad turbulence & a Bloody Mary usually does the trick for me & some calming Bach Flower Remedy nowadays.
Brilliantly captured sentiment! It's all about air moving over, and under, the wings to get, and stay, up there... and about auto-application of brakes on the wheels, for the most part, on landing - as explained here if interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1bruKUS-u0
Describes me to a T as well. It's nice to know I'm not the only one :-D
Thanks to Claire Jones for a really entertaining piece and to The Bear for sharing it.
I too am not a nervous flyer though I've lately noticed a tendency to say to myself "up, up!" to when taking off and "down down!" when landing. I think I was never nervous because my dad was an RAF fast jet pilot and I proudly used to watch him most days when growing up in Cyprus. However I can empathise.
This is peculiar because when I did make my first flights to and from England in 1966 having been packed off to boarding school in Sussex aged 7, I was invariably flying in a BEA (that dates me) Comet. They dropped out of the sky for no apparent reason fairly regularly in the 1960s
My goodness, this piece was amazing. Every word and feeling hits home so perfectly. I decided to stop flying about 3 years ago and the relief of that is perched against the envy I feel for missing out on the places I could go now. I still love aviation and the memories of all those places I've visited is bittersweet.
A superb piece of writing: I'm not as extreme (sorry!) but all those feelings are lurking below the surface. Thank you, and look forward to your next contribution.
Once, in 1975, while landing at Heathrow from LA, the plane touched down, lurched suddenly sideways, then continued taxiing to the terminal. I had an immediate panic attack which lasted all the way through the terminal, through customs and passport control to where my parents were waiting. It didn’t get better, and a couple of years later, I actually got to the airport in LA and couldn’t make myself get on that plane so had to cancel my trip home. I eventually got treatment and was able to fly again—which I did, a lot, both to the U.K. and to conferences around the U.S. and Canada. So I completely sympathize with you, and share your trepidation. Now that I’m back living in the U.K., I’ve given up flying entirely and, with things as they are, I’m not sorry.
I'm so sorry to hear your story and I hope my account hasn't made it worse. Sometimes the smallest incidents can have a major impact. I put my accelerated fear of flying as an adult partly down to the fact that I had a minor car crash in my early 20s. I didn't realise it at the time but subconsciously it highlighted my own mortality in a way that spread outward to other activities like flying. At least there are other ways of getting to Europe and beyond.
No, I’m fine with flying now even though I’ve given it up because it’s not fun any more. I saw a psychologist, was treated for over 20 years with an SSRI which allowed me to be a completely normal person.
I’m off it now because I’m not sure my GP here in the U.K. would prescribe it (even though I still have my last prescription bottle to prove it was prescribed before I moved from the U.S.). I’m actually doing ok now without it, to my surprise, because back in 2017, when I was hospitalized, the nursing staff were very concerned that I keep taking it.