Are you afraid of heights?

High Flyin · Post by **High Flyin** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:30 am

Like the title says, I'm curious to see how many pilots here afraid of heights. I was reading an article way back that said something like 60% of pilots are afraid of heights when not in a plane. Myself, I love flying I've flown the 172 at max altitude several times and I plane on doing the same for my twin comanche. My knees feel weak standing on a balcony on the 4th floor however. Any of you the same?

iflyforpie · Post by **iflyforpie** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:38 am

I am afraid of heights, but I like challenging that fear. I did rock climbing and rappelling for a number of years. I always liked going up in scissor lifts and genie booms to work on the tail sections of large aircraft. One time, an avionics twit decided he was going to move the stabilizer I was standing on 30 feet above the ground; even though the switches and wheels were tagged. Safety harnesses are wonderful.

I don't get afraid of heights flying in aircraft anymore. Altitude means I am that much further away from impact.

flyinthebug · Post by **flyinthebug** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:25 am

Jon.. I cant even stand on the 4th rung of a ladder without my knees shaking and experiencing anxiety! But put me at FL 200 and im happy as a clam. Ive never understood it either. If im not in a plane, im firmly planted on the ground!

Fly safe all.

meflypretty · Post by **meflypretty** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:40 am

I tried rockclimbing too to get over my fear of heights, but it didn't help. I also tried parachuting, but each jump it got worse and worse. I decided to quit while I was ahead.

Just another canuck · Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:05 am

I hate heights... you won't get me too close to the edge of any cliff, balcony or other similar situations. My friends and family think it's strange, but hey, you can't fall out of an airplane can you?

Pratt X 3 · Post by **Pratt X 3** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:09 am

It's not a fear of heights; it's a fear of hitting the ground.

flycyhm · Post by **flycyhm** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:10 am

kamikaze · Post by **kamikaze** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:11 am

"Ive never understood it either."

It's a matter of perspective ... perspective as in, when you're in a plane, your perception of height is fuzzy at best, as it can be very difficult to judge ... and even if you're one of those guys that guess his altitude within 100 feet, it's just an bastract concept.

If however, you're standing on top of a building let's say, on the edge, you get a very clear sense of depth/height in your field of vision ... you can follow from your feet all the way to the ground. And THAT is what triggers it for a lot of people.

And that is also why there's no real issue between having issues with heights, and being a pilot.

kilocharliemike · Post by **kilocharliemike** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:13 am

My legs start to shake when think about the chair i need to stand on to kill a spider...which I am also terrified of...

The Old Fogducker · Post by **The Old Fogducker** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:25 am

Once I get about 6 ft higher than the rooftop, I pretty much lock up.

The Fire Dept should be on stand-by to rescue me if I ever had to climb a tower or something like that.

When I was about 17, I climbed a 100 ft radio tower to change out some light bulbs, but never went up again....nor am I likely to.

Fog

kamikaze · Post by **kamikaze** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:37 am

The worst experience for me was going up the bell towers at the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona:

http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en&cl ... afe=active

http://images.google.ca/images?q=sagrad ... &um=1&sa=2

And also having to cross that brige at the top. I did it crawling on my hands and knees!!!

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 11:54 am

Pratt X 3 wrote:It's not a fear of heights; it's a fear of hitting the ground.

It's a fear of falling that gets me

I wasn't afraid of heights until I was 10, I used to climb trees, shimmy across window sills, hang off of balconies, until one day a branch broke and I fell 15' and knocked myself out, still to this day I can't get more then halfway up a ladder.

I try and push/overcome my fears and one day I will try skydiving and see how that works, BUT I will never bungie jump. What a stupid stunt, if I did it would look like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEAh77W_1jE

I think why flying doesn't bug me is like Kamikaze says, it has to do with perspective, there is no physical connection to the ground so your brain has no concept of height. Plus I'm not falling out of the plane, this is one of the reasons I won't fly open cockpit airplanes

taylor498 · Post by **taylor498** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:05 pm

Lurch wrote:
Pratt X 3 wrote:It's not a fear of heights; it's a fear of hitting the ground.
It's a fear of falling that gets me...

I thought I was the only one! My friends and family think it's very strange. They couldn't get me near a ledge.

As others have said perhaps it's also the sense of control we have by flying...

iflyforpie · Post by **iflyforpie** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:08 pm

Lurch wrote:Plus I'm not falling out of the plane, this is one of the reasons I won't fly open cockpit airplanes

I'd love an open-cockpit plane! Really is it any more dangerous than a 172 where the door pops open?

This is what I would like!

Hatz CB-1! That ought to get the old ticker going during a fall-off-the-top barnstormer loop!

Lurch · Post by **Lurch** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:34 pm

iflyforpie wrote:
Lurch wrote:Plus I'm not falling out of the plane, this is one of the reasons I won't fly open cockpit airplanes
I'd love an open-cockpit plane! Really is it any more dangerous than a 172 where the door pops open?

This is what I would like!

Hatz CB-1! That ought to get the old ticker going during a fall-off-the-top barnstormer loop!

Have you ever tried opening the door to a 172 in flight？I used to demo this to my students and I couldnt get that damn door open more the 6 inches, even at 65kts (thats the glide speed right)

A friend of my dad used to fly a pitts and one day after takeoff he went to roll inverted and realised he hadnt done up his seatbelt. so I stick by my open cockpit convictions.

Cadismack · Post by **Cadismack** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 1:07 pm

I'd have to agree with Kami. I fly, have no problem with skydiving and am a part time roofer. I'm no acrobat on a ladder mind you, but feel just fine on a roof, although I am normally on my ass close to the edge and if I am standing I get a pretty anxious feeling while looking down.

Skydiving for me was a perception fear. I didn't really trust the equipment on my first jump (probably because I packed the chute) but after the first jump I felt fine. Even free fall isn't that bad. You don't really feel like you are 'falling' because you expect the earth to rush up at you. Even at 120 mph the experience is exhilarating but I didn't feel fear.

However, you get me on a roof that's 3+ stories with a big pitch; or a stand alone structure like a tower and all of a sudden my legs don't work. Strap me in or give me some sense of security and things aren't that bad. For me its all about feeling safe I guess.

Apollo · Post by **Apollo** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:16 pm

I'm not the greatest with heights - but I'm trying to overcome it, been bungie jumping three times, rock climbing and rappelling - had alot of fun - but get me close to any of the edges, and it's all about the ass-slide.

iflyforpie · Post by **iflyforpie** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 2:37 pm

Have you ever tried opening the door to a 172 in flight？I used to demo this to my students and I couldnt get that damn door open more the 6 inches, even at 65kts (thats the glide speed right)

Had one pop open on my first solo. But no... I've never actually tried to force the door open (usually I'm trying to close it lol).

I'm going to have to try that next time I fly the 172.

shannon · Post by **shannon** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:04 pm

Terrified on made made ladders, ledges, scaffolding and such. No problem on cliffs or mountain tops. Airplanes again, no problem. Don't know why though. Needles and spiders terrify me as well.

AV8R · Post by **AV8R** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 3:16 pm

Good in the aircraft; worked putting up steel buildings and was afraid of heights there for sure! Standing on a beam 150 feet in the air on a windy day the structure would sway many feet each way

mcconnell14 · Post by **mcconnell14** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 pm

I'm only afraid of heights in Places like standing on the glass floor of the CN tower that type of thing.....but as for flying in a small airplane..NO...I have no problems riding roller coasters either...hmm cant wait for Behemoth love it..cant wait to ride it again this year...very back seat is amazing!..I love drop zone aswell so i guess im not afraid of heights..just the weriod things like the glass floor on the CN tower and stuff

i do have trouble going across high narrow beems...I used to Mountain bike all the time, the only thing i had a hard time getting my self the courage to do was those narrow North shore Style stunts ex: 15 foot high 5'' wide boards that are barely wider than your tires. but loves the Big air jumps.

Pro · Post by **Pro** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 5:41 pm

I used to be very concerned.

What cured me was when I wanted to hang glide off of Hughes Brooke near Cornerbrook.
For my first high flight I had to go to the hill the day before with a book. I sat about ten feet from the edge and read for about 20 minutes then I crawled a foot closer and read for another while, then crawled closer. I kept it up till I was sitting on the edge with my feet dangling over the side while I read. Right below the lip was a ledge about ten feet down that you could get at easily from each side. It cured me and now I have about 125 hours and a level 4 rating.
The first takeoff from the hill was a transcendental experience I have to say. Your whole body is screaming "DON'T".

Soaring with hawks and scratching the base of cloud is the reward.

fleet16b · Post by **fleet16b** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 7:23 pm

Nope

Have flown since 85 and spent 13 yrs rappelling sky scrapers in Toronto everyday for a living.
There is nothing more exhilarating than climbing over 47 stories looking between your knees and seeing nothing below you for 47 stories.
I still miss it some days.
For a thrill, we would turn around with our backs to the glass and look at TO. That even made me a bit uneasy. Facing the wall with your knees against it gave a false sense of security, turning around back to the wall and legs dangling was very sobering.

Invertago · Post by **Invertago** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:25 am

They say after about 1000' or so the brain doesn't really register the height and it is less intimidating. I'd go skydiving or hang gliding given the chance, but I wouldn't bungy jump, be too freaked out.

kamikaze · Post by **kamikaze** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:15 am

I'm the opposite ... although the jumping part would probably be harder ... jumping while being tied to something gives me great reassurance. Also, I've seen a couple of parachute jumps go terribly wrong, in person, so that has me freaked out.

I've yet to really try either though, so who knows ... But I'll probably try bungees before I try parachutes.