I heard this joke on the radio from an eccentric English comedian called Tommy Cooper. “If you stand in a library and scream, everyone stares silently at you. If you scream on an aeroplane everyone joins in.” Psychologically called pluralistic ignorance. If you don’t know what’s going on around then you’ll probably join in with […]
Recently on the forum someone asked me “what is the cause of a sudden but very short lived bit of turbulence?” Here’s the answer…this picture shows what happens to the air behind a plane…not unlike a wave behind a ship at sea. You can see that the air swirls around immediately behind the wing. If […]
The fascination of aeroplanes is such that enthusiasts around the world will sit for hours watching planes come and go while listening in to the chatter between pilots and controllers on their radios.At Manchester there’s a pub …or used to be , where revellers and enthusiasts could be as close as 50 metres from the […]
There is a very good picture in a British national newspaper today (12th May 2011) of an aircraft flying into Heathrow. It shows the plane being struck by lightning. The presenters on the BBC breakfast program stirred up possible fear by becoming very dramatic and speculating about the danger to the plane and passengers. If […]
Hi this week, as usual, I had a few questions about the best way to overcome a fear of flying. I always suggest that preparation is the key. Like resting well, learning deep breathing techniques and that sort of thing. It’s true to say that it’s not the answer that people really want, because they […]
Hi As the holiday seasons approach we notice increased activity on our site. It raises an interesting point and that is that most people avoid dealing with their fear of flying until as late as possible.It doesn’t make it easier to overcome your fear if you delay things. If you have a fear of flying, […]
Here in the Northern Hemisphere airlines will just be preparing for winter operations. Pilots, engineers and ground handling staff will start to undergo their annual refresher training on winter operations. Before taking off an aircraft will be cleared of all snow and ice on the important parts of its exterior. Very detailed procedures have to […]
Even modern aircraft don’t have screen washers like cars. They are of course less prone to picking up dirt than a car. However when they do need to be cleaned it’s done like this…with special cleaner fluid.The pilots’ screens are usually made of three independent layers of glass each reinforced to enormous strength. Even if […]
Hi Keith,greetings from sunny spain! just wanted to tell you that i made it! i wont lie, i cried on take off!! but I practised diaphragmatic breathing and the mantra ‘turbulance is uncomfortable not dangerous’. i think I will be more prepared for the return journey on saturday. we did have a bit of a […]
When we think of flight safety we tend to think of pilots and Air Traffic Control. But as any visitor to the site will know there are thousands of people who actually make commercial flying so safe. From the designers, engineers who build the planes up to the pilot who gets the praise.This guy in […]
No other course in the UK offers such a comprehensive approach to addressing your fear of flying. No other course in the UK is designed to help encourage and support you rather than pursue a commercial interest. No other course in the UK is able to give you the personal attention that you will get […]
So many people who have a fear of flying wonder if their plane might be too heavy to take off . This is a perfectly normal thought, especially when you’ve stood in a long line of people waiting to check in and they all seem to have enormous bags. The fact is that every bag […]