I have been flying since 13 now i am currently 19, the problem is i never got motion sick while flying or any other time before, however over the past year i became obsessed with dieting and lost about 70 pounds. Is there any possibility that the lack of food and being almost underweight could be doing this to me. If i fly in the morning usually i have a small bowl of cereal, and if its in the afternoon i will have something like a small ham sandwich prior? thank you

 

I suggest you have a hearty breakfast if you are going to fly in the morning and see if it helps. If it does, then its just bad nutrition. While I was training I used to get motion sickness because my flights where at around 5AM and didn't have time to do anything. After I started eating like I was supposed to and drinking lots of water, it went away. Don't know if its related to your problem but just give it a try. If you are worried about getting fat then just walk an extra 10 minute or something. Breakfast is the most important meal. Flying is stressful and you loose allot of energy doing it.

 

I recently had a 2000-hour student in the T-38; an airline pilot going to the Air Guard. Air Force pilot training was his first real exposure to aerobatics and other stresses in-flight.

He yakked a few times early on. I found out he was not eating at all after he had puked a few times. Wrong way to go.

I (and others) advised him:

Don't have a really full stomach, but not empty either. Bulk that is light (popcorn, crackers, bagel) is perfect.

The stomach is a big bag of a muscle, with two important muscles at the top and bottom to keep everything inside. Up until you started flying, all it had to do was hold about one-half to one-pound of food at a time, and gravity always pulled it down.

Start doing airwork, and that food may 'weigh' three lbs in a steep turn (3-gs), or 'feel' like no weight at less than 1-g....yet it is still pushing on your stomach (feels full), and your mind revolts beacuse it doesn't make sense.

Here's the good news: like any muscle, it gets toughened by training it. Eat lightly but consistently, and your stomach will toughen up. I think a small sandwich should be fine (a little protein makes it last longer).

 

Mental state also plays a factor as well. If the thought of motion sickness stays on your mind and you constantly fret about getting sick, you'll be much more likely to experience motion sickness.

Follow UALs nutrition advice and keep your mind on the piloting. The body will acclimate itself and it will stop being a problem for most people.

 

I don't know if you've ever gotten motion sick, but I disagree. I've had a flight instructor tell me that motion sickness was a psychological problem and if I keep on thinking about getting sick, I WILL get sick. I guess all that stuff about the inner ear was nonsense to him. Probably if you were stressed out, the motion sickness might WORSEN, but I don't think stress itself will cause that. I never actually worried about getting sick - it was something that just happened if conditions were ripe. For me those conditions were 1) empty stomach, like others mentioned. This was almost always the factor. 2) once in a while when it's turbulent. When I was an instrument student one day we were flying in IMC, down in Florida where it was super hot and bumpy, I turned around in my seat to grab a chart from my flight case... and as soon as I whipped my head around the nausea hit me like a ton of bricks. You know what my instructor (who had apparently never gotten motion sick) recommended me to do? "Read something, you'll feel better."
I think you'll get better you autopilotfrank, and if you feel motion sick once in a while even now after flying for however many years, I think that is completely normal.
What helped me not to throw up once the motion sickness already hit (and there were a few times during training when I was severely close to regurgitating.. there is no such torture!) was to just open up the window for fresh air and lean my head back with eyes closed until we got back on the ground (the last part if the instructor takes the controls.)

 

Thanks for all the advice guys! back to flying tomorrow and i can not wait i purchased the relief band a few weeks ago before the doctor told me to take a few weeks off because of my nutrition problem, it worked wonders when i had the flu so its gonna kick ass flying because i don't get as nausous.