Fear of turbulence!

[Foxymoxy68]

Later this week, my DH and I are going on a cruise which involves a 3.5 hour flight to pick the boat up.
It's a special holiday as I retired from a long career in teaching this summer and we wanted to do something nice in September.
However, the closer we get to departure day, the more anxious I'm
feeling as I'm terrified of turbulence! Taking off and landing are fine-it's just the bit in between! The very thought of a bumpy flight sends me over the edge! I understand the science of it-sort of-but just cannot deal with it when it happens!
Any advice/reassurance would be welcome!

I really recommend getting obsessed with flight radar. I used to be so scared of flying for the same reason but realised this year I was perfectly calm. Something about seeing just how many planes there are all the time just made me feel much safer !

I'm with you op. A few things that have helped me are, talking to the crew when you get on the plane explain your nervous, they are so good and always make time to reassure you, check in on you during the flight, and have even served me a wine before everyone else, my last flight, the attendant even took me up to sit in the cabin managers seat and she talked me through the bumps. Honestly she was amazing.
Also as I'm often told, a plane has never crashed due to turbulence.
Also often told if you could see the tests that planes have to go through then you would not be scared of turbulence, the wind speed, lightening etc they are tested in is more than you can imagine... is so severe before a plane is in danger that turbulence is a complete non event.
Keep an eye on cabin crew, when you see them doing their job completely normally it totally calms me down.
Never found medication or drinking worked, just made it worse for me.
If the seat belt sign isn't on I find walking up and down the aisle in a bouncy way helpful, or stand by the toilet kind of marching then I can't feel the bumps so much.
Finally try some meditation techniques. It's all about your brain scaring you, if you can change that narrative it helps, tell yourself it's nothing to be afraid of etc...
Hope some of this helps, hope you have a fantastic holiday.

Oh yes as Taylorscat said watch flight radar. I think it's something like 180,000 planes that fly every day, that also helps with perspective!

Wakemeup17 you're not supposed to take your own alcohol on to a flight. But if you're careful they probably wouldn't know

At the airport having my breakfast 🍷😉

I can recommend Air France. I was going through a particularly bad bout of fear of flying a few years ago and I asked on my flights about flying conditions as I was nervous. On the way out the attendant went and got me a cognac immediately! On the way back, the attendant explained exactly when they were expecting turbulence and how long it would last. Said he’d come and check on me when it started. I also got a nice glass of wine.

Currently in transit drinking a glass of wine! I had half a valium for the first flight and we did hit some uncomfortable spots where both the passengers and crew were told to sit down which almost caused a full on panic attack. I understand how scary it can be. Hoping my next one is smoother as it's a notoriously hard airport for landing between mountain ranges and often has abandoned landings. Gulp. 🥂🥂🥂

I do find some airlines better than others, often captains will talk before the flight and explain about weather conditions and what to expect. This is a great help. Unfortunately Jetstar did not offer this service, instead we had a sour toned cabin manager letting us know that they do not allow sleeping on the floor 🤷😂

@BirdiePlantaganet I take comfort from the behaviour of the flight attendants too. If they seemed chilled I feel all must be well.

Lovefly - fear of flying podcast is meant to be good. I haven't listened to it yet but have saved it as I fly next year.

I quite like turbulence - I think of it as a free fairground ride which breaks up the monotony of the flight.

Have an amazing holiday OP. Fear is only in our minds, air travel is safe. This is the mantra what I am reminding myself 😂 we go on holiday soon, not been since Covid, flown many times, but I always get nervous when I haven’t flown for a while. Enjoy the cruise

Thank you all. We go today. I feel
much better having read all your replies.

Turbulence on long haul doesn't bother me in the slightest as I expect it, but last time I flew back from Spain I did freak out because I've never had turbulence (or such bad turbulence) on such a short flight. But I wasn't the only one as the cabin cheered and clapped when we landed.
But yeah, my point is that for a 3.5hr flight, you probably won't experience any or at least nothing worrying (just like pp described - a train passing over a crossing point).

Take off is the bit I hate

My advice is to try and go with it and 'enjoy' it. I know that sounds ridiculous, but the first flight I remember as a kid, I was 7 I think, we flew to Paris and it was VERY turbulent. My big sister thought it was hilarious and couldn't stop giggling, which meant my brother and I did too. We were enjoying it so much the adults around us, who had been nervous, started laughing too. We and a great time, and when we landed the air stewardesses gave us a bunch of packets of crisps and mini cokes and things which made the whole thing even more positive. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, could you maybe try and channel your inner child? Pretend you're on a bouncy castle or something, or you're a character in a computer game? Imagine you're a horse rider going over jumps (Or on Pegasus leaping over clouds!) That way you can maybe feel a bit more in control, you're choosing to have those bounces!

It’s hard to rationalise an irrational fear but I remind myself the plane I’m in is designed to fly.

It’s not forced to. Enough speed and the wings will lift it off the ground.

I actually love the take off, that moment when the engines get powered up.

I surrender to the science of it all.

If it’s any help it might also be worth bearing in mind that despite how dramatic the bumps can feel and the occasional talk of “air pockets” etc for most forms of turbulence an aircraft in, say, level flight, hardly budges from it’s assigned altitude.

Typically on a rough day you might get excursions of plus/minus no more that 50 feet, it’s fairly rare for turbulence to cause an aircraft to deviate even as much as a hundred feet from an assigned altitude…

The worst turbulence I've ever experienced was leaving Cairns, in Oz.
Captain said something like
"I bet you didn't know that Qantas provides fairground rides ? And they're free, no extra charge. We've run out of candyfloss, get some at our next stop......"
He wittered on & everyone was laughing

I had my first flight 10 years ago at the age of 41, I was petrified of the thought of it, but my son in law is a pilot and he said put a half full bottle of water on the lap tray when feeling scared and see what the water does, it's amazing as the water hardly moves even though you think you are about to do a summersault in a 747 🤣
I'm currently in Thailand on holiday and in only 10 years this is flight number 27 and I now get notripaphobia if I don't have a flight booked.

Look up the plane in jelly. It helps explains turbulence

I hate everything about flying. I feel dizzy and weird on takeoff and turbulence scares me. Then I get ear daggers on landing and 48 hours with muffled hearing. I've always hated fairground rides and lifts though, I think my ears are really sensitive or something. Objectively it's not dangerous but just not enjoyable at all. I will fly if I have to to get somewhere but that is it.

I find these really help with the ear pain and deafness. Not completely, but a lot!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Earplanes-11201-Adult-12-Years/dp/B0000C1KT4/ref=asc_df_B0000C1KT4/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=309964069570&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15258534567106138170&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9181024&hvtargid=pla-420142663646&th=1

Apparently turbulence doesn't affect the tail end of the plane as badly as the front.

Weed is legal in Corfu 😳 Always an option to have before the return flight 😉🤣

Flight out was fab so hoping for the same going back

I'm afraid that's not really the case..

There are no absolutes but generally speaking most movement is at the tail, least is over the wings....up front is in between.

The difference is most pronounced on long-bodied aircraft.

That’s not true. If you get a pen, hold it horizontally near the nib and waggle it up and down. The nib (cockpit) moves much less than end (back of the plane)