Originally Posted by
NTL1991
Now I have another question. Every summer I go to the FBO and take an introductory flight in a 172. Now, the flights are half and hour but every time I have gone (about 4 times), when I'm up there for about 15 minutes, I get nauseous and we have to end the whole thing early, and then right when we hit the runway, I'm fine. But I don't normally have any kind of motion sickness when I'm on boats or airliners (I know it is much different though) or anything like that... Now when I go in the summer, it's in Tennessee (We actually go to KOLV, though) and the temperature is usually in the mid 90's... Could this be causing it? Are there any steps to take before the flight that can prevent this besides being hydrated? Would I need any of those motion sickness cures out there?
Thank you all for your time,
Nick
Motion sickness in light airplanes is actually very common for beginners. If you don't have unusual problems with cars, boats, or commercial airliners then you will almost certainly get over it with time.
Light airplanes are the worst on a hot day...they don't have AC, and the heat drives convective turbulence. These things may help...
- Eat a light snack first
- Try to fly early in the morning (shortly after dawn) or even in the cooler seasons.
- Ask the instructor if there are areas less prone to bumps (coast lines are usually better than hilly areas)
- Maybe do a few flights where you avoid low-speed training manuevers.
- Use all available cockpit ventilation...maybe open a window during slow manuevers.
If for some reason you continue to have problems, you can explore medical treatments...but some of these drugs may not be legal for pilots. Those wristbands which apply pressure to nerve centers would not be a medical issue at all.