Severe Fear of Turbulence

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rfreiley

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rfreiley
I'm a private pilot with about 200 hours, just passed FAA Instrument Knowledge, a few hours away from Checkride and having my instrument rating.

Few years ago, I was afraid of flying so I decided to take a demo flight, loved it, decided I want to be a pilot and fly myself to where work takes me instead of fly commercial.

I've always been on the cautious side of everything, verify everything, (twice) ask a lot of questions, have stronger personal minimums than most people I know...

In these 200 hours, I would say almost 50% are in some pretty rough Arizona summer days. You would think this would make turbulence a common enough occurence to not be frightened, but I am terribly frightened of it.

Today in an IFR flight we were in actual IMC (on CA coast, so not as bad as AZ, but worst I have been in on the coast). Being in IMC made it all the worse and it really took a lot of my focus off of other more important things, like flying the approach properly.

My landings have also started to deteriorate, but I'm hearing that is pretty common in this stage of IFR training. (my last 20 hours have either been in IMC or under the hood if the wheels weren't on the ground) So tomorrow I am going to do some pattern work and remind myself what a greaser feels and looks like, but this turbulence thing is really stripping me of my confidence and really does frighten me.

I don't think the airplane is going to fall out of the sky, I guess I'm more afraid of a structural problem or not being able to control the airplane in a roll or pitch. (Steep turns and power on stalls are my least favorite things in the world). At the first sign of bumps, I always keep the airplane at Va (even when it's light turbulence) so I know there will not be some structural damage and the airplane can take it, I just can't take it. lol

Any recommendations for overcoming this fear of turbulence? My passengers say they have no idea I am afraid, I do a great job and they aren't even afraid of the turbulence we have come across. It's just obvious that flying a 172 or 182 98% of the time, I will be in a lot of bumpy air and I would like to find a way to overcome this fear...

Any suggestions on reading material, words of wisdom, good electro-shock therapy referrals would be appreciated!

PS- I still fly commercial a few times a month. Can't stand anything but straight and level flight in smooth air in the back of those things too.
 
Everyone's a little afraid of turbulence. Just like everyone's a little afraid of big waves in small boats.

You handle the craft with care and over time you build a trust between you and your vessel. It's really just a matter of time and comfort level, IMHO.
 
First, welcome to PoA!

I have a few hours in 172s and 182s, and both my wife and I have our instrument ratings. We really haven't experienced turbulence that caused us fear or anxiety, though I can attest to discomfort on a few occasions. Only hit our heads a few times, and requested a block altitude once over the Alleghenies.

Clearly, we don't deal with the terrain here that you do in AZ and CA, but I've found that it you watch the forecast you can typically guess with pretty good accuracy when there's going to be moderate or severe turbulence, and just don't fly then.

Avoid flying over significant terrain in high wind conditions, and anywhere near thunderstorms. Avoid convective, maybe by going on top. It sounds like you know in your mind that there isn't a danger, it's just your gut that's screaming at you. I'm not sure how to combat that beyond either acclimatization or avoidance.

Sounds to me as if you're handling it pretty well, and that you just need to go out and fly in it more. Don't forget that Va decreases with gross weight, and if you have a significant change in your airspeed you must notify ATC.
 
Routine encounters with bumps and jolts should help you get used to it. As for unusual attitudes and power-on stalls, etc., it's simple enough to go out and do that stuff... bring a safety pilot if you think it will help.

I've got about 300 hours, and after years of only being startled or mildly concerned by turbulence, when I started with gliders, particularly our club's single-seater that likes to be flown just below 40 mph in thermals, I really got in touch with my inner bump-phobia. The normal attitude is a fairly steep bank, very slow, and you must be coordinated... not fun, sometimes, when there are gusty winds playing with powerful thermals! No warning horn, either, so to avoid stalls/spins, you need to spend time going right to the brink (or beyond) to get a feel for it. And getting hammered when on tow is a bit unnerving- it's easy to feel helpless, even though one's options are not so limited.
But I also re-discovered acclimation... if it's been a few weeks, I'm still a little bashful in rough thermals on my first flight of the day, but if I go right back up, my confidence doubles. I still know I have to be careful, especially if I get low, but the fear of losing it doesn't inhibit me. For me, like most pilots, routine exposure is the key. Same for aerobatics- the weird attitudes, the violent maneuvers, the g's.

Meanwhile, as long as you can keep your wits about you and fight your fears well enough to do what's needed, you don't have to worry about being "chicken". Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's the ability to carry on despite fear. Sounds like you are brave enough. Being brave is stressful, though, so I can understand why you want to get over this.
 
Early in my flying career as a newly minted PP I encountered pretty severe turb in a 172. I was following a friend in his Arrow and we were going to meet somewhere. I figured, hey, he's been flying 30 years with 4,000+ hours at the time, if he thinks its OK, we should be fine. Later he confessed it was the worst turb he ever encountered. First, let me way, it wasn't unsafe, so in a light plane it was most likely considered "moderate", but it did not feel so as I did pretty much lose control of the plane briefly a few times.

Now anything short of that feels fine. My point is, get up in it with an instructor or someone experienced now and then and it wil desensitize you. The wings won't fall off, its just more work and a pain in the *ss to maintain alittude sometimes. If IFR just ask for block altitudes.
 
A few things to remember:

1) A fear of turbulence is natural for both passengers and pilots. It feels like a loss of control, even though it's really not (more in a minute on that).

2) The instances of actually having something like a wing fall off in any aircraft are extremely low, even in severe turbulence (which is the only turbulence that should ever even potentially cause a structural issue). In GA aircraft, the only time I can think of a wing falling off was on an old Cessna 402 with a ridiculous number of hours on it that was a freight dog. That's what caused the wing spar AD to be issued on those twin Cessnas. The plane you fly is probably not a freight dog, probably has fewer hours, and even if it didn't, you probably wouldn't have any issues.

Think of turbulence like driving over a pothole. Yes, it's a bump, but it's not uncontrollable. You just turn the wheel and you go back where you want to go. Command the inputs to the plane that make it go where you want it to go.

At 200 hours, I'd expect that you need some more experience to get comfortable with turbulence, so I'm not surprised that this is an issue for you at your experience level.
 
The solution is simple, get an Extra 300. You have no worries then, if you are still conscious, the airframe wasn't damaged, no more worries there, and with a few aerobatic lessons you will quickly learn to recover the plane cleanly from whatever position it may be in.
 
rfreiley said:
I don't think the airplane is going to fall out of the sky, I guess I'm more afraid of a structural problem or not being able to control the airplane in a roll or pitch. (Steep turns and power on stalls are my least favorite things in the world). At the first sign of bumps, I always keep the airplane at Va (even when it's light turbulence) so I know there will not be some structural damage and the airplane can take it, I just can't take it. lol
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I think Henning may have pointed in the right direction, but not exactly where he said. What you need is more confidence in abnormal attitudes and maneuvering, and the cure for that might be one of those emergency handling courses -- in which they often use an Extra 300 or other high-performance aerobatic aircraft. When I first started flying, I, too, was not happy very much outside the straight-and-level environment, but over the years, my tolerance improved with each excursion outside the basic envelope. Pushing your own comfort limits in a controlled environment like one of those handling courses may be the thing for you.
 
Good advice so far, but I'll add this tidbit...

Change your approach. instead of tensing up and thinking, "oh no! Turbulence!" tell yourself, "This is how I know I'm flying!" and force yourself to smile.

Loosen your grip on the yoke and consciously work at making the smallest inputs possible to maintain the desired flight attitude.This will do two things: Reduce your overall apprehension and tension and reduce the sudden recovery movements that often make it worse.

I've flown with more than one experienced pilot who yanked and banked all over the sky while "fighting turbulence." I'll ask if I can fly for a while, place forefinger and thumb on the yoke, and consciously relax.

It's amazing how much less "turbulence" there is....
 
I read a stat recently in flight training magazine - something like 16,000 GA accdients since 1982 and only 2 of them were related to clear air turbulence.

You could put a g-meter in your airplane or carry a portable one with you on a nasty day. Bet you'll find that you don't even exceed 2 g's. Remember the airplane is certified (depending on what category) for 3.8 g's at least and most can take quite a bit more than that. And as long as you're below turbulence penetration speed its practically impossible to produce more than that because the wings will stall.
 
No need for a G-Meter. I can tell you right now this is not severe turbulence, I wouldn't even say it's moderate. It actually probably doesn't even fall into light on most occasions. It's just windy and a lot of thermals. lol.

I think the aerobatic training is the right answer, but obviously not the one I was looking for. Stalls and steep turns make me really uncomfortable, but again, I would like to overcome that fear and be able to perform these manuevers with confidence. I was so excited to hear I didn't have to do stalls for my instrument check ride, but I'm moving right on to commercial, so I will have to be able to do these manuevers and I would rather not fear them as I do now.

My instructor teaches aerobatic lessons and the flight center I fly out of has a Robin.

Have to be honest, not looking forward to that, but I think Dan Mc had good advice, instead of being so negative, think of it as fun, flying, "Whoo hooo, it's like a roller coaster" instead of getting so nervous.

Thanks for all the encouraging words, I'll let you know how the spin training goes.
 
dell30rb said:
I read a stat recently in flight training magazine - something like 16,000 GA accdients since 1982 and only 2 of them were related to clear air turbulence.

You could put a g-meter in your airplane or carry a portable one with you on a nasty day. Bet you'll find that you don't even exceed 2 g's. Remember the airplane is certified (depending on what category) for 3.8 g's at least and most can take quite a bit more than that. And as long as you're below turbulence penetration speed its practically impossible to produce more than that because the wings will stall.
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Only 2? Was one of them a Duke over central CA? We took structural damage to the left wing, but landed safely so I don't know if they qualified it as an accident. I'm sure more than 2 planes have been damaged, because man, it's quick. We were flying along in smooth air heading for Hollister and BAM "Holy S**T, WTF was that?" it was like we had a mid air, I was physically hurting/sore from the hit. Looked out and the wing was bent and buckled...:eek: Chopped the power way back and took another few minutes of bumps on our way down. The good thing is, most of our planes are pretty strong and well built. Even damaged that plane flew ok.
 
rfreiley said:
I was so excited to hear I didn't have to do stalls for my instrument check ride, but I'm moving right on to commercial, so I will have to be able to do these manuevers and I would rather not fear them as I do now.
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It is important to know that fear is a reaction to the unknown. If you fear stalls or steep turns, it is because you have not had enough exposure, or are not confident in your ability to handle it.

I used to be afraid of stalls. I went out with an instructor and flew around for extended periods of time at minimum controllable airspeed, doing climbs, descents, and climbing and descending 360s in both directions, with the stall light going the whole time, just short of a stall. It built my confidence in my ability to handle the airplane at the edge of the envelope. Now I go out and do them for fun!

Then we did power on stalls, which was exactly the same as climbing slow flight, just applying a little more back pressure, then releasing the back pressure and transitioning back to slow flight.
 
If it's thermal turbulence getting to you, here's another fun activity you should try. Do some glider flying. Then you'll come to realize that thermals are "good" things.

In any case I don't think any sane pilots like turbulence. We don't like high gas prices either, it's just part of the deal. More than likely with a little more time you will be able to relax and accept (but not like) bumps.
 
Unless you are stuck at a specific altitude by ATC most of the time you can find an altitude with less turbulence. There is a good book, Mountain Flying by Sparky Immson that explains how turbulence is formed and where to expect it.
 
dmccormack said:
Loosen your grip on the yoke and consciously work at making the smallest inputs possible to maintain the desired flight attitude.This will do two things: Reduce your overall apprehension and tension and reduce the sudden recovery movements that often make it worse.

I've flown with more than one experienced pilot who yanked and banked all over the sky while "fighting turbulence." I'll ask if I can fly for a while, place forefinger and thumb on the yoke, and consciously relax.

It's amazing how much less "turbulence" there is....
Click to expand...

+1. It's tough to get people to relax their grip when they're all stressed, though.
 
Henning said:
Only 2? Was one of them a Duke over central CA? We took structural damage to the left wing, but landed safely so I don't know if they qualified it as an accident. I'm sure more than 2 planes have been damaged, because man, it's quick. We were flying along in smooth air heading for Hollister and BAM "Holy S**T, WTF was that?" it was like we had a mid air, I was physically hurting/sore from the hit. Looked out and the wing was bent and buckled...:eek: Chopped the power way back and took another few minutes of bumps on our way down. The good thing is, most of our planes are pretty strong and well built. Even damaged that plane flew ok.
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I mis-quoted the article. After a little searching, I found it.

http://www.aopa.org/members/ftmag/article.cfm?article=1231&WT.mc_id=110422eflight&WT.mc_sect=tips

From 1982-1988 only 2 incidents that resulted in an overstressed airframe and only 1 resulted in fatalities.
 
I think fear often relates to things being unknown.

First, learn the different kinds of turbulence and what causes them. Then, see if you can predict when you'll run into turbulence and how bad it'll be - When it doesn't surprise you, it won't scare you as much either. When it does surprise you, figure out what's causing it and it won't be a surprise next time.

Also, an upset training course should drastically reduce your fear of losing control. It's good for many other reasons besides turbulence, too. It should help with your not liking stalls! The first time I spun an airplane (Extra 300L) it scared the crap out of me - But after we recovered, I realized that even though it was scary, it was FUN! Another handful of spins later, they weren't scary any more. Likewise, with a full upset course, you shouldn't fear losing control any more because you'll know how to get it right back even in the unlikely event that you do briefly lose control.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
I think fear often relates to things being unknown.

First, learn the different kinds of turbulence and what causes them. Then, see if you can predict when you'll run into turbulence and how bad it'll be - When it doesn't surprise you, it won't scare you as much either. When it does surprise you, figure out what's causing it and it won't be a surprise next time.

Also, an upset training course should drastically reduce your fear of losing control. It's good for many other reasons besides turbulence, too. It should help with your not liking stalls! The first time I spun an airplane (Extra 300L) it scared the crap out of me - But after we recovered, I realized that even though it was scary, it was FUN! Another handful of spins later, they weren't scary any more. Likewise, with a full upset course, you shouldn't fear losing control any more because you'll know how to get it right back even in the unlikely event that you do briefly lose control.
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There are some people though who never get over it. Same on boats, they just can't get over it. For them I suggest to take up painting or a musical instrument. Do something different, because if you're not enjoying this immensely, it's really awfully expensive and you'll never have a worthwhile career. In order to endure aviation, you have to love it all. If it scares the crap out of you, you want to do something else. Find something you enjoy and are passionate about.
 
"For turbulence, eat a banana."

"Why, because it calms the stomach?"

"No, because it tastes about the same coming back up as it did going down."


When flying fearful pax I found constantly disseminated knowledge mixed with liberal does of humor worked best. IOW, in soft, non-threatening voice keep the chatter up. Use humor to keep it light.

Tell 'em what you are doing and why...preferably BEFORE you do it. If you insist on pointing out landmarks it is because you assume they even want to look out the window and that doing so it would be helpful to them.
 
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Richard said:
"For turbulence, eat a banana."

"Why, because it calms the stomach?"

"No, because it tastes about the same coming back up as it did going down."


When flying fearful pax I found constantly disseminated knowledge mixed with liberal does of humor worked best. IOW, in soft, non-threatening voice keep the chatter up. Use humor to keep it light.

Tell 'em what you are doing and why...preferably BEFORE you do it. If you insist on pointing out landmarks it is because you assume they even want to look out the window and that doing so it would be helpful to them.
Click to expand...

Did you get the Bananas thing from "Two Bags?"
 
I've often joked about turbulence being speedbumps in the sky. The best way to handle them is to slow down. Pull the throttle back, trim it up, and sit back. The bumps will smooth out, you'll relax, and your passengers will relax.
On days of moderate to severe turbulence, you probably won't be flying anyway.
 
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