Motion sickness?

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Posted

Hi guys, so yesterday I took my first official  (time in my book) but second flight lesson. I'm wondering how you guys dealt with motion sickness? Both times I flew I got a little queasy and nauseous. From everything I have read it's standard for a alot of people and you just have to power through? First time I flew in a Cherokee 140, yesterday was  a Piper sport Cruiser. Both times that little fella got thrown around a little bit and it wasn't enjoyable. I'm going to  fly a Cessna 172 and see if that's a little more stable. Anyways how did/do you guys deal with this? I'm a little concerned that I might not be able to power through and become a pilot. thanks for any advice Jeff

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Posted

Being the pilot helps, just like when driving. But if you are really sensitive it might take some time to get over it... 

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Posted

FredStork is correct. I flew this weekend to a fly-in and on the way home I let my passenger fly the plane. As soon as he took control of the plane I started to feel less comfortable. I have experienced this before also. When I got back into flying I was very uncomfortable. It's not near as bad now but I still get that feeling when I'm not the one in control of the plane. 

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Posted

We hillbillies have a solution for that!  We have a 2000 lb black Angus bull over in the field, with a bad temper. If you can stay on him for 10 seconds or so then a little air queasiness isn't nothing. But seriously, you will probably get to where you don't even notice it after a few hours. Anything new comes with a little getting accustomed to so be patient and enjoy the flights. Maybe a couple of the anti-queasy pills till you get comfortable with it. It will pass.

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Posted

Getting motion sickness means you have the potential to be a great pilot!  Bob Hoover got violently ill his first flights according to his biography, but he powered through it and became the greatest pilot ever.  Getting motion sickness means you have very sensitive feel for motion.  I have never been motion sick in anything - I was the kid that would eat the greasy food at Six Flags, then go on the wildest rides they had with no issues.  However, it took a long time for me to get aileron/rudder coordination down, I just don't have a sensitive enough 'butt' for it to be easy.

Mark

 

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Posted

Best pilot ever! Sounds good to me. :)

 A friend has suggested some anti-nausea pills and even a wristband? They sell at Walmart? I figured I would have to power through this and see how it goes.

Thanks guys. 

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Posted (edited)

No, don't take any pills, they dull your senses and your response. Most motion sickness is due to the mismatch between what you are feeling and what you are seeing. Keep your eyes outside, spot the horizon, just gaze inside for a quick instrument scan. If the airplane bumps and the horizon shows your eyes the same bump, no sickness. If you look inside at the panel and your lap, and you feel a bump, that mismatch occurs.

Do not sweat it, keep plugging, you will be fine!

https://www.leftseat.com/motion-sickness/

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/air-sickness-causes-prevention-treatment-282851

Edited by nlappos
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Posted

No, don't take any pills, they dull your senses and your response. Most motion sickness is due to the mismatch between what you are feeling and what you are seeing. Keep your eyes outside, spot the horizon, just gaze inside for a quick instrument scan. If the airplane bumps and the horizon shows your eyes the same bump, no sickness. If you look inside at the panel and your lap, and you feel a bump, that mismatch occurs.

Do not sweat it, keep plugging, you will be fine!

https://www.leftseat.com/motion-sickness/

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/air-sickness-causes-prevention-treatment-282851

He is with an instructor so a couple of pills the first few flights will not do major harm. Most likely they won't even be needed after the second or third flight. Discuss it with your instructor. If this is not his first rodeo, then he has come across it a few times. Queazy pills affect everybody differently so follow his advice. An experienced pilot taking them, I'd say is a no no. and most experienced pilots don't, otherwise they wouldn't have made it to "experienced".

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Posted

Fly when the air is calmest, before 11am or after 5pm in North America. The air gets rougher as the day heats up, just like the water on a lake. Until you get comfortable, fly at these times. Your body is experiencing a lot of new sensations in flight. Also, heat and high temperatures will promote motion sickness. Flying in rough air, just like boating on rough water, can be done but is no fun. And that’s what it’s all about! Good Luck

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Posted

When I first started flying I was a kid with new job on a helitack crew in a Hughes 500 (Helicopter).  I got so air sick the first time I thought about jumping out.  I puked in the back seat after a lunch of chicken noodle soup and grape cool aid.  It ran out under both back doors.  When we landed the helicopter had purple racing stripes down both sides.

Our pilot was a young Vietnam vet and also a fixed wing instructor.  He said he cured students of air sickness by flying with them every day until they just started to get sick, then land.  We flew in the mountains every afternoon in the heat of the day for about two hours so landing when I started to get sick wasn't an option.  Not for long enough to get over the air sickness anyhow.

I took Dramamine and carried a plastic bag in my shirt pocket.  The Dramamine kept me from getting more than just a little queasy.  Each day the queasiness was a little less until about the fourth or fifth day I forgot to take the Dramamine and realized after about an hour in rough air that I wasn't getting air sick. 

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Posted

Thanks guys, this is all great advice. I have my next lesson scheduled for Monday morning at 9 am. This time I'll make sure I pay more attention outside the plane instead of in. I'm going to power through this and get that ticket.

Jeff 

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Posted

Something that you get used to. Least for me. I didn't get really queasy until I went up with a retired Air Force pilot in a Christen Eagle. After a roll, a snap and a loop, I was getting pretty quiet. He asked me if I was okay. It was then I realized that I had forgotten to tense my abdominals while doing a restricted exhale. He then went on with his routine flipping that plane around all over the sky. It made my ride in a P51 and T6 seem docile.

One of my friends is an ag pilot. Put him in a small field with a lot of turning, he would land, get out, and puke. He started using a patch and he said that helped a lot.

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Posted

To some extent I think we've all experienced a bit of motion sickness. In 1983 when I was getting my PPL, my instructor insisted on spin entry and recovery training (and I'm glad he did). So after an afternoon of flying under the hood doing some unusual attitude recovery training, we did four or five spins and then headed back to the airport. I was flying, but my CFI asked me if I was ok as he saw that I was beginning to sweat as my stomach was churning with waves of nausea.

To make a long story short, when we were on short final I told him it was his plane and he proceeded to land. As soon as we touched down, I opened the door and proceeded to puke all over the side of the plane (fortunately it was a high-wing C150). I was embarrassed and he was even more apologetic. Good news - that was the one and only time that happened - even after more spin recovery training.

A little motion sickness with the first few bumps you encounter in a light aircraft is not unusual. So hang in there, and as someone else already said, quick scans of the instruments and then keep your eyes outside the airplane on the horizon.

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Posted

Ginger seems to help most people on the boat.  When I am flying with buddies in the back seat of their cubs I can get a little twisted up.  It seems to be a control thing like riding in a car for some.  I once made a guy puke in a 172 when he was in the back seat.  When we got on the ground he shook my hand and congratulated me.  Turns out he was an ex navy jock with countless carrier landings and combat time and I was the one and only person to ever make him sick.  I wore that badge with pride for awhile :lol:

 

:BC:

 

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Posted

Hey guys thanks for all the comments. Flight lesson number two is in the books as of this morning. Everything went fantastic. This time around was a 172, and for the rest of the flights for that matter. Couple spots got a little tickly queasy but nothing like the last time that's for sure. I really want to thank all of you for the stories and encouragement. I was a little skeptical there for a second thinking oh Lord I'm going to have to walk away from this. But I got it.

Jeff 

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Posted

When the acceleration sensors in your inner ear send a signal that disagrees with what your eyeballs are saying, your system concludes you must have food poisoning, and tries to order your stomach to void.  Nick's right.  Keep your eyes outside, so you can see the horizon, so the cross-up can't happen.   Having control of the airplane also helps a lot. Exact same occurs onboard a boat.  Take the helm, keep your torso vertical, and eyes on the horizon.  To go below is not good!

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