The only thing I'm afraid of with flying is time. Getting through security, making the flight, possible flight delays, layovers. The flight itself isn't a big deal to me most of the time.

I've had 2 scary experiences.

The first was on the way to Hawaii when we had high winds and lightning. The plane shot sideways very quickly and felt very wrong. We were over the ocean at the time, so that freaked me out a bit.

The second was on the way to Jamaica when we made a very quick hard turn and dropped altitude quickly over the ocean. This was shortly after 9-11 and the flight crew didn't tell the passengers what was going on. We just saw the crew lay the Captain out in the isle outside the cockpit and the flight attendants were panicking and running back and forth to the back of the plane for the defibrillator. One of the flight attendants was crying so a bunch of passengers started freaking out and crying, praying out loud, etc.

After about 10 minutes, they explained that our pilot suffered a heart attack and we had to make an emergency landing in North Carolina so the Captain (who did survive) could get to the hospital.

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Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

I fly all the time, doesn't bother me a bit.

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

(\__/)
(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
(")_(") signature to help him gain world domination

I'm only afraid of landing.

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

I'm pretty indifferent. I don't enjoy it but I don't loathe it either. Taking off is kinda cool. My biggest beef is legroom, I try to get exit row or aisle seats whenever possible otherwise my knees are in the seat in front of me. And I'm about as wide at the shoulders as the max. the seats were designed for so if anyone my width, or wider, sits next to me it's a bit less than comfy. Someday maybe I'll be able to afford first class.

You wee folk are lucky to have such spacious accomodations! My uncle flew to Australia a couple of weeks ago, with a total of 36 hours of total flight time, but at 5'4" he can practically recline.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

It's not the flying that I'm afraid of, it's the unbrupt, fiery impact at the end?

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

I'm with you. The space in coach is tight.

I just remembered a flight to California from PHL, where a kid sat behind me. Their legs were too short to hang off the seat at the knee like an adult so they kept their feet on the back of my seat the whole flight and kept kicking and pushing hard enough to bounce me in my seat.

I asked the grandmother multiple times to keep her from doing it and she would just laugh. It was a full flight so I couldn't move either.

I'm most afraid of who will be seated near me on a long flight.

__________________
Chad
2006 Nissan Pathfinder LE
1998 Acura 3.0 CL
OBK#44
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

SOLD
1985 300TD - Red Dragon
1986 300SDL - Coda
1991 - 300TE
1995 - E320
1985 300CD - Gladys

I'm probably the last person my wife likes to fly with. I'm a mechanic by trade and my wife swears I stare at the engines trying to calculate the stress and tension factors of the bolts,

"See it! That one right there! I know it's not the same length as the one next to it. Why is that one stainless, I can see the markings and the one next to it is merely case hardened? What's that? Yes, a double please, no make that THREE doubles!"

She thinks it is hilarious coming from a guy who once turned a 9.15 in the quarter mile on a racing bike and also got clocked at 162 mph on a two lane country road (the copper was pretty nice about it. He gave me a ticket for "in gross excess of the posted speed limit")

She usually liquors me up pretty good before the flight and doesn't allow me to sit by the window.

What, you had to ask? I can't wait for Spring so I can resume my lessons...no better feeling than being in the air. Taking off and landings are my favorite.

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"It's normal for these things to empty your wallet and break your heart in the process."
2012 SLK 350
1987 420 SEL

Me too!

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"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

Not a problem for me.

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1984 300TD

What's the phrase?

"Any landing you can walk away from is a GOOD LANDING!"

Gotta' love that near-fatalistic pragmatic humor!

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

I lived in various different places in the world, mainly due to my dad's job but I always went back home in South America twice a year as a kid til I was about 18 years old. It never bothered me. Now that I guess that I am older or just more anal, yes it does bother me a little, I do not like it. But I have a solution:

1) Drink heavily before entering the plane.
2) Upon entering take a pill.
3) Wake up on landing.

SwampYankee:
You Unlce went to Australia a few months ago and he is 5'4". Which nephew of mine are you? I just went to Australia and I am a little over 5'4"...........

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Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

2006 - Suzuki Gran Vitara (2.0 L fully equipped) Like this car so far except for trying to put on the seatbelt.
1988 - 190e - 2.3L - 172K miles (It now belongs to the exwife)
1999 - Chevy Blazer LS Fully Equiped - killed it June 2006
2001 - Honda Civic EX - 68K miles (sold June 2004)
1963 - 220S - Dual Carb 6 cyl. (sold)
1994 - Yamaha WaveRaider (fun to ride)

I am not concerned with flying but as I get older my virtigo has become worse. I would probably freak out in a hot air ballon.

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'86 300E 5 speed
'71 Triumph TR6
'46 Cushman Scooter
'41 Ford 9N tractor

I am a nervous flyer, just as I am a nervous passenger in a car.

I don't like that "SPAM in a can" feeling one bit.

Helps some if I can just at least see what's going on. I really get spooked when I have to fly in a middle seat and people on both sides have their shades down or are blocking the windows ( during takeoffs/landings).

Rick

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

The only scary flight for me was when we we accelerating down the runway for takeoff, suddenly, the pilot shuts the engines down! The pilot turns the plane around and we get back in line to await takeoff once again.

The he gets on the intercom and informs the passengers that the cockpit window slid open during takeoff! Yikes!

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car