Being someone who struggled with airsickness for a long time I definitely have some opinions on this subject.
First of all, you have to realize that it's no big deal. There are two types of pilots: those who have and those who will. Some people are more sensitive than others, but it is a natural physiological response to motion. (Mt dog got sick once.) I found this clip from a medical website:
Motion is sensed by the brain through three different pathways of the nervous system that send signals coming from the inner ear (sensing motion, acceleration, and gravity), the eyes (vision), and the deeper tissues of the body surface (proprioceptors). When the body is moved intentionally, for example, when we walk, the input from all three pathways is coordinated by our brain. When there is unintentional movement of the body, as occurs during motion when driving in a car, the brain is not coordinating the input, and there is thought to be discoordination or conflict among the input from the three pathways. It is hypothesized that the conflict among the inputs is responsible for motion sickness.
The more we expose ourselves to motion, the less susceptible we are to sickness. Having said that, although triggered by a physiological event, airsickness is much more of a psychological response than a physiological one. (Ever seen someone who is okay until the moment you pull out a sick sack?) When a person says, "If xyz happens one more time I'm going to barf" guess what? The problem is that by puking you do feel a little better, at least for a short time. Physiologically that's the answer to your physiological condition. It's a downward spiral that you need to prevent from happening. But how?
For pilots who is prone to air sickness, I recommend they keep the flights short and schedule when they have the best chance for smooth conditions: early in the morning or late in the afternoon when the wind velocity will be low and the thermals won't be around. By flying in good weather and keeping the flights short you build up the confidence of your ability to avoid airsickness (psychological) and also get some desensitivity training to actual motion (physiological).
I also am a firm believer in eating before flying. (If you've ever been airsick on an empty stomach and experienced dry heaves and the only thing that comes up is stomach acid, you know exactly what I mean. If you haven't had the joy of that experience, well...just take my word for it.) You should eat a light meal 2-3 hours before flying. Stay away from heavy, greasy foods. If you're flying in the early morning, have a bowl of cereal or yogurt & fruit or eggs, but skip the sausage and hash browns.
There are many "helps" you can do while in the air. Taking the flight controls is the best remedy. I don't recommend you turn over the flight controls to your CFI when you feel bad unless you are in the process of filling the sick-sac. Once you are done and clean up a bit, take the flight controls back and go back to work as a pilot. There's nothing like competing demand for your time to distract you from how badly you feel. Fresh air and looking outside are a close second. However, nothing cures the problem like terra firma. Once I was flying with my wife from NC to Ohio and we were in turbulence from the Appalachian Mts. She got pretty quiet at one point and when I looked over at her I found that her cheeks were turning green. I used to think that was just a figure of speech, but it really happens. She gave me the “I’m fine” line, but I found the nearest airport and landed. After drinking a ginger ale and standing on the ground for 20 minutes she was fine. We got back in the plane and continued on our way without incident. I always tell people we want to stop while we are still having fun. When anyone starts to feel sick in the plane, the best thing to do is land.
I recently had a student who got sick on his first flight with me. I had no idea he was feeling bad until he turned around to his dad in the back seat and asked for a bag. After that he started flying with a bag in his headset like it was a security blanket. Personally, I think that was the worst thing he could do. If the only option he had was to puke all over himself instead of carrying a bag, he would be less likely to get sick. After the flight I debriefed all the actions of the flight like normal, to include his episode of airsickness. I gave him my "there are two types of pilots..." speech, and praised him for his ability to be able to fly the airplane again afterwards. (I used to call this "yak & come back" when I was a student.) I tried to put a positive spin on the whole day and not let that one incident define the whole flight. Since then, we have been doing exactly what I've outlined above: early morning flights of .7 - .9 hrs.
Hope this helps,
Rob
