I was violently ill the first couple of times I flew. I got over it and it never came back. Give it a chance, the more comfortable you become with your skills the more likely you'll feel better.

 

As Louis Armstrong said, " if you gotta ask, you ain't never gonna know"

GF

 

I know these two things: There was a Lieutenant Colonel who was scared of heights. He had trouble climbing the ladder into his jet but once he strapped in, he was fine.

Some guys would have seasons of air sickness. For months they would be fine, then for a week or two they were sticking a bag or two in their flight suit. So no one can guarantee that it will never happen again. My point is, career aviators are not bullet proof supermen. Their love and passion for what they do outweighs any discomforts. (If you repeat that thing about supermen, I'll disavow all knowledge and call you a loon).

 

I've always had motion sickness when trying to read or write something while in a moving car. When I started flying I recall some of those nauseous feelings coming on, but I had always known flying was what I was meant to do, so I pushed them aside. You'll find that a lot of it goes away as you commit your focus to training and all the tasks that go with the job. It's really quite remarkable: I never get any nauseousness when reading checklists and performing duties during bumpy weather or taxiing, but trying to read a sentence while riding in a car still upsets me. Stick with it!

 

I barfed on my first flight 18 years ago.

 

Well that's true. Hop into a light airplane on a hot miserably bumpy day after you haven't done it in a while and you might just get a little green around the gill. Either that or strap into a little aerobatic hot rod and go pull some negative without a warm up. That'll do it!

 

Being nervous the first time, the "butterflies" will also contribute to being airsick. I never get airsick as a pilot, but there's been a few times in the back where I almost lost it. Once was just on a 3 hr gnd delay with just the apu ventilating an entire 757. It was so hot, I really started to get the burps. We are in March-April, the windy months. Summer, there will be a lot of convective turbulence, but you'll get used to it. I guess the question is, what are your goals? PPL? or more? The one thing that people rarely ask about is all the tests. You are tested continuously in this career, you have to get over test anxiety and you have to constantly study to keep current.

 

The more turbulence the better for me, it's like launching a 4x4 down a bumpy road IMO, but if you are not used to it, you can get sick for sure. What I've found is that with more exposure, it gets better. The first times I did spins I started getting sick towards the end (never threw up though, but knew when I was DONE). When I started teaching them, the more I did, the more comfortable I got to the point I could do them until the other person couldn't take any more, same with most aerobatics. This makes me think this can be "learned" and is more mind-over-matter. Lots of classic advice about "don't eat anything" is pretty bad, but some people's diets are also pretty bad and set people up for failure.

Summer time at low altitude in extremely hot weather over rough terrain is usually about the worst, it's just sustained beating, but I kinda like it.

 

Something makes me think that you have pool balls in your mattress......

 

The only time I physically got sick was the morning before each checkride (ppl/inst). Got close first time in IMC, and in an intro to dogfighting.

Just keep riding that horse and it'll get better.

Just curious, do you know what the winds were on the day of your discovery flight? If you know the date/time and the airport, we might be able to look at some historical weather data to figure it out. I'm asking because what's turbulent to a newbie may be "par for the course" for the instructor.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.