Ask me a Question

Because answers that don’t deal with fundamentals will lead to misunderstandings later. Using the right terminology may seem pompous and out of place on this site, but it prevents misunderstandings. Here are some examples I have seen recently on other fear of flying sites.

To describe a Go Around for instance, as being similar to swerving a car (which one airline course does) is wrong and misleading, there is no comparison at all. To suggest a Go Around is different from a missed approach shows an ignorance of the procedure. To suggest that pilots ‘wiggle’ the plane to line it up with the runway in a crosswind is crass.

Unfortunately, this misinformation leaves a fearful flyer unprepared to deal with subsequent questions of their own which arise at anxious times. Our answers and explanations will prepare you to answer your own questions … and that can’t be done without knowledge and it can’t be done with ‘kiss me quick’ answers.
At first our style may seem less appealing, but in the long run, it will help you to overcome your fear of flying. Information doesn’t have to be ‘dumbed down’ to make people feel safe.

Ownership of the fear is the only way that you can have ownership of the cure.

Yes you could get answers anywhere, and that’s the problem. There are a number of fear of flying sites on the internet where your questions can be answered… but before you rely on their answers you should be confident that the answers come from a reputable and competent source. Flight attendants and cabin crew whilst being highly knowledgeable in their areas of expertise can not competently answer questions about many operational procedures.

There is no reason to believe, and there is no evidence to show, that TV personalities, hypnotherapists and life coaches have a special insight that means they don’t have to know about flying. If hypnosis worked for everyone then we’d use it at primary school all the way up to University.

The answers here are based on knowledge gained over a flying career of 60 years and are presented in a way that will help you with your fear of flying. The answers will broaden your knowledge and build the confidence that you’ll need to overcome your fear of flying.

We avoid dumbing down and misleading comparisons.

Asking questions should lead to more learning … and more questions. Then as you gradually run out of questions the learning process nears completion. It’s the best form of learning … and remember, you are trying to unlearn your fear. This is a method developed by Socrates the Greek philosopher and teacher, and if it worked for him it’s good enough for me.

Here are some more reasons for trusting my answers:

• Because I train airline Captains to become trainers.
• Because my qualifications mean that I am knowledgeable about the subject.
• Being an Airline Captain means that I know my job and that of my crew members.
• Because engineering and ground resources report to me, the Captain, I am aware of their duties and responsibilities.

I’m sure that you’ve heard that there is no such thing as a  daft question … please ask any question you like … it doesn’t matter if it seems simple to me, the important thing is that you need the answer, and that’s all that counts. And if my answer doesn’t help you, keep asking until you get the information you need.

We’re here to help you to go flying… that’s our promise.