Paul Corfield wrote:
On Fri, 05 Sep 2014 17:31:16 -0500, Recliner
wrote:

People I've met with this fear sometimes developed it after a bad flight,
while others are just afraid of not being in control when the plane
manoeuvres in the sky. When they do fly, they avoid window seats (I love
them) and some also have a fear of heights.

Reminds me of my first flight. I'd not given it a second thought
despite never having flown. I was sat next to a young woman who was
repeatedly fiddling with a bracelet. She obviously saw me looking at
what she was doing and said it was some sort of "calming" device as
she didn't like flying. I probably didn't help by saying "I've never
flown and have no idea whether I am scared or not".

I'm not good with heights but have no issue with looking out of an
aeroplane even when coming in to land. I also enjoy take off as you
hurtle down the runway wondering if several tons of plane, people and
cargo can make it off the ground. ;-)

The thing that gets me is taking off in a propeller plane. They always seem
to be slow to get off the ground, making me wonder if it'll ever take off,
but then rise up anyway. They often have nice big windows, too.

Perhaps my hairiest flight was in a small single-engined sight-seeing plane
over the Grand Canyon, where I occupied the co-pilot's seat. The pilot
could see me taking pics, so he went out of his way to bank steeply as we
manoeuvred over the Canyon, so I got the best possible shots. The rising
air was bumpy, so I felt the need to hang on, but not to any of the moving
dual controls in front of me. It was one of those exhilarating flights
which you simultaneously want to go on forever, and to end immediately.

A more amusing flight was taking off from Aberdeen's short runway. The
pilot has to go for maximum thrust, and an ice bucket came loose in the
forward galley as we banked away. The ice cubes slid smoothly right down
the full length of the 757, staying perfectly in the centre, demonstrating
how well balanced a plane is, with zero cant deficiency.

The loneliest flight is from Santiago to Easter Island, the world's most
isolated airport. The entire route is over the South Pacific, with nothing
at all underneath and no diversion airports. Consequently, no more than one
plane at a time can be en route to it, lest one have a bad landing and
block the single runway. I've no idea where the nearest railway station is,
but it's certainly thousands of miles away.