UPDATE: Forums ... Pilot Training I’m starting my flight training but I’m scared of dying.

Good luck to you! Flying is an awesome passion to pursue
 
I hope you get through the fear element. Spent my life doing crazy stuff, lots of solo travel and adventures all over this world, and one of the things that it's taught me is that fear is controllable if the end goal is worth it. Try to get to a state where you can rationalize that the possibility of a positive outcome is way higher than a negative one, and with some time and experience it should become easier. I'd definitely cancel that loan for now though, $81k is way too much pressure to add to this situation.

Looking forward to hearing some updates on how you're doing over the next few weeks and months.
 
Knowledge may help you get through fear. Learn about how airplanes are maintained (very strictly) and how they are engineered. Once you understand the science involved and you see that airplanes basically cannot crash unless the pilot does something, it can be comforting.

Briefly - every production aircraft is manufactured to a very specific standard, so how it will behave is known. They are inspected annually by FAA certified mechanics and owners can be required to fix certain things before the mechanic will sign off a passing inspection. The way the wings and control surfaces are arranged means that even when the airplane get jostled around by wind, it will still return to flying straight and normal. When the pilot "flies" the plane, what they're really doing is using the controls to very slightly affect that straight and normal condition to influence the plane to make a turn or go up or down. It's actually very mundane stuff, 99% of flying is spent without tilting more than 20 degrees in either direction.

Now, if you've talked with the EAA, understand that they are not involved with production airplanes, they are building them. But even with the EAA, there are rules about what an airplane must do and how it must behave, so they're still pretty solid airplanes. Plus, most airplanes are built from kits, which are practically production parts unless the builder modifies something (and many do). But - outside of the initial flight testing - EAA aircraft are pretty much just as safe as production airplanes.

Stick with us and learn more.
 
I too was very scared of dying during my flight training. Even after I had a hundred hours I was still scared every time I took off. I kept thinking "unless I do everything right, I'm going to die today". ( I had some basis for this after having 7 people I knew die in 5 separate accidents during the 1-1/2 years I was doing my flight training. I was working in the industry at the time and got to meet a lot of pilots.)

But I was like you - I just loved doing it so I kept at it. At some point I was able to trust in my skill, knowledge and planning and the fear subsided.

After 800 hours there is still a nervous anxiousness every time i climb in my plane. I calm myself by thinking through the flight, figuring out what the real/serious risks for this particular flight are, and making a plan to deal with them before I take off.

For me, this process of determining the greatest risks for each flight and then making a plan to deal with them does a lot to reduce my nervousness.

I envy those pilots who can climb in a plane and take off and not really worry about hurting themselves that day .... seriously.
 
bflynn said:
Knowledge may help you get through fear. Learn about how airplanes are maintained (very strictly) and how they are engineered. Once you understand the science involved and you see that airplanes basically cannot crash unless the pilot does something, it can be comforting.

Briefly - every production aircraft is manufactured to a very specific standard, so how it will behave is known. They are inspected annually by FAA certified mechanics and owners can be required to fix certain things before the mechanic will sign off a passing inspection. The way the wings and control surfaces are arranged means that even when the airplane get jostled around by wind, it will still return to flying straight and normal. When the pilot "flies" the plane, what they're really doing is using the controls to very slightly affect that straight and normal condition to influence the plane to make a turn or go up or down. It's actually very mundane stuff, 99% of flying is spent without tilting more than 20 degrees in either direction.

Now, if you've talked with the EAA, understand that they are not involved with production airplanes, they are building them. But even with the EAA, there are rules about what an airplane must do and how it must behave, so they're still pretty solid airplanes. Plus, most airplanes are built from kits, which are practically production parts unless the builder modifies something (and many do). But - outside of the initial flight testing - EAA aircraft are pretty much just as safe as production airplanes.

Stick with us and learn more.
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I would guess most Young Eagle flights are conducted in certified aircraft. The EAA is quite involved in production airplanes, check the list of STC's they have worked on and made available for production airplanes. Take a look at the overhead shots of Air Venture and count the number of production airplanes on hand.
 
I was not afraid of dying, I just didn’t want it to hurt!

Then I got married and have a family, so now I’m afraid of dying! But it’s not limited to airplanes. It’s everything and making sure people I love are taken care of if the unfortunate happens.

But don’t worry about dying while flight training. That’s what the person in the right seat is there for... to keep you from doing something that will harm you or the instructor (and they have very good reason to keep you from hurting them!)

Your instructor is there to make sure you’re a safe pilot and that you won’t hurt yourself. He/She will not let you solo until they are confident that you are competent in the cockpit. Until then, you will have someone there to watch you and take over if something is amiss, and even then, they’ll work to correct your behavior so that incident doesn’t occur again.

The stress of flying (especially with turbulence) will be strong in the first few flights. But you just need to know that the plane was built to fly and it’ll fly just fine. It’s only YOU that is uncomfortable because you’re not used to those feelings. But once you become more familiar with what will occur, and the sooner you look outside and enjoy the views, the more you’ll enjoy the thrills of flight.

Good luck and enjoy!
 
Jah-Christo Decembre said:
First and foremost, I would like to think those of you who took your time to help me.I looked up the EAA and I’m joining their young eagles program, they have a a free introductory flight and a free ground school and a free 1 hour lesson. I’m going to do that and see if the stress calms.
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congrats! this was a good move on your part. I hope you asked your parents to hold off on the loan for now.
 
Take up motocross or sky diving........


When you get done it’s that, flying is a piece of cake.
 
EppyGA said:
I would guess most Young Eagle flights are conducted in certified aircraft. The EAA is quite involved in production airplanes, check the list of STC's they have worked on and made available for production airplanes. Take a look at the overhead shots of Air Venture and count the number of production airplanes on hand.
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What part of “EXPERIMENTAL” AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION, don’t you understand? Also, many Young Eagle flights Artie given in EXPERIMENTAL amateur built aircraft.
 
EppyGA said:
I would guess most Young Eagle flights are conducted in certified aircraft. The EAA is quite involved in production airplanes, check the list of STC's they have worked on and made available for production airplanes. Take a look at the overhead shots of Air Venture and count the number of production airplanes on hand.
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Nope. Most of the YE flights in our chapter are done in experimentals the pilots built themselves. I’m an oddity flying the cherokee.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I have a 100 percent success rate at not dying for over 42 years. I think I've got that death thing beat.
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Nobody has the death thing beat. At some point, your success rate will diminish in a very significant way. May you have many, many happy years before that point. :)
 
@EppyGA make me laugh. EAA is NOT all about Certificated planes.

For STCs, the idea there could be that if Experimental Avionics can eventually get STC status and open their market there is more reason for the next Dynon or GRT to build great gear for the experimental market. Everyone wins.
 
One thing that might be helpful to know is that mechanical failure is a relatively small percentage of the accident causes. The pilot is much more likely to kill the plane than the plane is to kill the pilot. That means that there is a lot you can do, such as prudent decision making and maintaining proficiency, to influence your chances for a safe flight.
 
You can be the best pilot flying the best airplane in the best weather.

You’re still going to die.
 
Man is a terrestrial being, not designed to operate above the earth's surface or below the deep blue sea. Because flight is not a natural condition, your apprehension is understandable. However, we fear that which we do not understand, and the purpose of flight training is to replace instinctive reactions with trained reactions. Still, you must accept that flight is inherently dangerous, just like mountain climbing or scuba diving, and provide yourself with a shield of knowledge of how things work in order to understand how to make them work for you.

As a student pilot I could not imagine a future in which climbing into an airplane and flying thousands of feet in the air at a couple of hundred miles an hour with trusting passengers on board would be just another day at the office. It all comes in time.

Bob
 
MuseChaser said:
Nobody has the death thing beat. At some point, your success rate will diminish in a very significant way. May you have many, many happy years before that point. :)
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Sport Pilot said:
You can be the best pilot flying the best airplane in the best weather.

You’re still going to die.
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Thank you, Captains Obvious!
 
Jah-Christo Decembre said:
I believe my flight will be in a Cherokee 140
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What an odd comment. Unless you posted that within minutes of your flight or someone told you specifically that. YE flights are comprised of multiple pilots flying multiple different types of planes and the YEs aren’t pre-assigned a plane. They get what comes up next in availability. Very odd comment.
 
woodchucker said:
What an odd comment. Unless you posted that within minutes of your flight or someone told you specifically that. YE flights are comprised of multiple pilots flying multiple different types of planes and the YEs aren’t pre-assigned a plane. They get what comes up next in availability. Very odd comment.
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I spoke to the person and asked him what plane lol
 
Jah-Christo Decembre said:
I spoke to the person and asked him what plane lol
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As I said it’s an odd comment unless there is only one plane there. The events that I have done have maybe five or six different types of planes and the YEs are randomly assigned lol
 
1RTK1 said:
Let me know how that works out in or around 42 years from now..;)
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Hell, maybe even 20. Or sooner.

I’m 47 this year with a likely permanent spinal cord injury caused by my own damn body.

Wasn’t how I was expecting my late 40s to go! Hahahaha.

Whatever! You get up and go until you can’t! :)

Welcome to your 40s... if a strange medical malady hasn’t been assigned to you yet, one will be shortly! Hahaha.
 
woodchucker said:
As I said it’s an odd comment unless there is only one plane there. The events that I have done have maybe five or six different types of planes and the YEs are randomly assigned lol
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I didn’t think Young Eagles had to be flown in an event setting? My understanding is that a pilot can do those flights outside of an “event”.

In that type of setting knowing the pilot giving you the flight would not be unusual and you could know what plane you’re going to fly in.

So not really that odd.
 
skier said:
I didn’t think Young Eagles had to be flown in an event setting? My understanding is that a pilot can do those flights outside of an “event”.

In that type of setting knowing the pilot giving you the flight would not be unusual and you could know what plane you’re going to fly in.

So not really that odd.
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Perhaps true then. Meh
 
denverpilot said:
I’m 47 this year with a likely permanent spinal cord injury caused by my own damn body.
Welcome to your 40s... if a strange medical malady hasn’t been assigned to you yet, one will be shortly! Hahaha.
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You will get through this Nate.
I’m 56, in twenty to thirty years my next medical malady will probably be death. Hopefully
 
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skier said:
I didn’t think Young Eagles had to be flown in an event setting? My understanding is that a pilot can do those flights outside of an “event”.

In that type of setting knowing the pilot giving you the flight would not be unusual and you could know what plane you’re going to fly in.

So not really that odd.
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My understanding too. The big group event wasn’t my cup of tea. Then, like a week later I get a pack of like 7000 blank certificates and picture holders, log books, etc. I figured they were accidentally sent to me or the EAA uses the same mailing service as the NRA :) Turns out any EAA member with all the background checks can also give a ride outside of an event...but no EAA insurance like during a large planned event where the chapter purchases the added insurance.
 
Kelvin said:
You are going to die.

Eventually. :D:D:D
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“Everybody dies... the thing is to die well” - Jack Harper, Oblivion

I say go out and experience all that you can. Don’t worry about dying because worry is what keeps you in bed and hiding under the covers. And Death will still find you. Flying is one of the most liberating, exhilarating experiences I’ve ever had.

 
Sinistar said:
My understanding too. The big group event ... or the EAA uses the same mailing service as the NRA :)
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I laughed way too hard at that. My poor mailbox.

I’m already a life member and have been for a long ass time.

But sure. I need another offer of a cheap pocket knife I can’t carry anywhere anymore. LOL.

Oh well. It’s better offers than AOPA sends. Hahahahaha.
 
tmyers said:
Unfortunately time will prove you wrong, but I am raising a glass that you will be right for a long time yet to come. Cheers!!!
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A great example is 1 of my uncles, he just renewed his drivers license for 5 years, he drives everywhere, decent health, walks a mile a day and he is 92 years old. Unfortunately his wife of 71 years passed away last Thanksgiving at 91 years old, he is an inspiration of enjoying life and being in good health
 
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