Originally Posted by
tdm1011
Hey everyone, I'm a college sophmore at a non-aviation college and I've wanted to fly for as long as...well...as long as I can remember. I took the civilian non aviation route after some consultation with others in the industry urging me to get a firm foot in something else before i jump into flying. I've taken two of those hour-long "Discovery Flight" things, where you go up in a 172 for 100 bucks and they let you take the controls - both times they let me throttle up once we were in position and let me take off too, which was incredible.
Problem is, the first time I flew, I felt pretty queasy towards the end of the flight (I got dizzy a bit and was pretty overheated), and the second time I flew 6 months later, I got acquainted with the airsick bag. I really enjoyed the flying both times but the airsickness thing kind of has me worried. The first time I flew was in the afternoon on a hot August day, and the second was in the afternoon and on a windy day on the leading edge of a front coming in. I'm told that those are both effectively the worst times to fly, especially for newbies. Also, the second time I flew was fine until the instructor thought it would be cool to show me how the trim switch works in the 172, having us shoot up 500 ft in 3 seconds after he trimmed the sob to the max.
So I pose the question to you, the wise ones, is this a matter of me not getting my "sea legs" or is the airsickness something that will keep me from pursuing a career in aviation?
Thanks for your help
I'm a perfect example. I had never gotten any kind of motion sickness until I had a big plate of spagehtti and drank chocolate milk before my second flight (when stalls were introduced at the end of the flight) For all those wondering - I had been canceled and then the weather cleared!
Back to the story......near the end of the flight, I got really quezy and on short final I threw up all over myself and the instructor!
Fast forward to my instrument rating. Flying in some pretty good actual IFR from OK to IA. The instructor had to fly the last hour because I was laid back with my eyes shut hard. At least I threw up after getting out of the plane this time.
Fast forward once again to naval flight training. I got sick a few times even in the landing pattern...one time into my oxygen mask.
After each of these times I would lay on the couch and swear that I was done flying; but the dream doesn't die quite so easily.
Moral of the story...a few people actually can't overcome airsickness and are not aeronautically adaptable (as they tell you after you fail the spin-n-puke), but for the rest - you just have to learn what works for you.
For me....I had to watch what I ate (no spaghetti or deep dish pizza) before flying and realize that the stress of flight training can affect you too.
Work through it my friend. The goal is worth it!
USMCFLYR