Fear of flying
I realised I haven't posted here for a while, so I am long overdue. I had thought about putting this one on my anxiety blog, but I feel the science part makes more sense here.
The frustrating thing is that my husband is utterly obsessed with planes! Cannot get enough of them and desperately wishes he could have been a pilot! He will stand near the gate, face pressed against the window, watching the comings and goings of the planes ages before our flight. He is a true plan enthusiast. If we are walking down the street and a plane comes into land (we live VERY close to an airport) then he will stop paying attention to me, stop in his tracks and watch the plane until it is out of sight. That is the difference between me and him.
There are four forces at play called thrust, lift, drag and weight. When a plan is level the lift from the wings balances the weight of the plane and thrust from the engines balances the drag. During take off and climbing thrust exceeds drag and creates a lift force that is greater than the plane's weight. When landing the flaps of the wing come down to create more surface area and drag, this slows the plan so it can glide in for landing.
The engines are not vital to flight (well they are...but gliders don't need them so flight is possible as long as you can get up there). The engines, whether prop or jet, are designed to move the plane forward at high speed. Air flows rapidly over the wings, throwing air to the gorun, and creating lift. That's why planes need a run way to pick up speed for take off and why they go down the run way so damn fast!
What this all means is that the engines give the plane the speed forward so that the wings can create the lift and move it upwards.
This comese into effect on a plane. The force of hot gas from the jet engine pushes the plane forward and creates a moving current of air over the wings. The wings then push air down and therefore the plane up.
You can test this theory yourself. Take an piece of paper and blow across the top of it. You will see the paper rises up. This is the same as a plane's wing.
Here's a two minute video I found at the top of a Google search demonstrating it. Don't listen too much to the theory because I will explain why some of that is wrong in a minute. However, for the effect, without trying it yourself, this really does show a good and fun example.
A curved air foil wing deflects air and alters air pressure above and below. The curved upper part moves forward and lowers air pressure directly above it, moving it upward.
The curve of the wing pulls air back around, preventing it moving in a straight line. As the air is pulled back down it is stretched into a bigger volume (same number of air molecules forced to share more space) and it lowers the pressure. For the opposite reason the pressure under the wing increases and this causes a hige difference in air speed, which causes lift.
The pressure difference created y the wing forcese the air down over the top rather than horizontally. The air doesn't move away in a straight line, it creates a vortex (like a mini-tornado) behind the plane. That is why there is always a gap of a few minutes between take-offs at an airport, just to let that 'dirty' air move away.
If you watch a cyclist of a motorcyclist take a turn, they lean into it rather than actually turn. This gives them a curve to go around a corner. A plane does the same thing. This is called 'banking', where a plant tilts to one side of the other, dipping one wing lower than the other.
This could make the plane lose lift and altitude, but the pilot compensates by using elevators and the back of the plane to increase the angle of attack and raise lift again. The steering control in the flight deck make a series of complex flaps go up and down. These are called ailerons, elevators, rudders, spoilers and air breaks. Definitions for each can be seen below.
The interesting thing is that, growing up and where I am now, I have always lived near the most accident prone spot on the M3/M27. That whole stretch where one motorway becomes the other is terrible! There are road traffice incidents every single day, rain or shine, school holidays or not. Many of these accidents are fatal and yet I am more confident driving my car along this stretch of road than I am about getting on a plane. As of the time of writing there have never been any truly serious incidents at Southampton Airport. Minor ones, yes, but I can only think of maybe two off the top of my head!
British carriers are among the best in the world. Their pilots and cabin crew are highly trained and the planes never take off without full checks. An example of this is my honeymoon in 2016. We were actually flying from Bournemouth (the joys of air travel mean that it is actually cheaper for us to drive and park at Bournemouth Airport to fly to Majorca than to walk ten minutes up the road to Southampton Airport and fly from there) and the plane wasn't given clearance for take-off. The reason for this is that every airport in the country was sending planes to Palma, Majorca at the same time so we had to wait for a slot. That time came and the pilots did what they normally do. They start one engine first to burn off the excess fuel that pools (this is totally natural when a plane has been standing still for hours over night) and then they start the other engine. The second engine started and then everything powered down and we were dragged back into place by the tug. After a short while the pilot announced that an engineer was coming to check the engine because there was a pool of fuel that was taking slightly longer to burn off and they wanted to make sure there was no leak. We were all led off the plane and back to the terminal because they needed to test the engine with the casing open and have it run at full blast and we couldn't be on the plane in case it suddenly lurched forward or there was a leak and an explosion. Anyway, they tested it and let us all back on board and the pilot came back over the tannoy system to announce that all was well and that it had been colder the night before than expected so more fuel had pooled and just took slightly longer to burn off. There was nothing to worry about and we were on our way.
In the above example you can see that the pilot just had our best interests at heart and wouldn't take off until he was 100% sure that the plane was safe for us. That is how good our pilots are.
A lot of statistics come from the USA and in 2008 there were 1.27 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles on the roads. Meanwhile there were only 20 air accidents for U.S air carriers operating a scheduled service. That works out at nearly zero (0) accidents per million flying miles. No one died and only five (5) people were seriously injured!
In 2015 your chances of dying in a car crash were 1:114 while dying in an aircraft accident (commercial, private or other) were 1:9821. In fact, you are more likely to choke to death on food than in a plane crash!
The reason we fear plane crashes is because, when they do happen, they are catastrophic and deadly events. Their rairity makes them scarier too. As car accidents happen all the time we almost become desensitised to them while plane crashes are shocking because they 'just don't happen'. However, without knowledge of how planes fly, the fact that pilots are well trained and checks take place at all stages of a flight, the chances are minute!
Before a flight they run through a huge checklist and if one thing is not right they have it rectified and start the check list from scratch until all is perfect! We put our lives in their hands, but you can totally trust them.
I will get on a plane again though, because they take us to magicall places and that's totally worth it!
A little about my fear
I never used to have a fear of flying. Actually, the first couple of times I got on a plane I absolutely loved it and it was one of the best experiences of my life! Then something happened to me. I don't know what, but I think it was connected to an extreme bout of anxiety and stress I had in my early 20's because the first time I got on a plane with my now husband, I lost it entirely for the whole flight! This was about nine years ago now and I have been getting better every time, but it still weirds me out. I am hoping that this blog will be cathartic and allow me to get over some of this fear before I next get on a plane...which is very soon at the time of writing.The frustrating thing is that my husband is utterly obsessed with planes! Cannot get enough of them and desperately wishes he could have been a pilot! He will stand near the gate, face pressed against the window, watching the comings and goings of the planes ages before our flight. He is a true plan enthusiast. If we are walking down the street and a plane comes into land (we live VERY close to an airport) then he will stop paying attention to me, stop in his tracks and watch the plane until it is out of sight. That is the difference between me and him.
How do planes fly?
Dealing with my fear might be easier if I had a better understanding of how the things get up there and stay up there so I did some research. Here's the science bit then...There are four forces at play called thrust, lift, drag and weight. When a plan is level the lift from the wings balances the weight of the plane and thrust from the engines balances the drag. During take off and climbing thrust exceeds drag and creates a lift force that is greater than the plane's weight. When landing the flaps of the wing come down to create more surface area and drag, this slows the plan so it can glide in for landing.
The engines are not vital to flight (well they are...but gliders don't need them so flight is possible as long as you can get up there). The engines, whether prop or jet, are designed to move the plane forward at high speed. Air flows rapidly over the wings, throwing air to the gorun, and creating lift. That's why planes need a run way to pick up speed for take off and why they go down the run way so damn fast!
What this all means is that the engines give the plane the speed forward so that the wings can create the lift and move it upwards.
Newton's third law of motion
When a force acts on an object, there's an equal force (called a reaction) acting in the opposite direction. Put more succinctly, every action has an equal and opposite reaction.This comese into effect on a plane. The force of hot gas from the jet engine pushes the plane forward and creates a moving current of air over the wings. The wings then push air down and therefore the plane up.
You can test this theory yourself. Take an piece of paper and blow across the top of it. You will see the paper rises up. This is the same as a plane's wing.
Here's a two minute video I found at the top of a Google search demonstrating it. Don't listen too much to the theory because I will explain why some of that is wrong in a minute. However, for the effect, without trying it yourself, this really does show a good and fun example.
How does a wing work?
This is why the above video reason is not quite right. Two air molecules arriving at a wing at the same time and separated (one goes over the top and one underneath) don't arrive at the same time on the other side.A curved air foil wing deflects air and alters air pressure above and below. The curved upper part moves forward and lowers air pressure directly above it, moving it upward.
The curve of the wing pulls air back around, preventing it moving in a straight line. As the air is pulled back down it is stretched into a bigger volume (same number of air molecules forced to share more space) and it lowers the pressure. For the opposite reason the pressure under the wing increases and this causes a hige difference in air speed, which causes lift.
Downwash
This is created by anything that flies and is obvious from a helicopter. Basically, to create lift the wings of a plane push air downwards. This happens because the wings are angled downwards, not flat, so they hit the air at an 'angle of attack'.The pressure difference created y the wing forcese the air down over the top rather than horizontally. The air doesn't move away in a straight line, it creates a vortex (like a mini-tornado) behind the plane. That is why there is always a gap of a few minutes between take-offs at an airport, just to let that 'dirty' air move away.
How do planes steer?
Thing of them like a giant sky boat. Steering any type of vehicle is about changing velocity, basically, apply a force to it. This is called a centripetal force, a 'turning force' if-you-will.If you watch a cyclist of a motorcyclist take a turn, they lean into it rather than actually turn. This gives them a curve to go around a corner. A plane does the same thing. This is called 'banking', where a plant tilts to one side of the other, dipping one wing lower than the other.
This could make the plane lose lift and altitude, but the pilot compensates by using elevators and the back of the plane to increase the angle of attack and raise lift again. The steering control in the flight deck make a series of complex flaps go up and down. These are called ailerons, elevators, rudders, spoilers and air breaks. Definitions for each can be seen below.
- Aileron - hinged surface in the trailing edge of a plane wing, used to control the roll of an aircraft about the longitudinal axis
- Elevator - hinged flap on the tailplane of an aircraft, typically one of a pair, used to control the motion of the aircraft about it's lateral axis
- Rudder - a flat piece hinged vertically near the stern of a boat or ship for steering
- A vertical aerofoil pivoted from the tailplane of an aircraft, for controlling movement about the vertical axis
- application of a rudder in steering a boat, ship or aircraft
- Spoiler - not the Game of Thrones or Endgame type, in this instance it is a flap on the wing of an aircraft, which can be projected in order to create drag and so reduce speed
- Air brake - used to increase drag or angle of approach during landing
Other parts of a plane
- Fuel tanks
- Landing gear - wheels on hydraulics to sit inside the plane and reduce drag during flight
- Radio & Radar - sit in the nose cone of the plane and are usef for GPS, weather, proximity to other planes, etc.
- Pressurised cabins - where we sit - maintain pressure so we don't get cold and can actually breathe properly! Air pressure lessens the further from the Earth you go.
Still safer than driving
The odd thing about my fear is that I have seen evidence of safe flights every day for years. I grew up next to Southampton Airport and I still live at the very end of the runway now I have a home with my plane mad husband! As it was my husband that found our home, I have always suspected he chose it because it was directly at the end of the runway and very near the planes!The interesting thing is that, growing up and where I am now, I have always lived near the most accident prone spot on the M3/M27. That whole stretch where one motorway becomes the other is terrible! There are road traffice incidents every single day, rain or shine, school holidays or not. Many of these accidents are fatal and yet I am more confident driving my car along this stretch of road than I am about getting on a plane. As of the time of writing there have never been any truly serious incidents at Southampton Airport. Minor ones, yes, but I can only think of maybe two off the top of my head!
British carriers are among the best in the world. Their pilots and cabin crew are highly trained and the planes never take off without full checks. An example of this is my honeymoon in 2016. We were actually flying from Bournemouth (the joys of air travel mean that it is actually cheaper for us to drive and park at Bournemouth Airport to fly to Majorca than to walk ten minutes up the road to Southampton Airport and fly from there) and the plane wasn't given clearance for take-off. The reason for this is that every airport in the country was sending planes to Palma, Majorca at the same time so we had to wait for a slot. That time came and the pilots did what they normally do. They start one engine first to burn off the excess fuel that pools (this is totally natural when a plane has been standing still for hours over night) and then they start the other engine. The second engine started and then everything powered down and we were dragged back into place by the tug. After a short while the pilot announced that an engineer was coming to check the engine because there was a pool of fuel that was taking slightly longer to burn off and they wanted to make sure there was no leak. We were all led off the plane and back to the terminal because they needed to test the engine with the casing open and have it run at full blast and we couldn't be on the plane in case it suddenly lurched forward or there was a leak and an explosion. Anyway, they tested it and let us all back on board and the pilot came back over the tannoy system to announce that all was well and that it had been colder the night before than expected so more fuel had pooled and just took slightly longer to burn off. There was nothing to worry about and we were on our way.
In the above example you can see that the pilot just had our best interests at heart and wouldn't take off until he was 100% sure that the plane was safe for us. That is how good our pilots are.
A lot of statistics come from the USA and in 2008 there were 1.27 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles on the roads. Meanwhile there were only 20 air accidents for U.S air carriers operating a scheduled service. That works out at nearly zero (0) accidents per million flying miles. No one died and only five (5) people were seriously injured!
In 2015 your chances of dying in a car crash were 1:114 while dying in an aircraft accident (commercial, private or other) were 1:9821. In fact, you are more likely to choke to death on food than in a plane crash!
The reason we fear plane crashes is because, when they do happen, they are catastrophic and deadly events. Their rairity makes them scarier too. As car accidents happen all the time we almost become desensitised to them while plane crashes are shocking because they 'just don't happen'. However, without knowledge of how planes fly, the fact that pilots are well trained and checks take place at all stages of a flight, the chances are minute!
Pilots
Pilots have been through thousands of hours of learning to fly, being teseted in simulators and other forms of training before they take us up. They have to prove they are the best. They follow strict rules about resting and not drinking before a flight and are never alone in the flight deck (if they need the loo a member of cabin crew sits with the other pilot).Before a flight they run through a huge checklist and if one thing is not right they have it rectified and start the check list from scratch until all is perfect! We put our lives in their hands, but you can totally trust them.
Conclusion
The chances of something going wrong are so tiny and pilots are the best-of-the-best. Plance easily fly due to the forces exacted on the wing. It does seem like a weird thing to do, and I am getting better, but I have a long way to go to enjoy flying like I did.I will get on a plane again though, because they take us to magicall places and that's totally worth it!
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